Dear neighbors,
The legislative session’s constitutional adjournment date of May 22nd is approaching quickly, meaning we have just 10 days to negotiate a budget that will lift up Minnesota families and invest in the things that make our economy strong.
With Mother’s Day right around the corner, I want to give you just a few relevant updates that are on my mind this week.
Affordable Child Care
As a working mom who is constantly trying to balance work and raising a child, I know firsthand how the availability of affordable child care can affect the economic security of working parents. But as the DFL lead on the Subcommittee on Childcare Access & Affordability, I’ve been frustrated by how little the budget passed by current majority seems to value working families.
With cuts to the Basic Sliding Fee program and a total disregard for the concrete recommendations laid out by the bipartisan report from the Legislative Task Force on Access to Child Care, I decided to call out the Republicans’ broken promises.
Hopefully, Republicans will begin to understand what it’s like to balance work and family life and give the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) the investment families deserve.
Cuts to Our Public Schools
In Minnesota, we’re proud of our public schools, where students from all socio-economic backgrounds and of all abilities can come together and study under the same roof.
But the schools that serve our children will be forced to make cuts if we move forward with the Republican budget. That means teacher layoffs, overcrowded classrooms, and fewer resources for students. In addition, the budget would eliminate funding across the state for voluntary pre-K, a key legacy of Gov. Mark Dayton.
With a $1.65 billion budget surplus, there is simply no need to underfund the education of our young Minnesotans. Our future quite literally depends on our getting this one right.
Higher Education
Even when our children are young, parents are already thinking about the high cost of their college education. And lately, it seems those costs are climbing higher and higher every year. Unfortunately, the Republican budget continues to make that problem worse, increasing tuition at the University of Minnesota and forcing our state colleges to do more with less.
I was inspired by the activism of a group of students who walked 100 miles this week to the Capitol to show their support for increased investment in higher education. Minnesota already holds the fifth highest student debt in the nation, and I have heard from so many young people who are delaying purchasing a home or starting a family because of the burden of student debt on their finances. We can and must do better for our students and the families who are struggling to support them.