Legislative Update - Making Minnesota the Best State to Raise a Family

Hello Friend, 

This week, in addition to our work in the Legislature, Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan began rolling out their budget proposal for Minnesota. As a constitutional requirement, the Executive branch provides recommendations for the state budget we’ll craft and pass into law this year. 

Even with a unified government under the DFL, there will be some differences in the final product compared to what Governor Walz will recommend this month - we have an entire session to work through and numerous voices and perspectives to bring into the process. That being said, I’m largely seeing eye to eye with the Governor’s initial recommendations, particularly when it comes to making Minnesota the best state in the country to raise a family.

There are a lot of ways the Governor’s proposal makes sense, and mirror the priorities we’re working on in the House, including cutting the cost of child care and supporting that workforce, reducing child poverty, providing universal school meals, and making the largest investment in public education in state history.

Just for savings in child care alone, the Governor’s plan would allow families making under $200,000 a year with one child to receive up to $4,000 a year for child care costs. Families with two children could receive up to $8,000 a year for child care, and families with three children could receive up to $10,500.

We believe making Minnesota the best state in the nation to raise a family is a realistic goal we can meet this year - by some metrics, we’re already ranked at #2! While Minnesota already does a great job of helping families, it’s too often the case that Minnesotans of color are left behind. We’ll never truly be “One Minnesota” until we enact policies and commit to investments that lift up families of all kinds - and that’s what we’re committed to this session. 

Protecting Reproductive Rights

Last night, I voted to successfully pass House File 1, the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act off the House floor. We’ve received a lot of questions and comments about this legislation - some for, some against, and some simply asking what it does - and I wanted to set the record straight. 

Last year, we saw the US Supreme Court overturn nearly half a century of precedent when they overturned Roe V. Wade - a ruling which did not directly impact Minnesota due to our own state supreme court case on the issue, Doe v. Gomez, but did embolden anti-choice politicians to try and curb reproductive freedoms. This was the number one issue people brought up to me last year, and even when we disagreed, we learned from each other and discovered we agreed on most abortion policy except where to draw the line on decision-making.

I have been transparent and unwavering in my belief in the right to choose when to start or grow a family, and for the decisions around abortion and reproductive health care to be done in consultation with a trusted medical professional. I believe it would be a mistake to only rely on court precedent to keep reproductive rights in place for Minnesotans.

Some of the House and Senate members of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus

The PRO Act would ensure that Minnesotans can choose the full spectrum of reproductive health care that is right from them: including the right to choose or refrain from using birth control, to get a vasectomy or choose sterilization, to choose pregnancy and give birth, or to have an abortion.

When it comes to abortion, all this bill does is put up safeguards for our current laws. So while this bill protects the right to get an abortion, it also goes beyond that by recognizing that all forms of reproductive health care are critical, personal and shouldn’t be interfered with by politicians.

I was proud to vote for this bill, and I’ll gladly answer any questions you may have on the scope and impact of the legislation. 

Brad Tabke, State Representative | Rep.Brad.Tabke@house.mn.gov

Jared Margolis, Legislative Assistant | Jared.Margolis@house.mn.gov