Thank You for Making MN AFL-CIO Working Families Day a Success!

A big thank you to all the union members and supporters who came to the Capitol to stand up for family-sustaining jobs and tax fairness. The hundreds of people who turned out showed Minnesota’s elected leaders that middle class families won’t sit quietly by as investment in our communities, schools, health care, and transportation infrastructure continues to be neglected.

Though our day on the hill is over, much work remains at the Legislature. With Governor Pawlenty unwilling to take a balanced approach, legislators plan to use cuts alone to solve the budget mess. For most Minnesotans, these cuts mean higher property taxes, cuts in basic services like road maintenance and libraries, overburdened hospitals, larger class sizes, and job loss. These outcomes are unacceptable in any economic climate, but even more burdensome when middle class families have already sacrificed so much. In fact, Minnesotans making $67,000 a year pay 12 percent of their income in state and local taxes while people making more than $448,000 a year pay just 8.9 percent. Clearly the rich aren’t sacrificing like the middle class are.

In these remaining weeks, be sure to contact your legislator and tell them to stand up for working Minnesotans.