Governor Walz makes his case for ‘One Minnesota’

In MSR exclusive, the governor explains how budget will tackle racial disparities

By Charles Hallman

Contributing

Writer

Minnesota

Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant

Governor Peggy Flanagan first introduced their “One Minnesota” budget in January, which included $8 billion in tax cuts that used up much of the state’s estimated $17.6 billion surplus in both spending and rebate checks to taxpayers.

At the time, State

Senator Glenn Gruenhagen (R-Glencoe) called the plan ‘absurd.’ “This reckless budgeting is unacceptable,” added the senator.

Last month, Walz and Flanagan introduced a revised budget that included new investments in public safety, education, and local

■ See WALZ on page 5

Governor Tim Walz in his office at the State Capitol.

• A new child tax credit to give $1,000 per child to lower-income families making less than $50,000.

• Spending $300 million in public safety aid to cities, counties, and tribal governments across the state to help offset local property taxes.

• A new earned sick and safe leave for workers to accrue up to 48 hours a year, if they need to recover from illness, go to doctor’s appointments, or care for a child during school closures.

• Expanding unemployment benefits to hourly school workers.

• Making higher education more accessible with increased funding for state grants.

• Proposed universal background checks for all firearms sales, raising the minimum age for purchasing military-style firearms to 21 years old, and banning high-capacity weapons.

• Creating an Office of Missing and Murdered African American Women to promote the safety and success of Black women and girls.

• Increasing access to affordable, quality childcare, and increase the capacity and quality of childcare across the state.

• Issuing checks of $1,000 to $2,600 directly to more than 2.5 million Minnesota households.

• Recommending $219 million to reduce taxes on Social Security benefits for over 350,000 Minnesota households.