I care about Health Care because I want all families to be stronger, healthier and empowered to stand up for their community. WE are America and these are our values, our lives we must embrace and care about together. Will you join me?… Continue reading »
Minnesota is home to more Fortune 500 companies per capita than 48 other states. Our current count is 19 and they play a significant role in our states economy. But for the the random brotha on the block, our state could be home to all 500 companies and it wouldn’t make a difference. The reality is, those 19 companies are not concerned with him and he ain’t concerned about them.
Here is why, African Americans have an unemployment rate of 27%, versus 5.9% for white folks. So, the presence of those 19 companies is not creating jobs in communities like North Minneapolis. Oh, and did I mention that we (African Americans) only make up 5% of the state’s population but 35% of the state’s prison population? This leads to a higher rate of criminal histories in our community and this is a serious barrier to employment. The conversation around employment ends before it is given a chance to start.
So, how does this translate?
On Broadway and Emerson Avenue, the conversation sounds like this: “I got a felony, ain’t no one trying to hire me.” On Dr. Martin Luther King Drive(AKA the State Capital), it sounds like: “I voted for Ban the Box, isn’t that enough?”… Continue reading »
I truly believe we can create an economy that works more effectively to create jobs and economic justice while still promoting entrepreneurship and attracting investment into Minnesota. Will you join me?
… Continue reading »I am working to ensure that folks like my mother, who work HARD for a living aren’t left on the margins of society. It feels good, also, to WORK towards change and not just sit by and watch it happen! Will you join me?… Continue reading »
I’m involved with TakeAction Minnesota because I want to affect meaningful change in my state around economic justice. I want Minnesota to support all people. Will you join me?… Continue reading »
TakeAction Minnesota is hiring field canvassers, full or part time, for the season and for the long haul. We want people who are articulate and self-disciplined, with a passion for social, racial, and economic justice. We believe that we are all in this together. We embrace a politics of inclusion, and justice for all Minnesotans.
We are a worker friendly organization. We consider our employees to be assets, not expenses. We also offer excellent health and dental insurance.
For more information, contact Enoch LaVelle at 651.379.0766 or Enoch@TakeActionMinnesota.org. TakeAction Minnesota is an equal opportunity employer. Women and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply.… Continue reading »
For decades, Brad and Heidi Stokes have put health care at the center of every important life decision.
Heidi Stokes, whose lupus was diagnosed when she was a teenager, picked her early career path around jobs that offered medical benefits. Husband Brad developed a rare liver disease in the late 1980s and has since had two liver transplants. Their college-age son, Christian, was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 15 months old.
As small business owners with complex medical needs, the couple have had only one realistic option for insurance coverage: the state’s high-risk pool. But that will change Tuesday with the debut of the MNsure insurance exchange, an online marketplace that gives individuals and small businesses a range of choices while using the power of competition and federal tax breaks to hold down costs.
“The idea that we could go shopping for insurance — and select something for ourselves — is just unbelievable,” Heidi Stokes said. “For the first time, I’ve got some hope for the future.”
Effort focused on pushing state Senate to go higher
Back in August, under a pavilion at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in 95-degree heat, supporters of increasing the minimum wage in Minnesota kicked off what would soon become a very public campaign.
Before then, talk of raising the state’s minimum wage of $6.15 per hour — one of the lowest rates in the nation — was mostly confined to the halls of the state Capitol, where differing House and Senate bills were considered last session but failed to yield any agreement by the time the legislative clock ran out. The House bill set an increase from $6.15 to $9.50 per hour, while the Senate offered a more modest proposal to increase the minimum wage to $7.75 per hour. Gov. Mark Dayton, alongside House Democrats and union members, thought the interim would be a good time to publicly pressure the Senate to move their way on minimum wage next session.
At the DFL special endorsing convention for Saint Paul City Council Ward 1 on July 27th, TakeAction-endorsed Dai Thao was the standout in a strong field of candidates vying for the endorsement. Having put together an impressive campaign team in a short two-month period, and having worked tirelessly to secure delegate support, Dai led on 5 of 6 ballots with support from every corner of Ward 1’s diverse communities.
