About one-in-ten Minnesotans live in poverty, and a third of all households struggle to meet basic needs. Some workers cannot afford housing and go from their jobs to a homeless shelter at night. It is time for a bold approach to help all people thrive.
Many years ago, Senator Marty co-chaired a legislative commission on ending poverty in Minnesota. He is committed to policies to move all Minnesotans out of poverty and enable them to thrive. Like the vast majority of Americans, John believes that anyone working full time should have enough income to pay for basic needs. He authored legislation to significantly raise the minimum wage, and double the Working Family Tax Credit – even with much higher minimum wages, many workers are not able to pay for basic needs without a big increase in this tax credit.
John has pushed for full funding of the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and raising reimbursement rates to ensure all working parents can get quality, reliable childcare. In addition, by raising reimbursement rates, parents have more options, childcare workers can earn better wages, and providers can afford additional training in child development.
He supports increasing the MN Family Investment Program (MFIP) grants because children in families who cannot afford housing and food are robbed of their potential – we can measure how it inhibits their physical, mental, and emotional development. A significant increase in MFIP grants will help stabilize the lives of low-income children.
In addition, he continues working to pass the proposed Minnesota Health Plan, so that all people have comprehensive healthcare that is affordable. This would eliminate the biggest single cause of middle income families slipping into poverty and going into debt.
Strengthening collective bargaining laws to enable workers to organize to obtain fair wages and treatment is also greatly needed.
Economic justice is a moral issue as well as an economic one. Senator Marty believes that every worker should be able to afford basic needs, and that good jobs, with good wages, are good for the economy as well.
Senator Marty has proposed paying for these investments by closing the federal tax loophole in which high income earners are exempt from federal social security taxes on income over $184,500. Minnesota cannot change federal social security law, but if the federal government is not going to collect this revenue from higher income earners it is reasonable for the state to collect it. High income earners would pay the same percentage of their income in social security taxes that other Minnesota workers pay.
