An open letter to the People of Minnesota from faith leaders

As leaders of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths, we come from very different backgrounds and yet despite our differences, we are united by deep concerns for the people of this state in the face of the current budget crisis.

The Governor has promised not to raise taxes. We feel that this is an extreme position that would likely result in real harm to real people in every township, suburb and neighborhood, every synagogue, church and mosque. We are most concerned with those who cannot afford to carry a heavier burden: the poor and vulnerable in our midst.

The Governor’s promise shapes the budget in ways that are, for us, troubling. We fear that tens of thousands stand to lose health care coverage, including pregnant women, newborn children, and people with disabilities who earn very low incomes. We have already seen that there will be fewer police officers and fire fighters and that libraries will have shorter hours. We fear that classrooms will have more students, and that child care, family education, and after-school learning opportunities will be lost for those who need it most.

We fear that nursing home care will be reduced. We fear that despite the no new taxes pledge, most Minnesotans will pay higher property taxes, our most unfair tax. We fear that families in temporary crisis will have less access to emergency assistance and the other things they need to return to self-sufficiency.

The leadership in both the House and Senate has acknowledged that the worst cuts must be mitigated with increases in revenue. This is an important development. And both the House and Senate leadership propose to provide relief for some who are poor and vulnerable. Nevertheless, we are concerned by the proposals put forward by the leaders of both bodies.

A budget that hopes to build the common good cannot spare some while leaving others to suffer. We praise both bodies for addressing some of the cuts facing our elderly. We are confident that more can be done to address the governor’s cuts in health care for very low-income individuals, child care, and housing, cuts that will have very

real consequences for the most vulnerable: women, children, and people in real distress among them.

We believe that government could and should do more in these circumstances. Our faith traditions imagine a vital role for government that includes protecting human dignity, promoting human rights and human development, and building the common good. We differ markedly from those who would reduce government to just a few basic services.

Our faith communities can be partners in building the common good, but we cannot take up the awesome responsibility of meeting the massive social needs the Governor’s budget would create.

And so we hold our leaders and the people of this state in our prayers, and end with these words:

To the Governor: We call on you to make a promise of a different kind, a promise to maintain our quality of life and protect the common good. This promise should be driven not by the desire to simply reduce the role of government for its own sake but by the urgency of protecting people from slipping further into poverty and further away from self-sufficiency as a result of these cuts.

To our legislators, we say: We know that you face many difficult decisions in the days and weeks ahead. Each body of the legislature can and should do more to generate the revenue we need to protect our safety net for the most poor and vulnerable without cutting other essential public needs.

To the people of Minnesota: We find ourselves at a turning point. On the one hand, we can choose to pursue our own private interests or we can continue to sustain Minnesota’s efforts to ensure that all families have the opportunity to flourish and grow. Such efforts reflect our long tradition of compassion for people and public investment in our society.

We write this letter to you because we face more than a financial crisis. We face a crisis of much larger dimensions. We believe that budgets are more than mere numbers on a page, they are statements that reflect the priorities we hold dear. We call on all citizens and all legislators to reflect on the important choices we face. And we call on all Minnesotans to be bold in their efforts to defend the common good.