In last year’s midterms, the great state of Minnesota (Motto: “Not Quite Canada, Sorry”) was among several states that picked up Democratic trifectas when the state Senate flipped to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, giving Dems, Farms, and Labs their first unified control of state government since 2013.
And just like Michigan has gone full socialist woke wonderland under Democratic leadership, so has the Land of 10,000 Knudsons (and many Hmong and Somali last names too), with Gov. Tim Walz signing into law a passel of progressive measures passed by the new Lege. Let us count the ways in which just this year, Minnesota is becoming a veritable Belgium On Lake Superior. (Maybe Norway or the Netherlands is more leftish. But “Belgium” is definitely funnier.)
Paid Family And Medical Leave
In May, Walz signed into law a bill creating paid leave for family and medical needs regardless of where someone works. It can be used for a wide range of situations, like the birth or adoption of a child (as long as it’s used within 12 months of the event, blessed or not), or to care for an ill family member, or for one’s own illness, as well as a number of others. No, not for vacation time.
Maximum leave is up to 12 weeks per event, and no more than 20 weeks per calendar year, and since illnesses don’t necessarily fit into neat boxes, the leave time doesn’t have to be consecutive, like if someone needs several days off at multiple times for treatment. People using their leave will be able to return to their prior job or an equivalent one when they come back. Mon dieu, is this France? [Minnesota Public Radio]
Refundable Child Tax Credit
While national Dems weren’t able to continue the American Rescue Plan’s Expanded Child Tax Credit (thanks largely to 50 Republicans and one Democrat, you know who), Minnesota is one of several states that saw how monthly payments to low-income families with kids dramatically cut child poverty and decided that would be an excellent idea at the state level, because not being monstrous is a Democratic Family Value.
Minnesota passed its version of the refundable tax credit in June, funding it with $900 million over the next two years to provide up to $1,750 per child for families making up to $35,000 and filing jointly (or $29,500) single). After that, the credit tapers off with higher income, so the benefits will mostly go to the lowest-income families who need it most. And as with the Biden version, it’s fully refundable, so folks who owe less in taxes than the amount of the credit still get the full amount.
The credit will be a one-time payment at first, starting when people file their 2023 state taxes, but the state Department of Revenue is authorized to split it into installments once it has the administrative capacity — which may take a year or more to put in place. [MPR]
Affordable Housing
On party-line votes, the state Lege approved county tax increases that will raise $1 billion over five years for affordable housing. It’s the first time the state has ever dedicated a tax hike for housing, so go ahead and call that historic. Among other things, the package boosts funding for emergency rental assistance to keep people in their homes; provides help for low-income home buyers; creates a state housing voucher program similar to the federal Section Eight program; retrofits older public housing with sprinkler systems; and includes funding to help people in mobile homes buy land if they’re threatened with eviction for redevelopment. [Minnesota Post]
Give EVERYBODY Eat At School
Minnesota is yet another state to jump on the hot new trend of requiring schools to provide free meals to all students in public and charter schools, regardless of income. That’s expected to improve student performance, cut down on bureaucracy, and give rightwing dipshits the opportunity to write snippy letters to the editor pointing out as pedantically as possible that it’s not free, it’s paid for by the taxpayer, and if that makes those pinched souls feel better, hooray for them. As of June, there were six states providing taxpayer-funded school meals to all kids, and more are likely in the works. [Star-Tribune / Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center]
So Much Labor Stuff!
The third word in the Democratic Farmer Labor Party really got a big boost this year, with a big package of labor reforms that includes
A prohibition on non-compete clauses (but existing agreements will remain in place)
Mandated paid sick days for workers (one hour per 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours of sick time a year)
A ban on captive-audience meetings where workers have to listen to anti-union propaganda. The law also bans required attendance at religious or political meetings
Protections for meat packers — none of whom can be children, unlike some other states — and Amazon warehouse workers, who will have to be informed of work quotas and how their performance is measured
Allowing teachers’ unions to negotiate teacher-to student ratios
Creation of a new panel to set labor standards for workers in nursing homes
Provisions to prevent wage theft by construction contractors
[Guardian]
Voting Rights Restoration
Walz and the Lege just won’t stop with all the freedom stuff, either. Legislation passed in March restores the voting rights of felons once they’ve completed their prison sentences. That instantly made at least 50,000 Minnesotans eligible to vote again; they had completed their prison sentences but were still unable to vote because they were on parole or probation. [MPR]
Transgender, Abortion Rights
In response to all the rightwing states trying to legislate trans people back into the closet with measures banning healthcare and trans identity, Gov. Walz in March signed one of the nation’s strongest executive orders protecting trans rights and prohibiting state agencies from cooperating with other states’ efforts to come after trans youth, their families, and providers of gender-affirming care.
The state Lege followed that up in April with bills enshrining the right to reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care, and another bill prohibiting “conversion” therapy. Walz said after signing them, “In Minnesota, we’re protecting rights – not taking them away.” Gee, sounds like that guy in Florida who’s always talking about “freedom” is dead wrong.
Celebrate With Some Legal Weed, Minnesota!
And finally, starting yesterday, recreational cannabis became legal in the state for adults 21 and over, after Walz signed a legalization measure into law in May, making Minnesota the 23rd state to allow the gentle bud. The state still hasn’t figured out the details of licensing dispensaries yet, so they may not open statewide until 2024 or even 2025. But the licensing scheme won’t apply to tribal governments, which are free to open dispensaries independently sooner. One dispensary on the Red Lake Nation, which had already carried medicinal cannabis under the state’s earlier law, began recreational sales yesterday to tribal and non-tribal members. Other tribes are likely to open dispensaries soon.
Possession of up to two ounces in public is no longer a crime, and individuals may have up to eight plants at home, but only four flowering at a time. Other rules ‘splained here.
The law will also seal low-level criminal records starting this month; the process may take longer for folks with more complicated records; a board is being created to help past Pot Criminals clear their records (mostly jazz and Allman Brothers, we understand). Cases involving firearms or violence, prolly not, sorry. Some 66,000 misdemeanor offenses are likely to be expunged under the new law.
So hooray for Minnesota progressivism, and we wish all the best to our new Prairie Stoned Companions. [MPR]
[New York / Photo (cropped): Joel Kramer, Creative Commons License 2.0]
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Where the women are strong, the weed is almost as strong and all the children get a good lunch.
The truly remarkable thing is, none of these new laws are remotely controversial. The Republicans have squealed like stuck pigs of course; but they have no intention of doing anything about these initiatives.
The predecessor to the full legalization of Teh Weedz was the legalization of hemp-derived THC edibles last year, before the DFL took the state Senate. A DFL House rep wrote it into the Farm Bill, which is about 800 pages long, and nobody read it. Then they passed it, and Gov. Walz signed it.
The Repubs had plenty of opportunities to pull that back, as they controlled the state Senate at the time. But it was so popular they just huffed and puffed and let it go by.
That'll be the same, most likely, for the rest of this stuff. Because it's a couple years to the next election, and these things will have been going on for long enough, just fine and causing no problems and many benefits; they'll have a very hard time coming up with a palatable way to roll any of this back.