Dai energized the convention with his progressive vision for Ward 1. Dai recognizes that, as he put it, “our diversity is our strength… we are the answers to our challenges when we work together.” Dai painted a picture of a Ward with boundless potential, but still struggling under divisions of wealth and race, and too many obstacles to prosperity. Dai emphasized the need for a councilmember who “will drive hard bargains at City Hall” and “build every necessary relationship and leverage every opportunity to make sure our residents have a place at the table”.
His message was heard loud and clear. While the convention ultimately came to no endorsement, Dai won the day and heads into the General Election with momentum on his side. It will be a spirited contest, but Dai’s strong message and incredible campaign team make him formidable contender.… Continue reading »
I’m a healthy young woman, and to be honest, I never had reason to care much about healthcare until I started interning at TakeAction Minnesota. Little did I know, the Affordable Care Act (Obama’s health care reform law), has already been improving young women’s health while saving them and their families money for over three years. This law is like your secret admirer you either thought was really boring, or didn’t even realize existed.
Let me take you from apathy to infatuation in four bullet points:
July 1st was the date that much of the Minnesota’s 2014-15 tax plan began to be enacted. This includes the new tobacco taxes, the corporate loophole closings, and, of course, the increased income tax on the top 2%. As we pass this milestone, expect critics to make their complaints known. At this point their threats are pretty familiar: taxes force the rich to move out of state and take their jobs with them.
Nowhere was this refrain more tired than in the debate over corporate taxes. For example, this year, the Legislature and Governor faced relentless lobbying from no fewer than four business associations that wanted to preserve a jumbo-sized tax loophole known as the Foreign Royalty Subtraction. This loophole, in essence, created an in-state tax haven for intellectual property. The theory was: if Minnesota shelters certain royalty payments for intellectual property, businesses will create more jobs, and not just any jobs, but high-paying, high-tech jobs in research and development.
As it turns out, this tired theory of taxes was no truer here than it has been in Ireland, Bermuda, or Vanuatu. During the final days of the recent Conference Committee on Taxes, non-partisan staff from the Department of Revenue explained that only three of the top twenty corporations that claimed the Foreign Royalty Subtraction actually had R & D operations in Minnesota. … Continue reading »
ST. PAUL, Minn. — No state is set to embrace the Affordable Care Act as thoroughly as Minnesota, the only one that will implement the “big three” components of health insurance expansion.
That means Minnesota will expand the Medicaid program, develop an online insurance marketplace and offer a basic health program.
It’s the third component that really sets the state apart. Only Minnesota has committed to offering a basic health program, a safety net for people who have too much income to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private insurance. By enacting that third element of the act, Minnesota will take implementation of the federal health care overhaul further than any other state.
Advocates of Minnesota’s approach say moving forward on three of the health law’s biggest initiatives means far more Minnesotans will have access to affordable coverage. But it also means Minnesota will be a unique testing ground for the various moving parts of the ambitious and complex new system.
Significant changes were made to the state’s insurance program for the working poor during the 2013 legislative session
Jeff Nygaard has been enrolled in MinnesotaCare for nearly two decades. Last year the 59-year-old Minneapolis resident earned about $21,000 through freelance writing, part-time work at an art studio and modeling assignments. He currently pays $47 per month for his state-subsidized health-insurance coverage.
Over the years, Nygaard’s dealt with some significant health scares. A decade ago he suffered a stroke owing to a hole in the wall of his heart. That required surgery to fix the problem.
A few years later his elbow swelled painfully. He was diagnosed with cellulitis and treated with antibiotics. If untreated, the skin infection could have been fatal.
“I really would be up a creek without a paddle if I hadn’t had some kind of coverage,” Nygaard said. “If we didn’t have MinnesotaCare, I actually don’t know what I’d do.”
Turns out, Ban the Box is just the beginning.
A victor of the 2013 legislative session, the new bill requires employers to remove the question, and the check box, that asks potential employees about their criminal records. Beginning Jan. 2, 2014, employers can ask about criminal histories only after selecting applicants for interviews.
Advocates of second chances are saying, thank you, thank you. … And, now that we have your attention, here’s what we need you to do next.
