Housley condemns Human Services budget that cuts services for most vulnerable Minnesotans and includes crippling nursing home cuts

The majority’s Human Service budget, HF 2434, passed yesterday out of the Senate, where it failed to achieve strong bipartisan support. The legislation cuts more than $1 billion from long-term care and disability services over the next four years, and drew sharp criticism from Senate Republicans for its misplaced priorities, failure to crack down on fraud, and deep cuts to long-term care facilities and disability services.

This legislation includes more than $1 billion in reductions over the next four years that will hit long-term care facilities, disability services, and nursing homes across the state. At the same time, the Human Services policy bill, which also passed the Senate yesterday without strong bipartisan support, adds expensive and burdensome new mandates and regulations for long-term care providers.

“This bill misses the mark in every way – it sends a message that our most vulnerable Minnesotans are not a priority in the Democrats’ budgets,” said Senator Karin Housley (R-Stillwater). “In a time when we seem to be increasing every state agency budget, despite a $6 billion deficit, it’s heartbreaking that we couldn’t instead shift focus to funding critical services for our most vulnerable.”

According to The Long Term Care Imperative, this year’s nursing home cuts will hit Senate District 33 with devastating numbers totaling over $6 million over the next four years:

  • Gables of Boutwells Landing (Oak Park Heights) – $3,520,055
  • Birchwood Health Care (Forest Lake) – $1,139,805
  • Good Samaritan Society (Stillwater) – $928,623
  • The Estates at Greeley (Stillwater) – $333,579
  • The Estates at Linden (Stillwater) – $277,598

Notably, the original budget included a major property tax hike disguised as a budget solution, but a key Republican amendment eliminated all county cost shifts.

“How do we explain these nursing home cuts to our friends who have loved ones in nursing homes? How do we explain to our family members in care facilities, who rely on the dedicated staff and their services, that they may lose access to that help and support? How do we explain to the staff entrusted with caring for our family members, that their budget needs aren’t pressing enough, and the state is no longer willing to help, even though they were promised help in 2024? Our nursing homes were begging for a lifeline last year, and we gave them one, just for Democrats to cut it off completely in this budget. We should be tackling the waste, fraud, and abuse that has occurred in Minnesota – much of which has happened in DHS… That is what we should focus on cutting rather than the funding for services that so many rely on,” said Housley.

Despite making more than $700 million in net budget reductions, Senate Democrats opted to preserve taxpayer-funded health care for undocumented immigrants through MinnesotaCare. Since the program launched in January 2025, 17,396 undocumented individuals have enrolled in MinnesotaCare, nearly triple the original first-year estimate of 5,874. As a result, cost projections have risen to over $600 million over the next four years. The Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence is also warning that Minnesota is heading down the same path as states like Illinois and California, where expenses quickly spiraled out of control.

Senate Republicans offered two amendments to redirect this funding toward seniors and disability services. Democrats refused to debate these amendments, using procedural rulings to block discussion.

Despite the poor state of the bill, Senate Republicans were able to successfully add multiple amendments:

The legislation now moves to a conference committee, where House and Senate members will finalize the details.