Give Aid to All in Need…occupy the
Governor’s Mansion
Friday, January 8, 2016
1006 Summit Ave, St. Paul, 55105

We are sick of our people homeless and suffering with nothing. Lots of us in need can’t get any help at all. Tell Governor Mark Dayton to Give Aid to All in Need.

Show up for as long as you can between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Some of us will be there longer…
Morning action from 10 am til 11 am, for those who can only come during the day.

Hot drinks & snacks – stay a while, bring a chair and blanket, or use one of ours.

Need a RIDE? Call or text 612-822-8020

Organized by the Welfare Rights Committee
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Why we are protesting:

We are sick of our people homeless and suffering with nothing. Lots of us in need can’t get any help at all. Tell Governor Mark Dayton to Give Aid to All in Need. This means there should be cash help for families who have hit the 5-year limit on welfare & singles who are have no income and still can’t find work.

The Welfare Rights Committee’s bill to Give Aid to All in Need (the GAAIN bill, SF1426 & HF1533) tells the state to give cash grants to people who have no income and are looking for work. Join us Jan. 8 for our action in front of the Mansion. We aim to show the governor what MN will look like if something is not done to help people NOW.

Uncounted = We don’t count? The state does not even know how many people in need are out here. The state of MN says we are uncounted, uncountable and don’t count — because the state doesn’t care! Our job is to make them care.

On Friday, Jan. 8, join the Welfare Rights Committee outside Governor Dayton’s mansion. We will have people there on and off throughout the day and night.

We will “occupy” the ground in front of the mansion, with chairs, tables, tents and shelters. The main rally is between 4pm and 6pm, but if you can only do the morning, be there from 10 to 11 a.m.
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Sound off!

Join us Nov. 20 if you know anyone who has: Hit the time limit on MFIP…had unemployment benefits run out … had Food Stamps cut off …Just got out of prison or jail … been homeless, or taking care of homeless families…Rents too high!…Needs subsidized housing … Can only get SNAP for 3 months in a 3 year period… poverty cuz MFIP and GA grants have not gone up in 29 years… housing, but risks losing it because we take in our homeless family & friends…become sick of the economic abuse…been paying taxes for years so we could have help when we need it, but no help is there.

Tuesday, September 22
10:00 a.m.
University Ave & Rice St (by the capitol Green Line stop)
Saint Paul.
March to Gov. Dayton’s office

Tell Governor Dayton:
We are sick of our people homeless and suffering with nothing. Lots of us in need can’t get any help at all. Time for GAAIN: Give Aid to All in Need!

Flier Sept 22 2015 GAAIN

Call politicians to say “Bail out the poor, instead!”

Governor Dayton is talking about calling a special session to bail out lakeshore business owners on Lake Mille Lacs…because walleye fishing on this one lake is ending early. Seriously.

Call these legislative leaders.
Governor Mark Dayton: 651-201-3400
Senate leader Tom Bakk: 651-296-8881
House leader Kurt Daubt: 651-296-5364
Tell them, “There should be a special session on giving money to the poorest of the poor in this state, not bailing out business owners. Thousands are homeless. Welfare grants have not seen an across-the-board increase since 1986. Many people in need can’t get any help at all.”

If you can’t call Monday, that’s OK. Call later in the week. Please post your call results on our Facebook event page!

Dayton and legislative leaders are ordering in all legislators from around the state of MN – 201 of them – to talk about giving zero-interest loans and tax breaks to business owners, claiming they will “suffer” because the walleye fishing season is ending early on one lake.

This is an insult to those of us who have been fighting at the capitol for basic survival needs for years. Over 70,000 kids live in extreme poverty. Tens of thousands are basically homeless. The last across-the-board welfare grant increase was in 1986 (29 years ago). Dayton and his legislative cronies have been giving handouts to big business for years, but many of us who have nothing can’t get any cash help at all. We say, “Give Aid to ALL in Need!

“Let them eat Northern Pike!” Post your results and comments.
AFTER you make your 3 calls about the serious economic injustice that these politicians are dumping on us, please report your results to our Facebook page (which will be up soon). Make fun of the politicians, too: “Let them eat pike…Something fishy at the capitol…Bail out our boat, not big business’…Free housing at state-subsidized resorts…Don’t leave us on the hook…You have 9,999 other lakes…” It’s hard to stop.

Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser
for the Welfare Rights Committee (flier)

Saturday, August 15, 2015
4200 Cedar Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55407

Suggested Donation: $5 to $25
Current and future Welfare Rights Committee activists can eat for free at our meeting that starts at 11:00 a.m.

The Welfare Rights Committee is an all volunteer group and women led. Since 1992, we have been fighting back against all attacks on our social safety net. We fight for increasing aid for our families and children and all who are in need in Minnesota.

Supporting our fundraiser will allow us to continue the important work and bring more people into fighting the good fight for economic justice!

On-site childcare. Rides for future WRC activists.

Give Aid to ALL in Need campaign — GAAIN
Demand Aid for ALL in need

Lots of us can’t get any help at all. Here’s just some of the problems:
— Time limit on MFIP
— Unemployment has run out.
— Food stamps cut off.
— Being Homeless, or taking care of our homeless friends and family members.
We are sick of the economic abuse! We have been paying taxes for years so we could have help when we need it. But the politicians stole our money.
Give Aid to All in Need!

How to join the fight:

Tell your story:
The politicians have no idea what our lives are like. Contact WRC as we collect stories about how this system has failed us, our family members or friends. We are collecting stories in writing, in audio and on video.

Add your name to the postcard campaign:
We will send hundreds of postcards to different politicians. Circle the box on the petition so we can send postcards in  your name or call our office to sign up. Or go to our online petition

Come to a WRC meeting
We meet every other Saturday.
Next meeting is our
Pancake Breakfast fundraiser Aug 15. FREE for new WRC members
Future meetings Aug. 29 & Sept. 12.
4200 Cedar Ave S, in Minneapolis
Free rides, childcare and food at every meeting

We WON a $110 grant increase for some — BUT, we need MORE.
Give aid to ALL in need!

Many of us will get an extra $110 per month, starting July 1st, because of the Welfare Rights Committee’s fight in 2013. It is a shame we had to wait so long, but this our victory!
Back in 2013, politicians were too chicken to even use the words “raise the welfare grants,” so they passed this “housing allowance.” And they only gave it to families who were not in subsidized housing. While this is a victory, it is definitely not enough!
This year, the Welfare Rights Committee had a bill to “Double the Grants” for EVERYONE – on top of the $110 housing allowance. The cost of living has more than doubled since 1986, so we said the grant increase pas PAST DUE. For the first time, many legislators, the governor, the newspapers and agencies were taking up our call to “Raise the Welfare Grants!”
But at the end of session, the politicians didn’t do it. They ended the session with over a billion dollars of surplus money just sitting there, while many of our families have nothing.
This is a crime of stealing from the poor, again.

What we fought for:
Double the MFIP grants for all – it’s PAST DUE!
TANF money for TANF families
End the time limit on welfare
Give Aid to all in need

What we got:
$110 increase for some starting July 2015
The TANF Task force to find out how the TANF money is being misused by the state
An end to the Family Cap
A bill written and introduced to Give Aid to All in Need – ready to fight for next session

Summer is time for outreach! We are hitting the streets to tell people about our recent and upcoming fights at the legislature with our July 2015 outreach flier. We also invite all friends, supporters and WRC activists to a Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser August 15.

Here are screenshots of the fliers. We’ll make a blog post for these events soon.

 

Many of us will get an extra $110 per month, starting July 1st, because of the Welfare Rights Committee’s fight in 2013. It is a shame we had to wait so long, but this our victory!

Back in 2013, politicians were too chicken to even use the words “raise the welfare grants,” so they passed a “housing allowance.” And they only gave it to families who were not in subsidized housing. While this was a victory, it is definitely not enough!

This year, the Welfare Rights Committee had a bill to “Double the Grants” for EVERYONE – on top of the $110 housing allowance. The cost of living has more than doubled since 1986, so we said the grant increase pas PAST DUE. For the first time, many legislators, the governor, the newspapers and agencies were taking up our call to “Raise the Welfare Grants!”