“Ban the Box is a big step forward,” said Greta Bergstrom, spokeswoman for TakeAction Minnesota, a statewide people’s network working for social, racial and economic justice. “But it’s not an end unto itself.”
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The state’s new online health insurance marketplace, MNsure, is banking on community groups and other grass-roots organizations to help people sign up for health plans.
MNsure will pay consumer assistants to help Minnesotans apply for and enroll in coverage. But MNsure has a two-tier payment system that advocates for low-income people call unfair.
MNsure is one of the new state-based marketplaces that are a cornerstone of the federal health care law. Because they are new, and tens of millions of Americans will use them to enroll in health insurance for the first time, the federal health care law requires states to help consumers understand and sign up for coverage.
MNsure will pay these consumer assistance partners $70 for each person enrolled in a commercial health plan. But for people whose income is so low that they cannot afford to pay for health insurance and must rely on Medicaid, the federally sponsored program for the poor, MNsure will pay just $25.
“That is the task which we begin today: to inaugurate an age in which our will is equal to our hopes. I believe that our people are waiting, and are ready, for such an age. They are waiting for government to catch up with them.” – Gov. Wendell R. Anderson, Inaugural Address, January 6, 1971
Changing our tax code is a long-run project, and it’s controversial every step of the way. There’s a good reason for that: We negotiate and renegotiate our social contract through taxes. It’s where we sort out who pays and how much and for what. Everybody has a stake and everybody has an opinion. The tax changes coming in Minnesota’s next biennium are no exception.
2013 was an incredible legislative session to be part of the movement for universal healthcare in Minnesota.
Many years we find ourselves on the defense, working as hard as we can just to keep the public health care programs we have, forced to choose just one priority in order to win anything, with little or no additional capacity to think about the long term and move forward. This was not that year, but it wasn’t a cake-walk either.
Real people stepped up and stepped forward into the weedy, wonky world of “health insurance exchange” policy and wrestled it into a simple, urgent message: “People At The Center.” Rather than leaving it to “the experts,” Minnesotans called, emailed, and visited legislators and the Dayton administration to make sure that Minnesota’s new exchange, now called MNsure, was built to serve the needs of people who need healthcare, not the industry that profits off selling it. This meant fighting back the top priorities of big insurance companies in order to keep people on the payroll of big insurance off of our MNsure board, and to allow MNsure to negotiate with insurers for the best plans and the best prices.
At the same time, a strong alliance of diverse organizations worked with the Dayton administration and legislature to make sure that federal health care reform would maintain and expand MinnesotaCare into a model program for states around the country.… Continue reading »
It was a big session for health legislation at the Minnesota Capitol.
Lawmakers expanded the Medicaid insurance program in February and met a federal deadline in March to pass legislation for a health insurance exchange.
As the session drew to a close, legislators passed a bill that spells out rules for how the current health insurance market can continue once the exchange gets rolling. And a bill signed by Gov. Mark Dayton on Thursday outlines the future for MinnesotaCare, a state health insurance program for lower-income families.
What a difference one election can make.
The list of populist achievements in this year’s legislative session is long and impressive. Marriage equality. A new health care exchange free of insurance industry conflicts of interest. “Ban the box” legislation opening up access to employment for ex-offenders and moving us one step forward to closing the racial jobs gap. There will be fairer taxation, all-day kindergarten, and a stronger MinnesotaCare.
It’s a day-and-night difference from the last Legislature, whose Republican majorities refused to raise taxes and caused a state government shutdown. They placed the anti-marriage-equality and photo ID amendments on the ballot, and used Obamacare as a political football.
On Election Day 2012, both amendments were defeated and the DFL won the triple crown of state government by taking control of the state House and Senate.
“That is the task which we begin today: to inaugurate an age in which our will is equal to our hopes. I believe that our people are waiting, and are ready, for such an age. They are waiting for government to catch up with them.” – Governor Wendell R. Anderson, Inaugural Address, January 6, 1971
Changing our tax code is a long run project and it’s controversial every step of the way. There’s a good reason for that: we negotiate and renegotiate our social contract through taxes. It’s where we sort out who pays and how much and for what. Everybody has a stake and everybody has an opinion. The tax changes coming in the next biennium are no exception.
