Balanced Approach - ABC Newspaper

Katherine Wagoner, ABC Newspapers, February 16, 2011

Balanced approach

To the Editor:

As I’ve been listening to our elected officials debate how to address the budget shortfall, the severity of what’s at stake is becoming clear. It’s more than a math problem, it’s about whether or not we will continue to invest in education, health care, roads, and care for veterans, the elderly and people experiencing poverty.

So far this year our representatives have proposed a cuts-only approach that would jeopardize the future of our state and our many citizens.

To address the $6.2 billion shortfall with cuts alone, we will see consequences that cause real pain to real people.

I work first-hand with people struggling to find work in this economy and cuts to supported employment programs, subsidized childcare and transportation assistance will hurt unemployed people as they fight to get back on their feet.

It is wrong to balance the budget on the backs of the vulnerable – Minnesota is better than that.

Fortunately, we have another choice. We can take a balanced approach that includes raising revenues, and at the same time we can create fairness in our tax system. High-income earners should be paying the same percentage of their income in state and local taxes as those of us in the low-income and middle-income brackets.

I hope that is the kind of solution we see when Gov. Dayton releases his budget. It’s the right thing for working families, for unemployed and low-income and for all of us working to recover from the recession.

That’s why I’m involved with the Invest in Minnesota coalition uniting faith, labor and nonprofit organizations in our call for a balanced approach.

Katherine Wagoner
Coon Rapids