As leaders in the Minnesota business community, we understand that safe and stable homes support a strong workforce and a stable economy that underpins our success. And we know that the absence of a home can lead to significant personal repercussions. Whether brought on by racial disparity or a health or financial crisis, there are many among us who are just one step away from falling into homelessness.
In cities and counties across Minnesota, emergency shelters play a critical role in offering stability and a jumping-off point for individuals in crisis who are working to rebuild a stable home. But these shelters are forced to rely on private and philanthropic donations, which alone aren’t enough to match the extent of the homelessness crisis.
We believe that now is the time for state lawmakers to invest in Minnesota’s emergency shelter system and those experiencing homelessness. Practical solutions are already on the table – including $70 million in ongoing funding for shelter operations through the Emergency Services Program and $150 million to increase shelter capacity across the state. Building on these core investments are requests for aid from trusted shelter providers and local governments that could launch innovative pilot projects and expand existing programs with proven results.
These investments aren’t just the right thing to do, they’re the smart thing to do.
Providing long-term dividends
Emergency shelter services offer cost savings for larger and more costly systems down the road, including the healthcare, education, and criminal justice systems.
Strengthening our economy
Employees are less likely to be successful at work without the certainty of a safe place to sleep at night and a place to store their things. Emergency shelters can provide some constancy to help individuals in crisis maintain employment and more quickly get back on their feet.
Investing in trusted programs
Minnesota is already home to a robust network of nonprofit emergency services providers that serve as the state’s safety net. They know what works. Investing in them will support our communities and people in need.
Providers, communities, and bipartisan legislators from across Minnesota have long called for these investments to address the state’s homelessness crisis. But now, as we witness growing numbers of encampments and shelters operating beyond capacity, Minnesota has a real opportunity to draw on a record state budget surplus and make a lasting difference.
We stand by our community partners and their calls for bold public investments in the emergency shelter system this legislative session. Together, we can end homelessness and create communities where everyone can thrive.
Jay Debertin is the president and CEO of CHS Inc., Christophe Beck is chairman and CEO of Ecolab, James Hereford is president and CEO of Fairview Health Services, Jim Pohlad is the chairman of the Minnesota Twins, Craig Leipold is the owner of the Minnesota Wild and Chris Hilger is chairman, president and CEO of Securian Financial.
Careful fellows, you may be “Woke Targeted” with views like these. Don’t you know that issues like these are to be blamed and not solved?
Of course, as successful capitalists you all understand that making things better is almost always accompanied by spending more on the things you wish to improve (Nice contract extension for Pablo Lopez, Mr. Pohlad). It is a good thing your topic was not education, because many of the contrarians here will tell you that the only way to make education better is to spend less…
So let me see if I have this right. A consortium of multiple hundred millionaires and billionaires would like the taxpayers of MN (and not themselves, since everyone know THEY don’t actually pay any taxes)to cover the cost of paying for more homeless shelters to “improve the economy” (make THEM more money). For a cost any one of them could mostly cover with little difficulty themselves. Compassionate conservatism indeed.
Funny how the top 1% pay no taxes when their tax incidence is around 11% .
They don’t make income, therefore they don’t pay tax. Why do you think they’re so hellbent against wealth taxes or raising the capital gains tax?
The top 1% of earners pay40% of federal income taxes
I believe 40% is greater than 0%.
You can argue that their share should be higher, but factual arguments are better than your maga like nonsense
Well Greg you know this gets really sticky? You look at the top 1% and the number comes in a little over 1.3-1.8 M, with ~ 158M in the work force, your point becomes, ~ 1% made over 22% of all the income and paid ~ 42% of the taxes. Well 22% of total income going to ~ 1% of the working population, tough pill to swallow from this perspective. Kind of like Bernie Sanders, if you can’t survive on a $100M, not sure we should be shedding any tears for you no matter how you look at it. Example Median income ~ $41,535, so we don’t have an average but, yields ~ $6, 562, 530, 000, 000 in yearly wages, so $1,443,760,000,000 is 22% of that which yields ~ $802,807 each in income. So there income is ~ 19.3 X the mean of the mean worker. Wouldn’t you think they should pay 19.3X in taxes?