Where US President Joe Biden faced difficulties, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz found success.
The former teacher turned politician who was chosen by Vice President Kamala Harris as her running mate in the 2024 presidential race has managed to implement many of the progressive policies that President Joe Biden and his running mate, Harris, have proposed but have failed to achieve. approve in Congress.
Aided by a Democratic victory in the state legislature, Walz last year signed a landmark budget that established a generous child tax credit, created a paid family and medical leave program and made college tuition free for certain students, among other measures.
“We are almost certain that this will mean a fairer, more inclusive, better and more prosperous Minnesota,” he said upon signing the budget.
The One Minnesota Budget built on the progressive policies Walz established in the state, including protecting abortion and gender-affirming rights, investing in affordable housing, and implementing clean energy.
However, Republicans have criticized Walz’s efforts, which involve an increase in state spending, as unsustainable and as increasing the burden on families and businesses.
Additionally, Minnesota was one of the few states to raise taxes in recent years even though it had large surpluses, the Tax Foundation said. The increases mainly affected businesses and high-income residents.
Here are some of the progressive measures Tim Walz has implemented as governor:
Child tax credit
Many low-income families in Minnesota can access a state child tax credit, which Walz signed into law last year. The credit, which provides up to $1,750 per child with no limit on the number of children claimed, is the most generous in the U.S. and is projected to reduce child poverty by one-third.
The credit is also refundable, so families can receive a refund even if they don’t owe any taxes, although they will need to file a tax return to claim the credit.
The full credit is available to single parents earning $29,500 and couples earning $35,000, and gradually reduces depending on income, filing status and number of children.
More than 215,000 families, with more than 437,000 children, have claimed the credit so far in 2023, Walz said in a statement last week. The average credit was US$1,244 per child – totaling more than US$545 million.
Free university tuition
Last year, Walz signed into law a law that made college tuition free for students from Minnesota families earning less than $80,000 a year. Between 15,000 and 20,000 students are expected to benefit during the next academic year, the first year the program is in effect.
Known as the North Star Promise Scholarship, the program covers the balance of tuition and fees remaining for students after applying for other scholarships, grants and stipends that do not need to be paid back. .
The idea is that students do not need to take out student loans to pay the monthly fees and mandatory fees to attend university.
Students who are eligible for a Pell grant, a federal financial aid award for low-income students, may receive additional funds from the state program.
Students must be enrolled in a two- or four-year public college in Minnesota to be eligible for the state scholarship. They must be Minnesota residents, but undocumented foreign students who meet certain conditions are also eligible, as they are for other state financial aid awards.
Minnesota is now one of more than 30 states that offer some type of free tuition program.
Access to abortion
Walz has been an advocate for abortion access. In January 2023, he signed the Protecting Reproductive Choices Act into law, which established the right of people in the state to have an abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. Wade the year before.
In April 2023, he signed into law a law protecting people who travel to Minnesota for abortions and providers who provide abortion care from criminal penalties from other states.
Minnesota’s policies surrounding abortion make it one of the most protective states for abortion access, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that supports abortion rights, with more people expected to travel to the state to receiving care after Iowa implemented a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy in July.
Kamala Harris is believed to be the first vice president to have visited an abortion clinic while in office, and she chose a family planning facility in Minnesota.
Universal school meals
Students can receive free breakfast and lunch at participating schools after Walz signed a universal school meals law into law last year, making Minnesota the fourth state to enact such a measure.
Nearly 4.3 million more breakfasts and 4.5 million more lunches were served to students last fall compared to the same period in 2022, Walz said in March.
“The data is clear: more students are eating breakfast and lunch at school, ensuring they have the food they need to succeed and helping families save on their grocery bills,” Walz said in a statement. “This investment is a win for our children, our families and the long-term success of our state.”
The measure is expected to cost the state around US$400 million over two years.
Gender Affirming
In March 2023, Walz signed an executive order directing Minnesota agencies to do everything they can to protect and support Minnesotans seeking gender-affirming health services.
Gender-affirming care is evidence-based care for people who identify as transgender or non-binary. This care is considered medically necessary and is supported by nearly all major medical associations and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half of states now have laws restricting such care.
Walz’s executive order directed state agencies to study the effectiveness of care and investigate any health care organization that denied it. The order also prohibited Minnesota from cooperating in any investigation by a state that seeks to penalize such care, calling such actions “a serious threat” to the health of members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“We want all Minnesotans to grow up feeling safe, valued, protected, celebrated and free to exist as their authentic selves,” Walz said after signing the order.
The following month, he signed “trans refuge” legislation that safeguarded access to such care and another law that banned conversion therapy, a discredited practice that aims to change someone’s understanding of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
Paid Family and Medical Leave
Saying that paid family and medical leave is important to the health of the state’s workforce and the future of its economy, Walz signed a law establishing the program last year. It will be released in 2026.
“Paid family and medical leave is about investing first in the people who make our state and economy strong,” Walz said in a statement.
“By signing Paid Family and Medical Leave into law, we are ensuring that Minnesotans will no longer have to choose between a paycheck and taking time off to care for a new baby or a sick family member.”
Individuals will be able to take up to 12 weeks each of family and medical leave, with a combined maximum of 20 weeks in a 12-month period. How much workers will receive during their furlough will depend on their salary.
Benefits are paid by the state, but are funded through payroll deductions. Minnesota will be the 13th state to enact such a program.
Investments in affordable housing
Walz was praised by housing and homelessness advocates for signing a bill last year that provides the largest state investment in housing to date.
More than half of the $1 billion spending package is being used to expand the supply of affordable housing, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
State funds will also provide $150 million in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, which will allow approximately 5,000 Minnesotans to purchase homes, as well as $45 million for a homelessness prevention program. .
“Whether it’s building new housing infrastructure, providing rental assistance, or ensuring home ownership is an option for all Minnesotans, this bill will have a historic impact on the quality of life in Minnesota and move us toward becoming the best state to raise a family,” said Walz in a statement released in 2023 after signing the law.
The law also increased the sales tax in the seven-county Minneapolis–Saint Paul Twin Cities metropolitan area by 0.25% to create a permanent funding source for Minnesota’s housing programs.
Clean energy policy
Walz oversaw innovative clean energy policy as governor of Minnesota. As part of a triple Democratic victory in the state House, Senate and governor’s office, Walz signed legislation last year that aims to make 100% of Minnesota’s energy clean by 2040.
The law forces utilities that provide electricity in Minnesota to switch from polluting sources of electricity, such as coal and natural gas, to clean sources, including wind, solar, battery storage, hydropower and clean hydrogen.
Under the law, utilities must shift to generating 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 and reach 80% of that goal by 2030. Minnesota’s largest utilities have expressed support for the rapid transition to carbon-free energy, but also acknowledged that the change will be challenging.
And earlier this summer, Walz signed a separate bill to speed up energy permitting projects in Minnesota and put more clean energy on the grid. Passing a similar law at the federal level has been difficult in Congress.
Voting rights for ex-convicts
Last year, Walz signed a law that restored voting rights to more than 55,000 ex-convicts in Minnesota.
Minnesota is now one of 23 states that automatically restores voting rights after incarceration to those who have been convicted of a crime, according to the Voting Rights Lab.
The law’s passage followed several years of legal challenges to the constitutionality of the state’s long-standing law, which prohibited people on felony supervision or probation from voting even if their prison term had been completed or if they had never served a day in prison.
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