Photo by Deb Gau Minnesota DFL chair Richard Carlbom met with area residents before the start of a listening session Tuesday night in Marshall. A crowd of more than 40 people shared concerns, and called on the state DFL to have more active presence in Greater Minnesota.

MARSHALL — Southwest Minnesota residents said they had a lot to be concerned about under the Trump administration during a DFL event held Tuesday night.

The audience of about 40 people inside the Southwest Minnesota State University conference center expressed concerns over the impact of funding cuts and policy changes on everything from retirement benefits to public health.

But people also called on the state DFL to have a greater presence across the state.

“I think we need an 87-county plan,” said Marshall resident Al Kruse.

State DFL chair Richard Carlbom said the visit to Marshall was part of a statewide effort to hear people’s concerns and empower them to take action. The listening tour is crisscrossing the state this summer, he said.

“We’re really concentrating on Greater Minnesota,” Carlbom said.

Health care, education and the economy were all major topics for area residents. Teachers said they were concerned about how cuts to education would affect students, like children who needed special education services. One audience member said he had seen the prices of some products in the store where he worked spike after tariffs were placed on Canadian goods.

Other audience members said they had also seen retired family members’ 401K funds take a hit.

“The tariff war not only hurts our Canadian imports, hurts our farmers, but anybody in here who has a 401K has seen that thing go down,” Carlbom told audience members.

Several people who spoke at the listening session said they were worried about parents or family members who received veterans services, Medicaid or Social Security benefits.

One person said Medicaid helped cover her father’s costs for nursing home care.

“We don’t know what will happen if he loses that coverage,” she said.

“My parents are both elderly. They worked, self-employed, all their life,” another audience member said. “They didn’t save up a lot of money, unfortunately, so Social Security is what they are living off of, and for any point of Social Security being cut would be devastating to them.”

Carlbom said he saw hope that Minnesotans’ concerns about the threat of Medicaid cuts were getting through to Republican members of Congress like U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach. He said Fischbach voted in favor of a budget reconciliation that would “slash and burn” Medicaid, but the timeline for the cuts has been delayed.

“Now, because we’ve been speaking up in our collective voice and saying, ‘Do not cut Medicaid,’ they’ve now pushed that to July or September,” he said.

“But this week, through the budget process and in the committee structure, they’re starting to move those Medicaid cuts and those SNAP cuts –the food cuts, that’s devastating for families. And we have to continue to do everything we can to push back against that,” Carlbom said.

Kruse was one of a few audience members who called on the DFL to do more outreach and education.

“We need to get the governor out and talk to the people, and explain to us why, what the Legislature did when we had the trifecta, why that was good for Minnesota,” Kruse said.

“We should also share the facts of the consequences of today’s policies,” another person added.

Comments also included calls for Democratic leadership to take action at the state and national levels.

“All we really need is for Democrats to actually lead,” one audience member said. “Find something you genuinely believe in and fight for it.”

Carlbom said the DFL listening tour kicked off with an event in Brainerd this spring, right after Carlbom was elected DFL chair. He said it will be important for him to listen to people around Minnesota in his new role with the party.

Carlbom said so far, he’s seen that Minnesota Democrats were “not here to wallow” in feelings of defeat.

“They are asking, ‘What can I do right now?’ ” he said. “It’s about the urgency of now.”

Part of the listening session in Marshall included a call to write postcards to Fischbach, asking her to vote against cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

Carlbom said the Minnesota DFL was also planning more opportunities for people to take action this summer.

The party was investing in collaborating with local organizers and leaders, he said.

“This isn’t the last time the DFL will be back in Marshall,” he said.