Kelly Morrison Reads Letter From Minnesota Republican Legislators To President Trump On House Floor

4/7/2025

During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Kelly Morrison (D-MN) read a letter written by Republican lawmakers in the Minnesota state legislature to President Trump, and condemned the Administration's recent actions.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. Speaker, today I rise with a letter. This is a letter from Republican, Republican state

00:10legislators from my home state of Minnesota addressed to President Trump and Republicans

00:14in Congress. Please listen carefully. Dear Mr. President, Congressman Emmer, Congressman

00:20Finstead, Congresswoman Fischbach, Congressman Stauber, and Ms. Carlton, Minnesota has been

00:25a leader in providing access to care and containing costs and now stands vulnerable to unworkable

00:30funding reductions with some of what is being proposed in the federal budget. A move to

00:35a per capita cap or block grant program will be workable if the reduction is modest, manageable,

00:41and accompanied by extreme flexibility. Too deep of a cut is unmanageable in any instance.

00:48Innovation is occurring in Minnesota within the current financing and waiver structure.

00:52We're moving people with disabilities into greater independence. Massive Medicaid reductions

00:57could punish Minnesota for being such a strong leader in greater efficiencies and better

01:01outcomes. It would devastate already lean areas of service we've been working to make

01:06more efficient for many years. As Republican leaders in Minnesota, we have been partners

01:11for designing a state health and human services system that meets the needs of our great state.

01:17Just to emphasize what you already know, Medicaid includes services and care for the seniors

01:21and those with disabilities, not just health care for the poor. Additionally, nearly 50%

01:26of all Medicaid enrollees are children. Given some of the large numbers coming out of Washington,

01:32we are concerned that these are in no practical way to accommodate some of the proposed massive

01:39reductions and still provide the kind of care these vulnerable people require. Drastic reductions

01:44to Medicaid funding have the potential to impact the 1.4 million people we serve and

01:49place incredible pressure on our overall state budget. There are no other sources to

01:53make up the lost federal share beyond severely impacting the seniors and those with disabilities

01:59who we serve. This is contrary to how we Republicans respect the aged and the vulnerable. Deep

02:06reductions beyond what we can absorb will also put a major strain on the state's ability

02:10to support our county-based infrastructure. In our county-based service model via the

02:14property tax, counties already pay very significant shares of human services costs, including

02:20child protection, waiver management, chemical dependency, mental health, and state facility

02:25stays and have little capacity to absorb any significant additional cost. The only choices

02:31available are being forced to raise local property taxes drastically or close services.

02:37Finally, health care is a major employer in rural Minnesota. Reductions and already too

02:42slow reimbursement rates would not only limit access but would also reduce pay and services

02:47hugely impacting rural economies and the rapidly growing aging population in greater Minnesota.

02:55Please remind our good leaders in Washington that simply cutting the budget is not going

02:59to take away our responsibilities to the aged, those with disabilities and mental health

03:05needs, children, and the poor. You can make a difference in this debate. Please, please

03:11do. Respectfully signed by more than a dozen Republican state legislators. This, from Republican

03:21legislators to the Republican president and the Republican majority in Congress, their

03:27plea is clear, the threat is real, the facts are undeniable. Republicans and state legislatures

03:33do not want to gut Medicaid. Minnesotans do not want to gut Medicaid. Americans do not

03:40want to gut Medicaid. So why in the world are congressional Republicans teeing up these

03:45massive cuts to Medicaid in their budget? Because they are singularly focused on giving

03:51massive tax breaks to their wealthy donors, to billionaires like Elon Musk, and to huge

03:57corporations. They are willing to do that by selling out health care coverage for 80

04:02million Americans. That's it. It's really that simple. But to my Republican colleagues,

04:09you cannot hide from your own party raising the alarm not to do this. You cannot hide

04:14from the fact that you are choosing to rip health care away from millions of Americans.

04:19You cannot hide from the fact that you are choosing to decimate state budgets in order

04:23to serve your donors and the billionaire elites. You cannot hide from the fact that your state

04:28counterparts and surely your constituents do not want you to do this. So as we consider

04:34the budget this week, we need Republicans in the House of Representatives to finally

04:38stand with Democrats against this disastrous budget.

Kelly Morrison Reads Letter From Minnesota Republican Legislators To President Trump On House Floor

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