By: Michael McIntee, UpTake Reporter

Rep. Rena Moran (DFL) says her Republican colleagues in the Minnesota House are “out of touch” and “unrealistic” in not appropriating at least $50 million to deal with the state’s racial and economic disparity problems.

Moran and other lawmakers spoke Tuesday morning to urge House Republicans to set a $50 million budget target, which is still less than the $100 million that Governor Mark Dayton would like spent on the issue. Republicans have refused to appropriate little if any of the state’s $900 million surplus towards the problem, instead moving around current appropriations, something Rep. Peggy Flanagan (DFL) called a “shell game.”