St. Paul, Minnesota — The Minnesota House Ways and Means committee is set to revise their budget target today in order to provide a larger increase in funding for home health care workers who provide care for the elderly and disabled.
Rep. Huntley (DFL – Duluth) will offer an amendment in the House Ways and Means Committee to increase the House Health and Human Services budget target from $75 million to $91 million.
Over the past several years, caregivers have seen stagnant wages and the 2011 legislature cut funding to caregivers by 1.67%. The 2013 budget passed by the DFL-led legislature “bought back” that cut and increased funding by 1 percent for caregivers. This revised budget target will provide for an additional 5 percent increase for home health care workers in 2014, for a total of a 7.67% increase over what caregivers were set to receive under the past budget.
The House Ways and Means Committee will meet at 10:00 a.m. in Room 200 of the State Office Building.