Coalition launches ‘We Want to Work for Minnesota’ ad campaign

Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5 and Jim Monroe, MAPE’s executive director, said the coalition advocates for a fair state budget and excellence in public services. The TV ad features public employees who want to work for Minnesota.

The goal is to let Minnesotans know that the public services they deserve, and that public employees take pride in providing, are in danger of ending because Republican legislators would rather protect tax cuts for millionaires, they said.

“Public employees want to work for Minnesota – they take great pride in providing services to all Minnesotans and are upset with the budget impasse,” said Monroe. “If the shutdown comes, state parks will close, road construction will stop, public safety will be at risk – and that is a small sampling of how the state will grind to a halt. The state services that Minnesotans deserve would be preserved if Republican legislators tax the richest 2 percent of Minnesotans. It is that simple.”

“State employees support Gov. Dayton’s budget compromise. The choice is clear for them and the middle class. Tax the richest two percent to avoid a shutdown and risky cuts to public services. The alternative is a cuts-only budget that eliminates 30,000 public and private sector jobs and raises property taxes on people who can least afford it. It’s time for citizens to tell Republican legislators to compromise. It’s time to ask Republicans why they are so intent on protecting the rich at the expense of everybody else.”

The $300,000 advertising campaign will start Thursday, the day that layoff notices are sent to 36,000 state employees, and continue until July 1. The “We Want to Work for MN” ad will run on statewide broadcast and local cable channels. In targeted legislative districts, the 30 second spot will air 750 times on broadcast TV and at least 2,000 times on cable networks serving the St. Cloud, Bemidji, Albert Lea and Winona areas.

Members of the “We Want to Work for MN” coalition include AFSCME Council 5, MAPE, the Inter Faculty Organization and the Middle Management Association, which together represent 35,000 state employees. To view the television ad, go to the Tax the Richest website.

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