Walz's State of the State address lays out priorities, slams D.C. 'chaos'

Gov. Tim Walz may have been seeking a job in Washington, D.C., during last year’s election, but he seems happy to have landed back in the position he’s held for more than six years.

“I love serving in this job,” Walz told the state’s 201 legislators, Supreme Court justices, constitutional officers and invited guests during Wednesday night’s State of the State address.

In the first speech to the state’s elected officials since his failed bid to become U.S. vice president last November, Walz spoke glowingly of the state’s quality of life, but frequently expressed exasperation with a presidential administration that he sees as threatening it.

Sounding like someone accustomed to reaching out to a broader audience with sweeping themes, he centered his speech around security, opportunity and freedom.

“People want security,” Walz said. “They want to feel like their life is built on a solid foundation that won’t fall away if something goes wrong.

“People want opportunity,” he continued. “They want to feel like they can get ahead instead of having to settle for getting by. And give their kids chances they never had.

“And, maybe most of all, people want freedom to live their own lives the way they want to live them, even if it’s not the way their neighbors would want to live their lives.”

[MORE: State of the State remarks as prepared]

Walz then touted changes in statewide programs and policies he believes have enhanced Minnesotans’ ability to achieve those goals, including a child tax credit, increased funding for public education, and a family and medical leave policy scheduled to be implemented next year.

Yet the topic soon turned to potential threats to the state’s social safety net from cuts at the federal level, with Walz leveling criticism at what he characterized as chaos coming from federal leadership.

“It’s not enough to complain about the damage this administration is causing,” he said. “And it’s not even enough to try to clean up as much of the mess as we can. We need to prove to the people of Minnesota — to the American people — that there’s a better way to govern.”

Walz again spoke of his proposed budget, framing it from the perspective of changes made in the past two years.

“We made historic investments in our people and our future,” he said. “And let me be very clear: We’re not walking away from the commitments we’ve made to our schools, to our health care, to green energy, to public safety, to feeding our kids and taking care of our seniors.

“Just the opposite. This year’s budget protects those ambitious investments by embracing a spirit of responsibility and addressing some long-term budget challenges so that future leaders don’t have to make impossible choices.”

Walz laid part of the blame for a projected budget deficit in the 2028-29 biennium on a lack of foresight from past leadership.

“Years ago, long before many of us were here in St. Paul, members of both parties made a series of choices about human services spending that put us on a path of unsustainable cost growth,” he said. “I’m proposing that, this year, we come together, DFLers and Republicans, and address the issues we inherited.”

Walz then laid out his legislative priorities, including reducing the statewide sales tax, raising surcharges on large health insurers, and doing more to prevent, investigate and punish fraud, the latter item receiving a loud ovation from legislators on both sides of the aisle.

“This budget wasn’t written to please everyone,” he said. “It was written to bring everyone to the table. And when we get there, no doubt we’ll have some disagreements. But that’s how government is supposed to work. It’s supposed to be people of differing opinions coming together to negotiate in good faith. Our Legislature is narrowly divided, but I believe we can unify around these ideas of security, opportunity and freedom.

“Let’s show the world what servant leadership really looks like.”

Legislative leaders react

“I think it’s clear to all Minnesotans that you can’t talk about the state of the state right now without talking about the impact that the federal chaos is having in this state,” said House DFL Floor Leader Jamie Long (DFL-Mpls). “And I’m glad that Gov. Walz was crystal clear about what those impacts are.”

“I was very, very pleased to hear that the governor has realized that we are heading toward a deficit and he wants to make cuts,” said House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring). “But we know that making those cuts is going to take a lot of collaboration and work. What we do know is that cuts on the backs of our students and seniors — those who are really suffering — are really off the table.”