NAMI Minnesota Action Alert
May 20,2015
Action Alert - Call the Governor's Office Today
Very late - with barely minutes to spare - an amendment that included the
funding for employment and housing was placed on the omnibus agriculture bill
and was passed and sent to the Governor on Monday night. Basically, the
conferees for the omnibus jobs bill were having a difficult time coming to an
agreement on what to fund and the conference committee meeting kept being
delayed. The conference committee ended up putting together a "lights on"
amendment meaning that very few new items for funding were included.
This was BAD news for us because the senate version of the bill included
increased funding for the Bridges Housing program (which is a rental subsidy
program for people with mental illnesses) which has a long waiting list (1300
people) and the bill included continued funding for the IPS supported employment
program for people with mental illnesses. In the last biennium we were able to
get one time funding to transform the EE-SMI employment programs to IPS
(Individual Placement and Supports) but the money was not included in the base.
In order to keep these programs going we needed to add the funding to the
budget which the Governor did in his proposed budget and which the senate did
in its bill.
The final compromise does not include increased funding for the Bridges
program and does not include the continued funding for these new IPS
projects.
Without this funding, 200 people with serious mental illnesses will lose IPS
services, meaning persons will lose access to placement services and ongoing
job support services for those that are working. The following counties will lose
access to IPS services: Sherburne, Stearns, Benton, Dakota, Nobles, Cottonwood,
Jackson, Rock, Pipestone, Blue Earth, Douglas, Hennepin, Anoka, Ottertail,
Wilken, Winona, Houston, Wabasha, Fillmore.
We have heard that there is a chance that the governor will veto this bill so we
believe we should add some pressure so we can work to get this money back in.
Everyone needs to call Governor Dayton today with the following
message:
"We support the increased funding for mental health services in the omnibus
health and human services bill but we urge you to veto the jobs bill because it
does not include the funding needed to continue supported employment
programs for people with mental illnesses and it does not include increases to the
Bridges Housing program. Thank you."
The Governor's phone number is (651) 201-3400 or Toll Free: 800-657-3717.
Time is of the essence - make your phone call today!!
Not sure who represents you?
NAMI Minnesota | 800 Transfer Road, Suite 31 | St. Paul, MN 55114
namihelps@namimn.org| http://www.namihelps.org
651-645-2948 | 1-888-NAMI-HELPS
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