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DEED outlines financial stress at Vocational Rehabilitation Services; lawmakers press for answers
Summary
Deputy Commissioner Evan Rowe told the House Workforce, Labor, Economic Development and Finance Committee on March 27 that Minnesota’s Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS) faces budgetary pressure caused by a flat federal grant, declining re‑allotment funds and rising service costs.
Deputy Commissioner Evan Rowe of the Department of Employment and Economic Development told the House Workforce, Labor, Economic Development and Finance Committee on March 27 that Vocational Rehabilitation Services is facing “significant cost pressures” driven by flat federal grants, declining re‑allotment funds, rising service costs and increased demand.
“VRS is a program that assists Minnesotans with disabilities to prepare for, find, and keep a job,” Rowe said in a prepared overview. He described the program as a federal–state partnership, funded about 80% by the U.S. Department of Education with a required state match. Rowe said the program received re‑allotment funding in 2022 and 2024 — one‑time funds made available when other states underspend — but that re‑allotment looks unlikely for federal fiscal years 2025–26 and that represents “about a $5.4 million hit” to expected resources.
Rowe told the committee that applications to VRS have…
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