Public health funding hit hard as lawmakers respond to federal cuts | FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
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Public health funding hit hard as lawmakers respond to federal cuts

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Published  April 10, 2025 4:57pm CDT
Politics
FOX 9

Minnesota health officials worry about cuts

Cuts at the federal level for COVID-19 era grants will have a trickle down effect on Minnesota’s healthcare workers. FOX 9’s Corin Hoggard has the details.

The Brief

    • State employees who were laid off or notified their jobs were "at risk" because of federal job cuts marched and rallied Thursday to demand help from the state.
    • Public health took the hardest hit in about $296 million of federal cuts so far and the dismissed workers say that means Minnesotans will not be as healthy.
    • DFL legislators introduced three new bills they say will help. One offers relocation grants for veterans who lost federal jobs and want to move to Minnesota. Another lets some federal workers collect state unemployment benefits. A third would have the state study the impact from tariffs.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The impact of funding decisions at the federal level are trickling down to Minnesota, cutting some jobs and creating uncertainty.

A dangerous cut

Which jobs are gone:

People losing their jobs demanded help on Thursday and got some possible lifelines.

Amy Saupe is the epidemiologist who identified the source of a listeria outbreak that almost killed an unborn child in Minnesota last year, and got the tainted cheese recalled.

She still tracks norovirus and any infections causing diarrhea.

But not for long.

"I got a layoff notice," she told FOX 9.

Earlier this month, she was one of about 170 Minnesota Health Department (MDH) employees notified their jobs were cut.

"Incredibly unexpected," she said. "This happened so quickly, and we just don't have any of the continuity of infrastructure that we need to make sure Minnesotans are getting the protection they deserve."

Minnesota grants in limbo after COVID-19 cuts

After the CDC announced it would pull back $11.4 billion in public health grants allocated to states as part of the COVID-19 response, causing a $226 million budget decrease to the Minnesota Department of Health, FOX 9’s All Day is joined by Dr. Ruth Lynfield to provide an update the future of the grants in Minnesota.

Call to action

Marching and mischief:

Saupe marched alongside a couple hundred other state employees on Thursday to ask the state for more support as federal cuts hit hard.

Public health has taken the biggest cuts to date, but a new state dashboard shows $296 million in canceled federal dollars that were coming to Minnesota.

Tariffs are also adding another layer of expected damage for people like Dan Marshall, who owns Mischief Toy Store in St. Paul with his wife.

"Millie and I are just crazy with anxiety right now, and I think that's the same for any small business owner right now," Marshall said on Thursday.

Landing a lifeline?

Ideas for help:

New bills from Democrats would pay for an in-depth study of tariff impacts, let some federal workers collect state unemployment, and give $10,000 grants to veterans who lost their jobs and want to move to Minnesota.

While DFLers sound alarms, Republicans at the capitol have repeatedly said they’re waiting to see what actually happens at the federal level before commenting or taking action.

"Once we wait until people are dying or people are getting much more sick, it's going to be too late to create that infrastructure again and get these jobs back," said Saupe.

What's next:

DFLers say they’ll try to squeeze the money for these bills into budgets when the legislature comes back from break later this month.

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