Hello from the State Capitol,
With roughly 3 weeks remaining in the 2026 session, a lot is still left up in the air. The House approved numerous single subject bills this past week, but discussion remains on whether more comprehensive policy bills may be coming forward.
What people don’t realize is that we are also preventing a bunch of ridiculous proposals from becoming law. If Democrats had just one more vote, a bunch of awful policies would already have been signed into law by Governor Walz, most of which do nothing to address affordability. In fact, the would make your life more unaffordable.
The dumbest idea is the climate superfund bill, which would be close to a $7,000 tax increase on families if fully enacted. As stated previously, the Democrats want to create a climate “superfund” that would require large fossil fuel companies to pay fees for damages related to greenhouse gas emissions. Under the proposal, any company that operated here and allegedly contributed a billion metric tons of carbon since 1995 would owe new “fees” which are expected to total in the tens of billions of dollars. They would inevitably pass that cost on to you through higher costs for oil and natural gas, while the money would be used to fund more government programs (and imagine the fraud that would come with that).
These Democrats don’t understand that a climate superfund bill would devastate whole sectors, most notably agriculture, but also any business that relies on fuel for transportation, production, distribution, and more. We’re talking gas prices that will jump by $1 per gallon, and significant price hikes for electricity and heat. Read more here.
Think of the people who drive 40-60 miles every day to work at Marvin or Digikey or Polaris and how that will impact them. In fact, please think of them, because legislative Democrats are not with their misguided ideas. They simply do not understand our way of life, and it’s clear with their proposals that they honestly don’t care.
They’re also pushing a “wealth” tax that would include property like farmland, an unrealized capital gains tax, income tax and property tax expansions, tab fee increases that could quintuple your current rates, bans on guns and magazines, codifying in our state’s constitution that abortions are legal up until the date of birth, and requiring taxpayers to cover gender transition surgery for state employees.
So yes, complain if you will about some things not getting done at the Capitol. But also realize what would have already happened if Democrats had just one more vote in the Minnesota House.
FRAUD ISN’T FREE ACT
Minnesota’s taxpayers have seen – at least - $9 billion stolen from them in fraud and not one person has been held accountable. The Fraud Isn’t Free Act seeks to change that.
The proposal adds real teeth and consequences to state agencies that don’t do enough to stop fraud. Under the plan, agencies must suspend further enrollment in the fraudulent program and fire agency leadership of the program in question. Agency budgets will also be reduced by 10% when fraud is uncovered, and head salaries will be reduced by 25%. All of these reductions would remain in place until all evidence of fraud is referred to law enforcement, responsible staff are fired, and a percentage of the stolen funds are recovered. It also requires the Minnesota Management and Budget Office to estimate the cost of fraud in their budget forecasts.
This week, the Minnesota House had the opportunity to vote on this plan. All Republicans vote in favor, all Democrats voted no.
HELPING OUR BORDER COMMUNITIES
Border communities in Minnesota just don’t play on a level field. Cities like Moorhead and East Grand Forks are right next to North Dakota, a state that is much quicker and more aggressive with economic incentives. When a business is deciding where to expand - or whether to stay at all - it can be as simple as crossing the river. That puts our communities at a real disadvantage, and over time, that means fewer jobs, less investment, and a shrinking tax base on our side of the border.
Legislation I’m co-authoring, HF 4774, is really about giving those communities a fair shot, and the bill does that in some very practical ways. It increases the hiring tax credit from $3,000 to $5,000 per employee, making it more attractive for businesses to grow jobs here instead of across the border. It also allows cities to designate “all or any part” of their community as a development zone, instead of being boxed into small, limited areas that don’t reflect how development actually happens. On top of that, it removes outdated restrictions that prevented certain types of businesses from qualifying for incentives and even adds a new tool to help cover land acquisition costs if it keeps a business from leaving Minnesota.
At the end of the day, this isn’t complicated—it’s about making sure Minnesota communities have the tools they need to compete and keep jobs right here at home. Rep. Gander is chief-authoring this bill and I am thankful for his hard work. If our border cities are going to survive, we have to make them more competitive with neighboring states. This bill represents a solid step in the right direction.