First, what happened? In a nutshell, we, as a state, did five things: 1) we raised $1.1 billion by asking the top 2% to pay 2% more, 2) we closed over $400 million in corporate tax loopholes, 3) we raised another $400 million in tobacco taxes, 4) we raised taxes nearly $100 million on large inheritances, and 5) we did a mini-version of sales tax reform: taxing digital goods and a handful of business services while lowering other taxes.
These are significant changes, but none of them are unprecedented. … Continue reading »
“This campaign has lit a grassroots fire that has swept our state. We want a politics that happens by us, and not to us… Tonight I’m so happy to say we closed the chapter on no and we opened the chapter on yes – yes to a future where Minnesota unites in active grassroots democracy.”
Remember that? Election night 2012. Against all odds, an amazing grassroots movement defeated two harmful amendments and elected a progressive majority to the Capitol. We were on cloud nine. But we also knew we hadn’t won anything yet.
But what happened next? You refused to go away. The grassroots movement that started last fall got even stronger, and won a long list of populist achievements in this legislative session. A new health care exchange that puts people at the center. Ban the Box legislation that takes a step toward closing the racial jobs gap. Fairer taxation that closes corporate tax loopholes and invests in all-day kindergarten and a stronger MinnesotaCare. And those are just the issues TakeAction Minnesota focused on most. Our friends and allies led the way, passing marriage equality, the DREAM Act, the Homeowners Bill of Rights, the right to organize for personal care attendants and childcare workers…and on and on…and on.We… Continue reading »
A few hours before the cops clapped handcuffs on him, James Cannon, a student at the University of Minnesota, was feeling better than ever about his prospects for the future: He’d just handed in his last college paper and was looking forward to a well-paying career in the medical field.
But as he celebrated at the bar that night, he had a few too many drinks and traded insults with a stranger. The words led to blows, and someone called the police, who caught Cannon holding onto the stranger by his backpack and charged him with attempted theft. For years after that, whenever Cannon applied for a job, he had to check off a box denoting his criminal record.
The once-promising young college graduate found himself working in a warehouse for about $8 an hour, picking up boxes of mashed potatoes that had fallen off a conveyer belt. “I never saw myself doing that kind of job,” he said. “But you have to be humble when you have a record.”
I recently attended a superhero themed birthday party for a 3 year old. Imagine dozens of kids in capes, masks, and tights of all colors. Yes, it was a cute as it sounds. During this party, as cake was doled out and presents were opened, I watched parent after parent explain the concept of sharing to their kids. At one point, I overheard a parent say to their 3 year old, “we share so that everyone can have a good time.”
It’s time for corporations in our state to learn this lesson of sharing. For too long, corporations have failed to pay their fair share, and have instead been taking advantage of every opportunity they can to keep more and more money for themselves.
Let’s look at the real life examples of this in our state. We have corporations like Verizon paying 0% state income tax. We have companies like Wells Fargo using tax loopholes to stash money tax-free in Cayman Island shell companies. And we are just recently learning more about the millions of dollars in excess reserves that the four biggest HMOs in Minnesota are sitting on. That’s money that they’ve made from running our public health care programs that isn’t being spent on care.… Continue reading »
The system is broken and it needs to be fixed.
For Justin Terrell it is just that simple. The current way the country goes about servicing and caring for its poor is in dysfunction. In the eyes of Terrell, something has to change, and he is at the forefront of a growing movement for change. Make no mistake, Terrell is not just a voice for change, he is quickly becoming an agent for change. The 32-year-old former college football running back, is attacking poverty in the same bruising style in which he ran the ball.
“For the past 10 years I’ve done direct service work,” said Terrell, who is the program manager for TakeAction Minnesota’s Justice 4 All campaign. “After doing 10 years of really cool work I was dismayed at the way the system is set up to keep people poor.”
Advocates are pressing Minnesota legislators to close tax loopholes and prevent companies from shifting income to offshore subsidiaries to avoid paying taxes.
TakeAction Minnesota says that companies are avoiding paying millions in taxes, which either results in service reductions around the state or higher taxes for all Minnesotans.
