My fellow Minnesotans, we are in a crisis and it is past time to address it. The most vulnerable of our people cannot survive unless we take action. People of faith and decency need to band together to demand we raise the wages of the folks that take care of our developmentally disabled, our physically disabled, the elderly and the mentally ill. They work hard and do so with kindness and compassion! This is pro-life, pro-family and is morally the right thing to do.

There are currently over 18,000 positions open across the state, which is up from 7,000 just a couple of years ago. Good people would fill these positions, but cannot afford to do so because they cannot feed their children on the salary. This is a disgrace. Young people who are physically disabled are being forced into nursing homes because they cannot find caregivers. Imagine for a minute being 17 or 18 and the only option to live is in a nursing home with the elderly people in their final years. You would have almost no control of your life. The irony is that it is more expensive to put someone in a nursing home.

Year after year, proposals come forward to increase the wages, and year after year, the proposals are sacrificed so we can fund other priorities. This is not a partisan issue. Both sides of the aisle are culpable in this negligence as they balanced the budget on the backs of our caregivers.

It is time to say enough is enough and act to preserve the dignity of our Disability Community. Please contact your state representative and your state senator and tell them to do the right thing!

Rep. Jack Considine
District 19B, Mankato