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Capitol Comments by Peggy Bennett

Nursing homes throughout our state have lost thousands of available beds because of a huge funding deficit and staffing shortages. Many of these care centers have completely closed or are on the verge of closing. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

State funding for nursing homes is based on a two-year delay. The payments nursing homes are currently receiving are based on their reimbursement costs from two years ago. You can imagine, with the massive inflation over the last few years that has driven up the cost of everything from food to syringes and bed linens, that the funding deficit hole for nursing homes continues to get deeper and deeper. Then add on top of that the current massive workforce shortage.

These care centers are forced to take out loans. They are now at the point where they cannot get any more credit. Many are closing or on the verge of closing. As recently as March, another nursing home — this one in Crookston — announced its closure.

All nursing homes have had to reduce the number of available beds. Just in the month of November, 11,000 Minnesotans who needed nursing home care were turned down. This puts an enormous strain on our hospitals which are already struggling to find beds for patients.

Nursing homes are not able to pay their staff the going rate to even compete with employers like McDonald’s. Our nursing homes are going into a tailspin. They need significant resources immediately to stay afloat, as well as significant funding reform.

I have been vocal about this issue from the beginning. After speaking with many local and statewide nursing home staff and directors, I find the problem crystal clear: this is an emergency.

The Legislature should have addressed this nursing home crisis right away the first month of session. House Republicans have attempted to declare an urgency and bring this up for a vote on the House floor several times since session began. We did so again recently. Each time, the majority votes us down and tells us that this will be addressed in the upcoming omnibus bills.

Well, omnibus bill time is here.

First, I’d like to acknowledge the good, bipartisan long-term care funding that’s being addressed by the House majority. There are much needed increases for Personal Care Assistants, Assisted Living Facilities, and Home and Community-Based Services (care for the disabled.) These are important areas for which I’ve long advocated. I am very happy to see them well addressed.

However, we have a crisis issue. What is in the HHS omnibus bill to help stave off nursing home closures and stabilize these critically important care facilities? $3.9 million for the biennium. This is woefully inadequate and will not fix this problem.

Priorities matter, and our nursing homes should be a priority.

Here are just a few examples of the priorities I see in these upcoming DFL budget bills: $194 million for a high-speed train to Duluth; $2 million for poetry, art and dance classes for felons; $40 million for tax credits for Hollywood producers; $28 million for the Minnesota Zoo; $3.8 million for the Board of Cosmetology; $4 million for the “Lawn to Legumes” program (grants for homeowners to turn their lawns into pollinator habitats); and $17 million to add additional employees to the Department of Human Rights.

Now I love our zoo animals, but should these critters get more funding than our elders in nursing homes? How about Hollywood producers? They get $40 million but our nursing homes don’t even get $4 million? And dance lessons for felons? Come on! This is outrageous!

I am beyond frustrated. I am fuming! The House majority has made it abundantly clear through their joint budget targets that they plan on spending almost the entirety of the more than $17 billion state surplus. And yet they are unable to address this nursing home crisis? Where are our elders supposed to go when they need this specialized care? Is there no room in this budget for these folks?

I will continue to fight for the resources and funding reform to address Minnesota’s nursing home crisis. This is an urgency, and it deserves our focus.

Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, is the District 23A representative.