Legislative Update on the Close of Session
Friends,
The 2025 special session wrapped up early Tuesday morning, closing out a legislative year that was frustrating, historic, and all too revealing.
Let’s start with the facts: Half the House was absent for the first 23 days of session, and we ended up needing an additional 22 days just to get the job done. That kind of delay costs Minnesotans – plain and simple. It’s also a reminder of how critical it is to show up ready to work from day one.
In the last biennium, Democrats increased the state budget by nearly 40%, jumping from $52 billion to $72 billion. I opposed those increases then, and I still do now. This year, Republicans were able to push back and reduce some of that bloated spending – the largest budget reduction in state history – but it didn’t go far enough. Too many in St. Paul, including our governor, remain far too comfortable spending your hard-earned tax dollars.
One of the most important wins this session was halting taxpayer-funded healthcare for adult illegal immigrants. Beginning January 1, 2026, that program will be phased out. I would’ve preferred it take effect immediately, but this is still a major victory for fiscal responsibility. Critics claimed this move was cruel – but the truth is, emergency care is still available to everyone, and nothing prevents anyone from purchasing private insurance. What’s not acceptable is asking Minnesota taxpayers to foot the bill.
But we also saw disappointing setbacks. Democrats and Governor Walz pushed through an education bill that adds $17 million to the Department of Education while simultaneously cutting more than $70 million from local schools. They passed up a tremendous opportunity to provide meaningful mandate relief for our school districts and blocked our effort to keep biological men from competing in girls' sports – a bill that failed by just one vote. Many of you have seen the headlines about the girls’ softball championship, where a male athlete dominated the competition. I’ll keep fighting for our students, for parental rights, and to protect girls’ locker rooms and athletic opportunities.
That said, we did manage to secure some important wins. Despite the Democrats' objections, we protected nonpublic pupil aid, ensuring continued support for homeschool, religious, and charter school families. We also made long-overdue progress by adopting the "Science of Reading" as Minnesota’s new standard of literacy. This is a critical step forward for our students, but there’s still a lot of work ahead if we’re going to turn around our struggling education system.
On a brighter note, I was proud to lead a major reform to tackle fraud in state government. My bill, House File 2, is now law and requires state agency employees to report suspected fraud – changing the old “encouraged to report” language to “must report promptly.” We also secured stronger whistleblower protections for those employees. These changes are long overdue, especially in light of the over $660 million in fraud Minnesotans have seen in recent years.
That includes the Feeding Our Future scandal, which Interim U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Joe Thompson recently described as costing “probably closer to $500 million” – up from previous estimates of around $300 million. These same fraudsters were welcomed into the Attorney General’s office and even pledged campaign contributions. Attorney General Keith Ellison still hasn’t provided answers, and I intend to keep asking the tough questions.
As co-vice chair of the State Government Committee and a member of the Elections and Government Operations Committee, I’m committed to rooting out waste and abuse and restoring accountability in your state government.
Although session has ended, my work hasn’t. I’m looking forward to spending the summer and fall back in the district – meeting with constituents, listening to your concerns, and preparing for the work ahead. Your voice matters, and I always welcome your input.
In service,
Rep. Ben Davis