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Dear Neighbors -
It’s been over a month since the acts of political terrorism took the lives of Melissa and Mark Hortman, injured John and Yvette Hoffman, and left Minnesota grieving. I was inspired by the thousands of people that visited the State Capitol to honor Melissa, Mark, and their dog, Gilbert, as they lay in state last month, and those who attended and watched their funeral the following day. You can watch a recording of the funeral here.
The thing I most admire about Melissa is how she always measured the impact of any decision she made, or policy she passed, by the tangible impact it had on Minnesotans. As we move forward in the months and years ahead, let us all aspire to carry on her legacy by standing up for what’s right and doing what we can to improve the lives of everyone in Minnesota.
Trump and his Republican-controlled Congress passed their Big Bad Terrible bill into law on July 4th, initiating the largest transfer of wealth from everyday Americans to the richest Americans in U.S. history. Republicans ignored dire warnings and public opposition and instead chose to sell out working Americans to pay for trillions in tax cuts for billionaires and corporate monopolies. Their budget reconciliation law will hurt folks here in Minnesota - stealing from seniors who rely on care, students seeking higher education, families who need help paying for groceries, and all of us everyday people who will have to pay more for their own health care due to Medicaid cuts. I spoke at a rally against Trump’s awful bill, and about the dire impacts it will have on people in our district and state.
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Congressional Republicans and President Trump’s budget is certainly big, but there is nothing beautiful about eliminating health care for our vulnerable neighbors, slashing access to food support, or reversing our progress in tackling climate change. Considering the purpose of these cuts is to pay for more tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations, and funding a private militia to harass and illegally detain our neighbors without any process, the budget is downright ugly.
Health Care Cuts
The new law makes the largest health care cut in U.S. history, kicking an estimated 11.8 million people off health care in the next 10 years and resulting in 250,000 Minnesotans losing access to the health care they need. One-in-four Minnesotans rely on Medicaid for their health care, including people with disabilities, seniors, children, and low-income families. Along with other cuts within the law, the package will imperil hospitals, nursing homes, and other health providers who rely on Medicaid funding to keep their doors open, many of which are already facing a serious financial strain. As people lose insurance, we will see an increase in uncompensated care at our clinics and emergency rooms, driving up health care costs for everyone. The law also defunds Planned Parenthood, a key provider of services such as cancer screenings, routine exams, and birth control.
Food Support Cuts
Additionally, the Republican bill cuts the food support program called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps low-income Minnesotans pay for groceries. More than 440,000 Minnesotans rely on this support to feed their families healthy food. If families lose access to this food support, they will be forced to choose between skipping meals and paying their bills. More and more families will rely on their local food banks. With nine million visits from Minnesotans last year, our food shelves and food banks are already stretched thin and struggling to meet the needs of our communities.
Climate and Green Energy Job Cuts
Minnesota is a nationwide leader in the clean energy transition, with a goal of 100% carbon-free energy by 2040. This is an ambitious goal and we are on track to meet it. Unfortunately, by gutting the federal tax credits for clean energy production, the law threatens our progress. By eliminating these tax credits, Minnesota will lose 13,000 clean energy jobs and $7.8 billion in green energy infrastructure investments by 2030. The Republican cuts will hamper Minnesota’s innovation in our clean energy economy, causing us to rely more on expensive, polluting sources like coal and increasing our energy bills by more than 10%.
Tax Breaks for Billionaires and Monopolies
The reason for these sweeping cuts is simple: Republicans need the money to pay for massive tax breaks for corporations and the wealthiest among us. Republicans cut $1.3 trillion out of health care and food support to pay for the tax cuts for those making more than $500,000 annually, with the top 1% among us set to get $117 billion in tax breaks in 2026. Instead of making the programs more efficient, Republicans added new onerous Paperwork Requirements for Medicaid and SNAP so that enrollees can’t get access to health insurance or food support without filling out time-consuming and technical paperwork every month. The vast majority of able-bodied adults receiving benefits are already working. What this bill does is use paperwork requirements to stop eligible Minnesotans from accessing their benefits, which drives up local property taxes by shifting a huge administrative burden onto Minnesotan countries. Again, all to pay for their billionaire tax cuts.
I won’t sugar coat it, the Republican's federal budget law will hurt Minnesotans. But we must make a different choice as we look for a path forward - standing up for the power of everyday people and working to improve the lives and livelihoods of seniors, students and everyone in our community that isn’t the wealthy and powerful few.
Even here in Minnesota, we’ve seen Minnesota Republicans continue to defend Trump’s Extreme MAGA agenda and deflect from the real harm these actions will have on Minnesotans. Instead of rolling up their sleeves and working with us to find ways to protect Minnesotans who rely on Medicaid from these catastrophic cuts and the private provider fraud we’ve seen targeting our Medicaid program, Minnesota Republicans are focused on their political project of going after Governor Walz.
That’s what happened earlier this month, at the GOP-controlled Fraud Prevention and Oversight Committee, which I serve on, specifically focused on Medicaid and eligibility.
 Minnesota Republicans spent most of their time taking swipes at Governor Walz and DHS and didn’t want to talk about the hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who will lose health care coverage because of Trump’s cruel Medicaid cuts, or the millions that will see higher health care costs as a result. They didn’t want to talk about the draconic paperwork requirements or how this bill will devastate our counties, who are already struggling to keep up with fraudsters due to a lack of funding.
The fact is that if Minnesota Republicans were serious about waste and fraud, they wouldn’t be lining up in support of the Trump law that cuts Medicaid and cuts support for our counties who are doing the real work of reporting fraud, all to pay for giveaways and tax goodies for billionaires.
As I said in committee, we don’t have control over what’s in Trump’s Big Terrible Bill, but we will have to deal with its impact on our neighbors and our communities. I’ll continue to speak up about the dire impact this bill will have on Minnesota because we must do better.
We must continue to show how these cuts will impact real people, our neighbors and friends. If you or someone you know will be impacted by these cuts, please reach out to my office ([email protected]) and share your story.
On July 1, our new state budget took effect, along with the majority of the new policies lawmakers enacted this past session. As with all of this year’s successful legislation, these new laws are the product of bipartisan compromise. While there are certainly components of the budget I wish went further, especially with Trump and Congressional Republicans turning their backs on working families, there are still plenty of new commonsense policies and investments to be proud of.
Highlights include:
Minnesota Public Radio provided a brief overview of some of these laws and more, but if you’d like a deep dive of what’s been implemented, you can read a nonpartisan summary of all the new laws here.
One thing I love most about living in South Minneapolis and representing District 63B is our strong legacy of civic participation. That doesn’t just mean voter participation, (though we are the highest in the state!) it also means connecting with each other as neighbors, building community, and participating in events like National Night Out.
National Night Out is coming up on Tuesday, August 5, and I’m looking forward to visiting block parties and connecting with our neighbors like I have in years past. If your block is having an event and would like me to stop by, please reach out to my office ([email protected]) and let me know! I look forward to seeing you and talking about how we can continue to build a Minnesota that works better for everyone.
Thank you for your time, energy, and all you do to make our community a great place to live, work, and play. Always feel free to reach out to me with your input and ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance. My email is [email protected] or you are always welcome to call me at the Capitol at 651-296-4200 and follow my Facebook page for updates.
It’s an honor and a privilege to be your State Representative. I'm very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish together and look forward to the work we have ahead of us. Together, we can create a stronger, brighter future for all Minnesotans!
Best,
Emma Greenman
State Representative
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