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State Representative Paul Thissen
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5375
For more information contact: Carrie Lucking 651-296-4169
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MISPLACED OUTRAGE, MISPLACED PRIORITIES Statement from House Minority Leader Paul Thissen on Job Losses caused by GOP Budget
If Medtronic or Best Buy laid off thousands of Minnesota workers, there would be hand-wringing, finger-pointing and rightful outrage. And my guess is that much of the finger pointing and outrage would come from the Republicans.
The fact is that the GOP’s budget does exactly that – laying off thousands of Minnesotans from good middle class jobs.
Last week, the House Higher Ed budget put 1,200 employees at Minnesota’s colleges and universities on notice – their good-paying middle class job is at risk. Communities like Crookston, Grand Rapids, and Rochester could see campus closures that would devastate the local economy. In places like St. Cloud and Duluth, where the economic recovery has been slower, losing campus jobs worsens the middle class squeeze.
The House Tax bill slashes funding to counties and cities. To the extent those cuts are not made up through increased property taxes, they will be made up in job reductions and cuts to essential services. Again – good paying middle class jobs – police, firefighters are lost.
This week will be no different. The GOP will continue down their backwards budget path slashing jobs. The State Government bill will cause nearly 5,000 layoffs of state workers. And while it’s easy to pick on some faceless bureaucrat, it’s more difficult to justify firing the person filling potholes right now, or the snowplow driver in the winter, or the State Patrol officer or prison guard that keeps us safe. In addition to the direct job losses inflicted by the public service layoffs, there is a private-sector cascade effect that results from government cuts and the proposed cancelation of bonding projects by Rep. Howes – 3,000 private sector jobs lost from the cancelation of the Central Corridor alone. Unfortunately, no one will be saved from the GOP job reaper.
But likely the worst job losses will result from the Republicans’ HHS cuts. Hospitals and nursing homes inevitably will be forced to lay off thousands of health care workers. These are good-paying, private sector jobs in a growing part of Minnesota’s economy.
I’ve seen a lot of outrage out of the GOP. Outrage that Minnesota would consider moving forward on a quality early childhood education. Outrage that calls workers ‘the beast.’ Outrage over efforts to make sure that corporations who make profits don’t hide them overseas. This outrage is misplaced - much like the GOP’s priorities.
Today, we’re unveiling our GOP pink slip counter. We’ll use this counter all week to track the job losses from the GOP job-killing budget. Last week’s job cuts are already accounted for - 3,990.
These job losses are the real outrage for Minnesotans.
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News Items
- Speaker Thissen to Establish Select Committee on Controlled Substances and Synthetic Drugs - (Posted: May 29 2013 1:15PM)
- Minnesota House Finishes 2013 Session with Balanced Budget, Historic Investments in Education, Job Creation, Property Tax Relief - (Posted: May 21 2013 12:44AM)
- Governor Mark Dayton & DFL Legislators Hold Invest in Education “Pep Rally” with Minnesota teachers, parents and students - (Posted: Apr 21 2013 4:21PM)
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