“Minnesota families cannot continue to pay for corporate tax avoidance,” said Greta Bergstrom, spokeswoman for Take Action Minnesota, an advocacy group.
Legislators are exploring a proposal to close some tax loopholes, which would bring in an additional $36.5 million over the next two years. If legislators closed all tax loopholes, the state could potentially take in an additional $350 million.
Earlier today, Governor Mark Dayton signed Minnesota’s new Health Insurance Exchange, MNSure, into law. Here’s what Dan McGrath, our Executive Director, had to say on this historic occasion:
“Today, Governor Dayton signed some of the most historic legislation of the past fifty years into state law, ensuring that 1.3 million Minnesotans have access to affordable health care coverage, including 300,000 currently uninsured individuals and over 150,000 employees of small businesses struggling to provide coverage. MNSure is designed to put the health care needs of Minnesotans as its top priority.
“The new MNSure health care marketplace will ensure that health insurance plans will compete for consumer business in an open and transparent way by allowing consumers to select the plan that meets their budget and health care needs. MNSure will bring much needed security and financial peace-of-mind to hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans struggling to get the health care they need when they need it.
“For the first time ever, Minnesota health care consumers are on a level playing field with health insurance companies. This exchange means that individuals, as well as the employees and owners of small businesses, will have the same buying power and control over their health plans as big businesses.… Continue reading »
Instead of employing capable and qualified workers, many claim the Target Corporation would rather employ unfair hiring practices that disproportionately exclude African-Americans.
Ten African-American Minnesotans filed formal complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claiming they were wrongfully denied employment based on their past run-ins with the criminal justice system. In a press conference held outside of the Hennepin County Government Center, members of TakeAction Minnesota, the St. Paul branch of the NAACP and a woman who said her offer for employment was rescinded by Target once a misdemeanor conviction came to light, called on the retail giant to end its practice of using past criminal transgressions to deny employment. The group said they have learned of 150 applicants who were denied employment based on past criminal transgressions.
The group said Target is unnecessarily discriminating against applicants of color who have criminal records in their past, but who are presently qualified for the jobs for which they are applying.
After a more than $100 million investment to create a Minnesota health insurance exchange, a leading proponent worries insurers will snub it.
The success of health exchanges relies on having good choices for consumers, but state Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, said he’s nervous the selection will be lacking if too many insurers stay away.
“If nobody is coming in and shopping in our market because there just aren’t really any products in there to begin with — that’s my biggest fear,” Atkins said last week.
The health exchange in Minnesota reaches a key milestone this week with scheduled votes on legislation in the House on Monday, March 4, and the Senate on Thursday.
Instead of employing capable and qualified workers, many claim the Target Corporation would rather employ unfair hiring practices that disproportionately exclude African-Americans.
Ten African-American Minnesotans filed formal complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claiming they were wrongfully denied employment based on their past run-ins with the criminal justice system. In a press conference held outside of the Hennepin County Government Center, members of TakeAction Minnesota, the St. Paul branch of the NAACP and a woman who said her offer for employment was rescinded by Target once a misdemeanor conviction came to light, called on the retail giant to end its practice of using past criminal transgressions to deny employment. The group said they have learned of 150 applicants who were denied employment based on past criminal transgressions.
The group said Target is unnecessarily discriminating against applicants of color who have criminal records in their past, but who are presently qualified for the jobs for which they are applying.
After years of work, the creation of Minnesota’s new Health Exchange is heading into the final stretch. It is in its final committees now, and we expect it to head to the full legislature as early as next week. 
Two of the most critical elements – the ability of our Exchange to negotiate for Minnesotans and a board free from financial conflicts of interest – are still in the bill, but the insurance industry has lobbied aggressively to have them removed, and committee votes have been razor thin. Earlier this week, a House committee voted to preserve the power to negotiate by only one vote. Even two Democrats voted on the side of the insurance industry.
These next few weeks are going to be a critical moment to have your voice heard. Stay tuned – get ready to contact your legislators to make that your voice is heard above that of the insurance industry.
We’ll be in touch, and together, we’ll make sure Minnesota’s Exchange is created with people at the center.
Sarah Greenfield
Sarah is TakeAction Minnesota’s Health Care Program Manager.… Continue reading »
