Oakdale resident Ronda Nelson doesn’t expect a raise this year, she said.

She’d be happy just to earn the same wages this year that she earned last year for her work as an adult foster care provider.

She's paid by the state to house two men with developmental disabilities in her home, she said. Nelson endured an approximately 5 percent cut in state money when the last budget was passed two years ago, and she said she could lose more—numbers from 2 percent to 11 percent have been thrown out in various proposals—in this budget go-around.

Still, Nelson, who has been an adult foster care provider for 25 years, said she wouldn’t consider another line of work.

“I have the best job in the world,” she said. “How many people get to say they like their job and the people they work with?”

More concerning than the potential cuts to her wages is the potential benefit cuts her residents might experience, she said.

The men now get $89 per month, cut from $120 a month two years ago, to cover personal needs such as toiletries, clothing, shoes and in the case of one of her residents an $800 sedation dentistry bill. The number of dental cleanings the men get each year is also down from two to one.

The health and human services bill passed in the Minnesota Senate would have cut coverage for physical therapy, occupational therapy and eyeglasses, according to The Arc of Minnesota.

“How can you take those things away from people who by no fault of their own are unable to work a full time job, are unable to get gainful employment?” she said.

Nelson said she didn’t know until last Thursday that she would be paid for providing foster care during a shutdown, but even if she’d been forced to work for free, she said the pain of a shutdown is worth it if it means retaining programs and funding for people with disabilities.

“I think it’s ridiculous at this day and time that we’re not looking at a tax increase,” she said. “It’s sad we’re protecting the 1 percent of Minnesotans who make more money than I’ll make in a lifetime, but yet we’re cutting service to people who have no ability to work at all.”

Steve Larson, public policy director for the Arc of Minnesota, an organization that advocates for people with disabilities, had a similar message, saying he’s more concerned about the effects the adopted budget will have on people with disabilities than the shutdown.

“We think that there needs to be additional review so there won’t be greater harm done to people with disabilities,” he said. “The budget that the legislature proposed would have been harmful to people with disabilities.”