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March 18, 2003 Good evening. It is a pleasure and an honor to have been asked to participate in the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Quality of Life Awards and to provide you with some observations about the current state of caring in our community. This is a special occasion for me in three respects. First, having served as a member of the Awards Selection Committee in years past, I know how difficult it is to select the award recipients from among so many companies that are actively engaged in meaningful service partnerships with nonprofit organizations. This year’s awardees have combined creativity and innovation with service to help make our community a better place and you will learn more about their efforts shortly.
Second, over the years, I have been actively involved with Leadership Twin Cities. It is a wonderful program. Third, I am pleased to have the opportunity to publicly thank the Chamber for its leadership in working with The Minneapolis Foundation and the Minneapolis Public Schools in producing a series of nationally acclaimed educational reports. The reports, called Measuring Up, document the community’s shared responsibility for educating our children and have been valuable tools for promoting greater accountability in education.
Now I have a lot to say and, fortunately for all of you, I only have been given a little time in which to say it. As a result, I will need to ask you to judge my head and not my heart. My head may not have thought of the right words, but please don’t doubt the sincerity in my heart.
Over the years, Minnesota has enjoyed an impressive and well-deserved reputation for our quality of life. Successive generations of Minnesota’s business, political and nonprofit leaders recognized that establishing a high quality of life contributed to maintaining a healthy business climate, and in turn, a healthy business climate further enhanced the community’s quality of life.
Today our state faces an unprecedented $4.2 billion budget deficit. Local counties and cities also face budget deficits. The outcome of the budget discussions underway will determine what future we want for our state and what combination of cuts and investments are needed to make that future a reality. They will determine whether we will remain a community with a heart, the theme of tonight’s event, or if we will become a heartless community.
The Minneapolis Foundation does not believe that the public interest is well served when some options are not open for discussion. History has shown that the public always benefits when all options are compared and considered and, usually, a combination of choices work best. It takes both diet and exercise to lose weight.
In addressing this budget crisis, there is a range of options to consider between two extremes. At one extreme, we could raise various taxes by $4.2 billion and that would eliminate the state budget deficit. At the other extreme, we could cut $4.2 billion from the state budget and that would eliminate the deficit. It is unlikely that either extreme is good for Minnesota. What we need is a budget plan that recognizes the need to work differently, cut programs that aren’t effective or essential and invest in programs that will yield long-term benefits.
One of my favorite movies is “It’s a Wonderful Life.” In the movie, the depression hits a small community and there is a run on the bank. The citizens become afraid of what will happen to them and they descend on the Savings and Loan bank intent on withdrawing their money. The lead character, “George Bailey,” who is played by Jimmy Stewart, explains to the assembled townspeople that their deposits are not physically in the Savings and Loan but rather are invested in the homes and businesses, and in the hopes and dreams, of their neighbors. He explains that by helping each other, the community benefits and each individual also benefits. While some people still insisted on withdrawing their money, every last penny, the majority came to the realization that both their self-interest and the common good depended on them supporting each other. In the end, reason prevailed and the community survived intact and ready to prosper in the future.
What we have today is a real life run on the public’s bank, otherwise known as government. The government only has what we give it and only provides the services we ask of it. We are understandably fearful of what this economy will mean for our family’s living standard and are deeply troubled by world events. We are afraid. And, just like in the movie, we have descended on the public’s Savings and Loan demanding our money back. It appears that we only want government to provide the services that are meaningful to us with little understanding or empathy for how the services we don’t personally need benefit the quality of life for all of us. We have lost sight of the common good. We have forgotten that the community is a quilt of interlocking interests and that pulling out one thread can unravel the entire quilt.
The Minneapolis Foundation deeply believes that “the well-being of each citizen is connected to that of every other and that the vitality of any community is determined by the quality of those relationships.” The proposed cuts fail to recognize the interdependency of our communities.
Proposed cuts to
counties and cities that result in fewer police and firefighters affect
the safety and well being of all of us. Does this reflect a community
with a heart? Is this good for Minnesota? The Foundation is also concerned that the proposed cuts will place the greatest burden on those who have the least: senior citizens, immigrants, and low-income families. These are the very groups who are supported by tonight’s award winners and the same groups who were asked to bear the burden of the cuts from the recent unallotment process.
All of us have an obligation to actively participate in the public dialogue about what gets cut, by how much and the quality of life that will make this a better state. Businesses understand better than most that making decisions that create short-term gain while ignoring long-term consequences is a recipe for disaster. Through these awards, the Chamber recognizes that the quality of life in our community directly contributes to a healthy business environment. Your voice is desperately needed to help bring balance to the extreme budget discussions that are taking place.
As the state’s oldest foundation and a consistent partner with government and business, we know better than most that Minnesota’s foundations, civic-minded businesses and generous individual donors cannot replace cuts of this magnitude. It can’t be done. This realization makes the discussion about what to cut and the consequences of cuts far more significant because corporations, foundations, volunteers and individual givers will likely take their cues from state government about what is important to maintain and what is not.
In closing, I am reminded that our country and this state have experienced even tougher economic times before. It was during the great depression. During those tough times, we cultivated and renewed our sense of the common good. Not only did neighbor help neighbor, we learned to accept that government has a legitimate role in helping all of us. We learned that shared sacrifice didn’t mean maintaining the standard of living for some at the expense of others. We all had a responsibility to pay our fair share.
Today we have an opportunity to shape Minnesota’s future. What kind of place to we want to live in? How much are we willing to pay to have it? What things are we willing to live without? Who gets hurt? And, what investments in people and services are necessary for our future? These are the discussions we have yet to have and must have. The answers to these questions will determine whether we continue to have reason to celebrate a community with a heart. The Minneapolis Foundation, in cooperation with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, has launched a statewide public information campaign, “Deleted for Budgetary Reasons,” and has established a website, www.goodforminnesota.org, to address these issues.
In recognizing tonight’s
awardees, it is my hope that the Chamber and its members will play a
leadership role in helping our community understand what it will take
to continue to make the Twin Cities a better place to live and do business. |
