Faith community leaders converged at the state capitol on Thursday to support the people who could be left with nothing if their assistance programs were cut.

Every year, the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, an interfaith coalition representing the Minnesota Catholic Conference, Minnesota Council of Churches, Islamic Center of Minnesota, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota, hits St. Paul to lobby for the unfortunate. And with a new governor and a $6 billion deficit, faith leaders are concerned about the unfortunate.

Pastor Glenn Monson of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and Associate Pastor Kristi Koppel of St. Olaf Lutheran Church were among roughly 850 faith leaders who attended the event.

“Some of the things were already right on target,” Monson said about Governor Dayton’s budget proposals. “We’ve been talking for years about tax fairness.”

Community leaders focused on the issues affecting all people, not just religious groups or people of color.

“As people of faith, that’s one of our callings,” Monson said.

“We don’t talk about hot-button issues like abortion or gun laws,” he added.

Monson and Koppel, among many others, worried about the future of support services for the poor to middle class. They pushed to keep some of those services, such as fuel assistance for heating, homeless shelters and day care assistance for struggling parents.

Monson spoke of the day care conundrum, where people are too poor to pay for day care but can’t stay at home and not work, either.

He and Koppel spoke with local Sen. Dan Sparks and Rep. Jeanne Poppe about the potential cuts. They also agreed that making cuts would only result in a huge loss of services.

Monson added, “You’re not going to find $6 billion worth of cuts anywhere. Let’s not even pretend that’s the case.”

For now, it is too early to tell where all the specific proposals will go. But many members of the JRLC think Dayton might realize the scope of the problem and support their views.