Governor Dayton's Response to Free Our People Award

[A PDF containing an image of the letter is available at http://bit.ly/iFZe2J ]

[Printed on letterhead reserved for the State of Minnesota's Office of Governor Mark Dayton.]

June 21, 2011

Dear members of ADAPT Minnesota:

Thank you for inviting me to attend ADAPT Minnesota's First Annual Free Our People Award Ceremony.  It is truly an honor to be recognized by your organization and Minnesotans with disabilities.  I am sorry I am not able to join you today.

On May 24, 2011, I vetoed the Legislature's Health and Human Services budget bill, which proposed severely damaging cuts to the services needed by many Minnesotans with disabilities.  When I vetoed that bill, I sent a letter explaining my reasons and in that letter I wrote:

This Health and Human Services bill, passed by the House and Senate, would cause devastating harm to many thousands of Minnesotans, which I will strongly oppose.  I cannot support a $1.8 billion reduction in health and human service spending.  A reduction of this size jeopardizes the progress Minnesota has made in providing health coverage for the uninsured, supporting our seniors in their communities, offering treatment and community support for people with mental illness, and establishing a public health infrastructure that protects all Minnesotans.  I understand the need for belt-tightening and I embrace the need for reform.  But I do not accept that Minnesota must go backward in the support we provide to our most vulnerable citizens.  We are better than that.

The state budget is about values and priorities as much as it is about dollars and cents.  It remains my priority to protect the most vulnerable Minnesotans from devastating cuts to the services they rely on for day-to-day living.

Once again, thank you for your invitation to today's ceremony, and thank you for your continued efforts to build a better Minnesota for ALL Minnesotans.

My best regards.

Sincerely,
Mark Dayton
Governor