But at the end of session this year, the politicians didn’t do it. They ended the session on May 18 with over a billion dollars of surplus money just sitting there, while many of our families have nothing. This is a crime of stealing from the poor, again.

There will be Special Session soon – we need to tell them to give back the money!

Here are some things we can do:

1. Call or email the leadership before the Special Session starts. Tell them, “MFIP grants for poor families have not had an a cost of living increase in 30 years. This Special Session, I want you to raise the MFIP grants.”
Governor Mark Dayton – 651-201-3400
House Speaker Kurt Daudt: 651-296-5364
Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk – 651-296-8881

2. Get ready to PROTEST at the Special Session.
We’ll post details when the politicians decide the date.

At the capitol this year, we fought to Double the MFIP Grants. As usual, the politicians whittled our idea down, but something is better than nothing. Now the MN politicians are in final, closed-door talks. There are 3 sides in the talks. We want the Senate side to win.
Side 1: The Senate has a $100 per month increase starting October this year.
Side 2: The Governor has a $100 increase starting July 2016 (next year).
Side 3: The House has nothing.
Again, we want the Senate side to win. Families need money now. After 29 years, it is PAST DUE!

Please contact these 3 politicians

You will likely get a voicemail or an assistant, but our voices will be heard!
Governor Mark Dayton – 651-201-3400 – http://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/form/
Representative Matt Dean – 651-296-3018 – rep.matt.dean@house.mn
Message to Dayton and Dean: “Welfare grants haven’t gone up in 29 years. In budget talks, I want you to take the Senate position to raise the MFIP grants starting in October of this year. Poor families need money now.”
Senator Tony Lourey – 651-296-0293 – sen.tony.lourey@senate.mn
For Sen. Lourey, use this message: “Keep up the fight to raise the welfare grants starting in October. They haven’t gone up since 1986. Poor families need money now.”

Others to contact if you can with the message:
“Welfare grants haven’t gone up in 29 years. In budget talks, I want you to take the Senate position to raise the MFIP grants starting in October of this year. Poor families need money now.”
House and Senate Leadership:
Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk – 651-296-8881
Senate Assistant Majority Leader Katie Sieben – 651-297-8060
House Speaker Kurt Daudt: 651-296-5364
House Majority Leader Joyce Peppin 651-296-7806
House Minority Leader Paul Thissen – 651-296-5375

All the Senators and Reps on the Health and Human Services Conference Committee:
Rep. Tara Mack – 651-296-5506
Rep. Joe Schomacker – 651-296-5505
Rep. Nick Zerwas – 651-296-4237
Rep. Joe McDonald – 651-296-4336
Sen. Kathy Sheran 651-296-6153
Sen. Jeff Hayden – 651-296-4261
Sen. Melisa Franzen – 651-296-6238
Sen. Julie Rosen – 651-296-5713

The HHS conference committee started meeting on May 5. Their hands will be tied until a global budget agreement is reached. We don’t want our grant increase to get lost in the budget talks. So please call! The legislative session ends May 18.

Call Sen. Lourey now! Double the Welfare Grants.

Please contact State Senator Tony Lourey.
Say, “Please double the welfare grants in your finance bill.”
Phone: 651-296-0293
Email: sen.tony.lourey@senate.mn

Very soon, State Senator Tony Lourey, the chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Budget Division will be putting together his omnibus finance bill. Three weeks ago (March 25), our bill to double the MFIP (welfare for families with children) grants was passed for “possible inclusion into the omnibus bill.”

Please contact Sen. Lourey and ask him to include our bill – Senate File 432 – to DOUBLE the welfare grants THIS YEAR in his finance bill.

We need action THIS YEAR. While we support the other proposal to increase the grants by a flat $100 per month in July 2016, but that is too little and too late. The cost of living has increased 113% since 1986. The welfare grants should be more than doubled, NOW.

The Welfare Rights Committee has been fighting to double the welfare grants since 2012. Finally, this year, the governor and some legislators are seriously considering a small increase. But we need more. The state is sitting on a huge surplus. That surplus was built on our backs. 29 years without a grant increase is shameful. Double the grants now!

For more information, see welfarerightsmn.com or call 612-822-8020.