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State Representative Tina Liebling
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-0573
For more information contact: Charlie Vander Aarde 651-297-8406
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GOP CONTINUES MISPLACED PRIORITIES - CHOOSES CUTS TO PROTECT WEALTHIEST 2%
(ST. PAUL) – The Minnesota House of Representatives has passed a series of budget bills that would fund the majority of state government. The House met past midnight on Wednesday and Thursday mornings as legislators weighed whether to make draconian cuts in education, health care, public safety and the state’s natural resources or ask the wealthiest two percent of Minnesotans to take a modest increase in taxes.
“Republicans have voted time after time to protect the richest two percent and have now voted for extreme cuts that would harm millions of Minnesotans," explained State Representative Tina Liebling (30A – Rochester), the DFL-Lead on the Health and Human Services policy committee. “Their priorities are backwards and not in the interest of Minnesotans.”
The total cut to Minnesota’s health and human services industry is over $3 billion. “Republicans have chosen to cut over 20,000 private sector, middle class jobs in hospitals, doctor offices and clinics across Minnesota,” said Rep. Liebling. “Extreme cuts to the elderly, disabled, children and poor are the preferred choice of Republicans, rather than asking the state’s highest earners to pay their fair share.”
The bill will result in at least 138,000 Minnesotans losing health insurance coverage, more than the entire population of Rochester. “The loss of insurance by so many Minnesotans will impact all of us,” said Liebling. “It means longer waits in the ER, more unreimbursed charity care and higher health insurance premiums for middle class families.”
The higher education bill would roll back funding to pre-2000 levels. “Our employers need qualified, well-trained workers,” said Liebling. “The Republican plan to slash higher education jeopardizes Minnesota’s future.”
The K-12 education bill was also passed by the House of Representatives early yesterday. The bill would cut $43 million from the state’s K-12 system and Rochester would lose $15 per student funding over the next two years. “Rochester residents did not elect me to cut education funding,” said Liebling. “Cutting Rochester schools is yet another indication that Republicans in the legislature have the wrong priorities.”
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News Items
- House Of Representatives Passes Omnibus Education Bill - (Posted: May 18 2013 12:00AM)
- House Passes Omnibus HHS Finance Bill - (Posted: Apr 16 2013 10:13AM)
- Rep. Liebling: Medicaid Expansion Good for Minnesotans and State Budget - (Posted: Feb 19 2013 12:00AM)
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