Add your voice by signing this letter.

Dear Speaker Hortman, Majority Leader Gazelka, and Governor Walz,

As clergy and religious leaders from across Minnesota, we are writing to ask you to pass a budget that funds the urgent needs of our members and communities. We face unprecedented need and hardship revealed by the pandemic, but which was present before COVID-19. This moment requires bold leadership from you. 

We recently passed the one-year mark of this pandemic in Minnesota. We've experienced a year of devastation: we've prayed with family members who had to say goodbye to loved ones over video, cried with parents who lost their jobs, cared for those who face worsening mental health crises, buried those who've risked their lives to care for us, counseled people losing their homes--all while doing our best to keep our communities and loved ones safe. 

There is enough in this state to meet the need. Not everyone has suffered during this pandemic. Large corporations and extremely wealthy Minnesotans have flourished and should be asked to pay their fair share in this budget. Our needs are big, but we also know there is enough. We need you to lead for the future all Minnesotans deserve. 

Essential workers need a living wage and benefits so they can stay home when they are sick. We must fully fund childcare to ensure the centers and workers that stayed open--so essential health care workers and teachers could keep working--can make a living wage while teaching and caring for our youngest. And we need to address a profound housing crisis that the pandemic made worse. 

Not passing a budget this year to meet these needs means more profound and unnecessary suffering. You will have failed Minnesota's families, communities, our children and our future. 

Our values require that we meet this moment and ensure no Minnesotan is left behind. Our state's recovery must provide for those who have risked and lost so much. 

We need bold, courageous leadership to raise the revenue to build a stronger future. 

Blessings in Your Leadership,

Minnesota Clergy and Religious Leaders