Walz reflects on term, looks toward future in final State of the State address

“We’re not done. Not by a long shot.”

Gov. Tim Walz used those words repeatedly during the final State of the State address of his eight-year tenure. Reflecting upon all that the state and its government have endured and accomplished since 2018, Walz spent over 40 minutes Tuesday evening speaking of what he’d like to see in the last legislation he signs before leaving office.

In a speech crafted to be both valedictory and inspiring, Walz presented a to-do list of legislative proposals, but also spoke to legislators, constitutional officers, Supreme Court justices and invited guests gathered in the House of Representatives’ chamber of deeper bonds between Minnesotans that had become more apparent over the past year.

Walz spoke of “our season of grief,” which he said began with the assassination of “the most talented legislator I have ever known,” Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, and her husband, as well as the shooting of Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin), who Walz acknowledged and applauded.