This month, we updated and re-introduced the bills to increase the welfare grants and to Give Aid to All in Need (GAAIN).
Please ask your legislators to sign on to these bills.

GAAIN – Give Aid to All in Need

SF-2912 (Eaton) and HF2828 (Allen)
GAAIN expands state-funded General Assistance to cover
— adults with no income who are looking for work
— families who have hit the 5-year limit on welfare.
The problem:
— There are thousands of people in need who, under this state’s laws, don’t qualify for any cash assistance at all and are homeless, cashless and have to scrounge for handouts.
— Now, Minnesotans can only get General Assistance ($203/mo) if we can prove a disability and have no children.
— The 5-year limit on welfare hits whole families.
— There are people ashamed to admit a disability and won’t even try for General Assistance, so…
Take a burden off low & middle-income families.
— We are losing our rental housing by taking in our homeless, cashless, friends and family.
— Our friends, family (or we ourselves) need help, but can’t even get started…because there is no cash help to provide stability.

COLA the Grants – the cost of living has MORE than doubled!

SF-2729 (Laine) HF-3601 (Clark)
Welfare (MFIP and GA) cash grants have not been increased since 1986 – 32 years ago. Meanwhile the cost of living has more than doubled. See https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl (or search “CPI inflation calculator”). Check out $437 in 1986 vs. 2018 and then really increase the grants, with a Cost-of-Living Increase.