The poor and vulnerable bear the brunt of the governor’s unallotment plan

The following is an excellent analysis of the Governor’s plan to balance the budget through unallotment from the Affirmative Options Coalition:

Governor Pawlenty announced his intended budget cuts June 16, which included an additional $236 million in cuts to human services. These cuts add to the almost $500 million in cuts made by the legislature and the $380 million the governor eliminated for health care for the poorest adults through the General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) program. In total, the cuts to Health and Human Services now total more than $1 billion.

As the numbers of uninsured grow, the poorest adults will lose health care coverage even sooner than was already planned. In the midst of the worst housing crisis in generations, the governor's cuts will eliminate funds to help disabled and unemployable adults avoid homelessness, while funds that pay for homeless shelters and housing for the long-term homeless will be cut as well. The cuts will affect children in a number of ways: less money to help collect child support for children in poor households; less money to serve abused or disabled children and teens.

In addition, low income renters – 28 percent of whom are poor and disabled – will have their renters’ credit reduced. The renters’ credit is a refund given to almost 274,000 Minnesota renters whose property taxes take up a large share of their income. There is more information about the renters’ credit at the MN Budget Project Web site.

The cuts in Human Services include:

• Ending the General Assistance Medical Care program that the governor eliminated by line item veto even earlier than his veto required – March 1, 2010 instead of mid-May
  
• The elimination of two emergency assistance programs for poor, disabled and unemployable adults without children (Emergency General Assistance and Emergency MSA)
  
• Cutting payments to homeless shelters, housing for the long-term homeless and board and lodging facilities that offer special services (through Group Residential Housing payments);
  
• Mental health and chemical dependency grants are cut.

There are no cuts proposed to the Minnesota Family Investment Program, Minnesota’s welfare to work program. The complete list of the cuts Governor Pawlenty intends to make can be found here.

The governor is making the cuts through a process called “unallotment." He had vowed to do so when he vetoed a bill the legislature sent him that would have balanced the state budget by raising revenue. Before the unallotments are official, the governor must consult with the Legislative Advisory Council.

The consultation is only advisory – the governor need not heed its advice. The council – whose members include the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader and the chairs of the two House and Senate finance committees – will meet at 3 p.m. on Thursday at the Capitol.

Adam Robinson
Organizer
Office for Social Justice