Minnesota Legislature should rethink Walz’s proposed cuts to disability services

Minnesota is at a critical moment. The state’s commitment to supporting people with disabilities is at a crossroads. 

Gov. Tim Walz’s proposed budget includes an array of cuts to disability waiver services, notably to the inflationary adjustment for service providers. 

This threatens to undo years of progress.  

These cuts — from an 11% adjustment increase in 2026 to just 4% — are not mere numbers on a spreadsheet. They represent a threat to the quality and accessibility of disability services across Minnesota and serve as a blow to an already reeling workforce that provides these life-saving services. The impacts of these budget targets may be greater than the governor is anticipating. 

Of chief importance are the impacts these cuts will have on the workforce that underpins disability services. These professionals, who are primarily women and people of color, are paid low wages as it stands, especially as inflation impacts every Minnesotan’s purchasing power. Reducing the inflationary adjustment to 4% every two years ensures their pay will fall further behind increasing costs. As a result, this field’s vacant positions will become increasingly uncompetitive to new workers and existing workers will leave in search of better pay. 

We frequently hear from direct care workers: “I love this work, but I can’t afford to keep doing it.” Now, under the governor’s proposed budget, that refrain will only grow louder. Low pay and rising costs will drive workers away, increasing turnover and further straining already limited resources. 

While we hear the governor’s optimism that these budgetary adjustments will not impede the quality of care, or the number of people served, in no other industry could one expect such a large cut to not affect the work. To ask an industry that already stretches its resources to its limits to absorb this cut will result in serious consequences for those receiving care.

The ripple effects of these cuts will not stop with workers. Those receiving services and their families will bear the brunt of this proposal. Strained support networks created from these cuts will leave families with fewer resources to care for their loved ones, forcing them to shoulder an even greater responsibility. Potential facility closures will mean that those receiving care may not have the opportunity to live near their loved ones, to live in the place they desire, or to receive the care that best meets their needs.  

The governor and the Legislature must grapple with challenging questions this session about how to meet Minnesota’s needs within the realities of the state’s budget. It’s imperative these decisions prioritize the dignity and well-being of Minnesota’s many people who live with a disability and the workers who support them.

My final message is this: Legislators, I encourage you to see the faces behind the numbers. Disability services are people in our community, friends, and family members. I know you care deeply about equity and progress. I know you see an indispensable workforce for what it is. These values are at stake in this budget cycle, and we need you to balance it with the same compassion that we have come to expect from Minnesota. 

We are a state that has long prided itself on being a leader in giving everyone a fair shot at living a fulfilled life. It’s time for us to invest in those values. 

A reevaluation is needed, one with the outstanding legal and moral obligations to care for people living with disabilities.