Star Tribune: DFL leaders: That was the most consequential legislature in generations
By Melissa Hortman and Erin Murphy
When the Minnesota Legislature adjourned on May 20, it completed the most productive two-year session since the Minnesota Miracle of the 1970s.
The values behind our work were simple: We believe that all Minnesotans — no matter where they live or what they look like — should have the opportunity to build better lives for themselves and their families.
House and Senate DFL majorities replaced gridlock and timidity with historic progress for Minnesotans on the issues they told us they care about most: good public schools, making health care more affordable and accessible, improving economic security for workers and families, protecting reproductive freedom, taking action on climate change, reducing gun violence and strengthening our democracy.
Minnesota's children and students deserve every chance to succeed. After years of GOP disinvestment, DFLers made historic investments in every level of education from child care to college. We helped family budgets and reduced student hunger through free breakfasts and lunch at school. After decades of underinvestment in higher education, we froze tuition at Minnesota State and made college free for families making less than $80,000 a year. In 2024, we increased funding for the READ Act to improve student achievement and literacy.
DFLers took steps to improve the affordability and accessibility of health care. Our budget includes a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to reduce drug costs, and caps co-pays for prescription drugs to treat diabetes, asthma and allergies at $25 for one month's supply. This year, we enacted significant medical debt reforms because Minnesotans struggling with illness should not also have to be saddled with unmanageable debt. A new law curbing "prior authorization" will keep insurance companies out of basic care decisions for cancer and mental health care, minimizing paperwork and delays in treatment.
Our priority has been to un-rig an economy that often seems tilted in favor of big corporations and the wealthiest among us. Democrats delivered solutions to improve economic security and build a fairer, more equitable economy. We passed paid family and medical leave, earned sick and safe time, and historic investments in infrastructure and housing affordability. A nation-leading Child Tax Credit is already working to reduce child poverty, and we took further steps to improve the credit this year.
We also banned hidden, nuisance "junk" fees and increased penalties for employers who misclassify employees to deny them protections and benefits. We banned noncompete clauses and required salary transparency, ending practices that disproportionately hurt women and people of color. And for the first time, a majority of Minnesota retirees no longer pay any state income taxes on their Social Security benefits.
While Republicans in Minnesota and across the country continue to pursue extreme abortion bans and attack IVF and contraceptives, DFLers defended reproductive freedom by enacting the Protect Reproductive Options Act and repealing unconstitutional, outdated, unjust and harmful statutes. We passed protections for doctors and patients who need access to the full range of reproductive health care options. This year, we continued to make progress by expanding insurance coverage for abortion and gender-affirming care.
Minnesotans deserve a healthy climate and a clean energy future. DFLers put our state on a pathway to 100% clean energy by 2040 with investments that will bring critical federal funding to our state. In 2024, we streamlined permitting on infrastructure projects to reach that ambitious goal.
After years of Republicans stalling efforts to address our country's gun violence epidemic, DFLers enacted criminal background checks and red flag laws to keep guns out of the wrong hands. We invested $300 million in new public safety aid for communities across the state. And this year, after the tragic and horrific killing of three first responders in Burnsville, DFL majorities increased penalties for straw purchases and banned binary triggers, like the one that made that shooter's gun doubly dangerous.
Minnesotans are rightfully outraged at attempts to undermine our democracy and our democratic institutions. We responded with the Democracy for the People Act, which enshrines automatic voter registration, pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, and a permanent mail-in absentee voter list, while prohibiting voter intimidation, harassment and deceptive practices intended to interfere with the vote. We restored the franchise to people reentering society after serving their time. And in 2024, we passed the Minnesota Voting Rights Act to further protect Minnesotans from voter suppression tactics.
The good work of the 2023-24 Legislature will benefit Minnesotans for generations to come. We also recognize that there is more to do to build a state that truly works for everyone. Despite the progress we all made together, we know that many of the challenges Minnesotans are facing can't be solved in a two-year legislative session. We're committed to continuing our collaboration with Minnesotans to prioritize the issues they value and ensure everyone has the opportunity to build the better life they deserve.
Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, is the speaker of the Minnesota House. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, is majority leader of the Minnesota Senate.
