Minnesota Budget Bites

The Senate relief package – called HEALS Act -- is inadequate to meet the challenges of this moment and is too small to jumpstart our economy. Instead of prioritizing the health and well-being of Americans and building for an economic recovery, the Senate plan falls short and would result in more kids going hungry and at risk of becoming homeless, force more lay-offs of teachers and other state and local government workers, and cause harmful cuts to health care, education, and other urgently needed services.

The state's quarterly economic report shows that projections for the national economy have gotten even worse. While state revenues have come in a bit ahead of what was predicted in May, the state is still on track for a more than $2 billion budget shortfall for the current budget cycle.

The HEROES (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions) Act proposal is a needed Congressional effort to...

Federal policymakers should move quickly to direct significant additional funding to states, as well as local and tribal governments, to address the severe impacts of the public health emergency and the economic recession, and to prevent the economic downturn from getting worse.