Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Lawmaker seeks ‘overdue’ cash assistance for MFIP families

House Photography file photo
House Photography file photo

When the Legislature started discussing cash benefits for households on the Minnesota Family Investment Program in 2020, the program had about 26,000 participants.

That number has jumped to 34,000 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is something that is overdue,” Rep. Mohamud Noor (DFL-Mpls) told the House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee Tuesday. “We’re talking about children. We’re talking about kids who are living in poverty.”

He sponsors HF1785, which would provide onetime supplemental payments of up to $500 to families on MFIP, using a $17 million appropriation in fiscal year 2022 from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families fund, a federal block grant program.

It was amended to reflect the increased number of families on the program and laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill.

A companion, SF1731, is sponsored by Sen. Melissa Wiklund (DFL-Bloomington) and awaits action by the Senate Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee.

Even with other aid, like federal stimulus payments, families are still struggling to afford basic necessities such as rent, food, child care, clothing, and other costs of daily life that may not be covered by other programs, testifiers said.

In addition, many people on MFIP lost their jobs shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., meaning that they “lost out on thousands, and thousands, and thousands of dollars in safety net” funding made available to workers laid off in direct response to the pandemic, said Jessica Webster, a staff attorney with the Legal Services Advocacy Project.

“We have seen the desperation that these families are showing … not being able to meet basic needs,” she said. “The TANF dollars are there to make that investment.”

Rep. Tony Albright (R-Prior Lake) said the more effective and long-term way of helping families in need is to allow them to “get back to work by opening the economy in a safe manner” and urged the committee to focus on that.

Even for people with jobs, their wages may be so low that they need cash assistance, as well as food and child care assistance, in order to make ends meet, said Rep. Jennifer Schultz (DFL-Duluth), the committee chair.

The bill also would provide a $31,000 appropriation from the General Fund to the Department of Human Services to cover technology costs associated with administering the cash benefit.


Related Articles


Priority Dailies

House passes tax package that includes rebate checks, $1 billion in new revenues
Rep. Aisha Gomez and House Majority Leader Jamie Long talk during a break in the May 20 debate on HF1938, the tax finance and policy bill. (Photo by Catherine Davis) Is it the largest tax cut in Minnesota history? Or the biggest tax hike the state has ever experienced? Could it be both? That’s the crux of the debate about the conference ...
House passes finalized cannabis legalization bill, sends it to Senate
A supporter of cannabis legalization demonstrates in front of the Capitol in 2021. The House repassed a bill to legalize recreational cannabis, as amended in conference committee, May 18 and sent HF100 to the Senate. (House Photography file photo) The House gave the green light to adult-use recreational cannabis Thursday. “The day has finally arrived. Today is the day that we are going to vote here in the House for th...

Minnesota House on Twitter