As a parent, I spend a lot of time thinking about our family’s budget.

Do we take a spring break trip, or contribute to the kids’ college fund?

Do we eat out less to offset rising health insurance premiums?

Every day, we weigh wants against needs and make choices based on what really matters.

We ought to do the same thing at the Legislature when we’re spending taxpayer money. But right now, priorities are way out of whack. When it’s your own paycheck, the decisions are clear. When it’s public dollars, things get blurry and sometimes warped.

Take the $40 million spending bill the Senate just passed. It would give money for rental and utility assistance to renters who’ve fallen behind. I’m always in favor of helping people in need, but none of the counties in our district asked for this. No one came to my office, called, or emailed and said it was a pressing need.

Compare that to some real emergencies. Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is facing a financial crisis, projected to lose up to $50 million this year alone, and as much as $1.7 billion over the next decade. It’s the busiest emergency department in the state, one of only two burn centers, and the biggest safety-net hospital for low-income and uninsured Minnesotans, serving people from every part of the state.

Rural hospitals aren’t doing much better. Mayo Clinic closed six rural clinics last December. Since 2010, 16 rural hospitals have shut down statewide, and Minnesota led the nation in closing obstetrical units from 2011 to 2021. In our district, we’re feeling it too.

That’s why I introduced a bill to fund training for maternity wards in rural hospitals. It’s not a full fix, just a band-aid, but our hospitals say it’s a priority, not only for patient care but because these facilities are huge economic drivers in small communities.

And then there’s the ongoing fraud crisis. Billions of taxpayer dollars potentially lost, yet we still don’t have a clear, aggressive plan from Gov. Tim Walz to detect, prevent and stop it. Meanwhile, we pass a $40 million bill with questionable safeguards against fraud.

At the same time, the governor’s budget proposes cutting $370 million, including from nursing homes and disability services, for the second year in a row. We fought those cuts last year and we’ll have to do it again.

Folks in my district keep asking for help with rural hospitals, safer schools, more mental health support and long-term care in rural areas. Those are real needs.

At the Capitol, we debate how to spend taxpayer money, but we’ve lost sight of the basics.

Before we get into details, we need to step back and ask ourselves, what kind of state do we want to be?

Just like families choose between a vacation and college savings, we have to make wiser choices here and not fund the wants at the expense of the needs.

— Rich Draheim represents District 22 in the Minnesota Senate