Thank you to Margaret for bringing up the Strib Editorial today on homelessness. Elected officials at all levels need to do more to limprove housing opportunities and to help those experiencing homelessness.
I just wanted to add something that I felt the editorial missed, which is that while the Governor did propose that we budget $20 million for transitional services (actually, $5 million/year over the next four years), there are several other key housing areas that he proposes cutting by a much greater amount.
These would have a disproportionate impact on Minneapolis because the city has more than its proportional share of renters, and more than its proportional share of people experiencing homelessness.
The Governor proposes to cut the Renters' credit by $113 million over that same four year period, and House Republicans have upped that figure to $190 million. Many low and moderate income renters depend on that credit every year to buy basic necessities. Senate DFLers have proposed that the renters' credit not be cut at all.
The Governor's budget also assumes that we will continue to have a $50/month penalty for people who live in subsidized housing, and House Republicans propose to increase that to a $200/month penalty. Senate DFLers propose to eliminate the penalty.
Senate DFLers have proposed adding $4 million over the four years to battered women's shelters. Many women experiencing abuse are forced to choose between the abuse and homelessness and need more options.
The Governor proposes to cut the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency's budget by $15 million over the next two years in key areas that help people get into better housing. Senate DFLers propose that housing programs not be cut at all.
Remember also that the Governor and the House want to throw about 30,000 people off of health care. For people who live from day to day, it might only take one serious health problem to cause them to become homeless. Senate DFLers propose that no one lose health insurance.
Right now, all of these issues are up for compromise in various conference committees. Senate DFLers understand they may not get all the funding they want for housing programs, but they expect the Governor and the House Republicans to be willing to come up from their position too, but so far that has not happened.
Don Jorovsky Committee Administrator Senate Jobs, Energy & Community Development Committee
Margaret wrote:
See part of today's Strib editorial in below.
Editorial: Seeking shelter/Reaching out to the homeless
Published May 17, 2005
Minnesota's invisible homeless have been with us for decades now -- in
greater numbers every year -- but rarely do we bother to wonder why. Lately,
however, more Minnesotans seem to be realizing that homelessness is not a choice as
much as it is a sad fate. We are coming to see that, just as society is
duty-bound to care for people unable to rise from their beds, so must it reach out to
those who have no bed at all.
Why this epiphany is descending now is impossible to say, but it's plain that
the public mind is changing. This is a revolution whose agitators range from
President Bush to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to the volunteers in the
church-basement shelters. Pawlenty's plan to end homelessness seizes upon the real
solution: the speedy creation of "supportive housing" to welcome and sustain
society's outcasts within the human circle.
It's a shame legislators couldn't see their way clear to granting the
governor's request for $20 million for the supportive-housing movement. But as
crucial as it is, supportive housing alone can't possibly end homelessness. Other
strategies are needed, too, and lawmakers still have a chance to advance them.
Margaret Hastings
Kingfield
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