nienstedtThe Health and Human Services omnibus bill passed the Minnesota Legislature Monday with deep cuts totaling $500 million and now awaits action from Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is expected to veto the bill. Catholic leaders say the bill should be signed because it’d impact the poor less than would Pawlenty’s proposal, and further cuts would be devastating to those in need.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference, the lobbying group for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, hailed the DFL omnibus bill on Tuesday as promoting “dignity and the common good” and for supporting those most in need. “While the HHS Budget Omnibus bill contains hurtful cuts, it recognizes the importance of maintaining critical assistance for Minnesota’s poorest families — especially in our ailing economy,” the group said.

The group implied that Pawlenty should sign the bill. “Gov. Tim Pawlenty has until Friday, May 15 to sign or veto the HHS Budget Omnibus bill,” said the Conference. “While the bill contains $489 million in cuts for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010-11 and $742 million in cuts for FY 2012-13, it preserves many needed services for our sisters and brothers who are poor and vulnerable.”

Catholic Charities also weighed in on the bill this week. Kathy Tomlin, director of the Catholic Charities Office for Social Justice, said even the cuts passed by the legislature are too deep — and those proposed by Pawlenty would be devastating.

One of the most egregious cuts debated at the Minnesota Capi­tol were those that would strip services from General Assistance Medical Care, a health care program that serves very low-income persons. Thirty-two thousand people are on GAMC, some 350 are clients of Catholic Charities,” wrote Tomlin. “While the Pawlenty administration doesn’t propose cutting the whole program, many of its services would be eliminated, including in-patient hospital care, dental services, radiology, eyeglasses, occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy and audiology services.”

She said that the state can’t cut its way out of the deficit. “While it is true that the cost of health care is adding to the state’s fi­nan­cial woes, cutting those with the fewest resources from access to health care doesn’t seem to address the real heart of the problem.”

The Archdiocese has been outspoken about making sure cuts don’t impact the poor.

Archbishop John Nienstedt and the state’s other bishops sent a letter to legislators last month encouraging them to balance the budget with a mix of revenue increases and cuts. “We believe that resolving the budget deficit through spending cuts alone will do great harm to Minnesotans and our economy,” they wrote. “We urge you to support raising sufficient revenue as part of a comprehensive approach to resolving.”

The bishops said that cuts to health and human services should spare the poor. “Catholic social teaching upholds the role of government to assist individuals and communities when they cannot help themselves. In performing this role, the state is fulfilling its moral responsibility to promote the common good.”