Today Senate Republicans held a press conference to introduce the Minnesotans First agenda for the 2025 session. The Minnesotans First agenda aims to help Minnesotans with inflationary costs, rein in government spending, hold government accountable to fraud, keep Minnesotans safe, strengthen families, and protect children.
See the Minnesota First agenda
“For the last two years Democrats have put government and their political allies first and passed the costs on to hard-working Minnesotans,” Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson (East Grand Forks) said. “The Minnesotans First agenda puts hard-working Minnesotans at the front of the line by balancing the budget without tax increases, demanding accountability from agencies to stop the waste, fraud, and abuse, and lowering the cost of living to help family budgets.
Minnesotans First has five planks, beginning with helping Minnesotans with the high cost of living. “The inflationary costs of goods and services have hammered Minnesotans for years. Democrats repeatedly put special interests and political allies in line for handouts before helping everyday Minnesotans over the last two years, passing budget bills and policies that drive up the cost of energy, health care, housing, and starting and running a business,” Sen. Gary Dahms (Redwood Falls) said. “The last two years of government growth are hampering our economic vitality one regulation and fee at a time.” Addressing high energy costs, lowering the cost of business, health care, stopping tax increases, and growing the economy with solutions to help Main Street businesses are ways the Minnesotans First agenda seeks to reduce the impacts of inflation and let Minnesotans keep more of their hard-earned paychecks.
The second plank addresses the runaway spending by Democrats that pushes the state into a $5.1 billion deficit after a decade of surpluses. Gov. Tim Walz proposed a slim sales tax cut and cutting spending on human and special education services to address the deficit, however, recent committee hearings on his proposal exposed this will simply shift costs onto counties, which have no recourse but to raise property taxes. Walz’s proposal will ultimately raise more revenue than it cuts, and Minnesotan’s budgets will be stretched even further.
“Out of control and unsustainable growth in the state budget has led to tax hikes, fee hikes, and no sign that the Democrats are interested in putting the needs of Minnesotans first. The runaway train of Democrat spending is giving us huge deficits in the future that we can’t afford. It’s making it harder for Minnesotans to get by,” Sen. Karin Housley (Stillwater). Senate Republicans said they will not vote for a budget that increases taxes on Minnesotans after Democrats already raised $10 billion in new revenue in 2023. Instead, they aim to reduce the tax burden of working Minnesotans, prioritize spending on Minnesotans, and look for ways to make government more efficient.
Apart from the budget, the one topic everyone at the capitol is working on is fraud prevention. “The headlines need to stop,” Sen. Jordan Rasmusson (Fergus Falls) said. “Minnesotans are generous people, but they are tired and frustrated that bad actors have been allowed to steal millions from so many programs. People expect state government to stop the fraud.” Proposals for a statewide Office of Inspector General, strengthening the Office of the Legislative Auditor to annually review agency efforts, and mandating agencies follow through on anti-fraud efforts are all part of the Minnesotans First agenda.
Next, the Minnesotans First agenda tackles public safety and crime. “Democrats have made Minnesota less safe by passing soft-on-crime legislation that reduces sentences and releases violent felons from prison early,” Sen. Michael Kreun (Blaine) said. “Minnesotans deserve safe communities to live, work, and go to school, and Republicans are committed to delivering on what they need, not what far-left activists want.” The group said they will promote policies that support law enforcement’s responsibilities, propose tougher penalties on violent and repeat offenders, and invest in proven crime prevention strategies.
Finally, the Minnesotans First agenda aims to strengthen families and protect children. Republican Education Committee Co-Chairs started the session by inviting school officials to share how a bevy of mandates and increased spending has challenged their budgets and made it harder to meet academic achievement goals. Despite the historic funding increases, schools across the state are struggling to make ends meet due to the strings and regulations Democrats put on the funding.
“One thing is clear from the recent education changes: one-size-fits-all mandates do not serve our schools or students well. It is incumbent upon us to ensure schools have the local control needed to best serve their specific students’ and teachers’ needs,” Sen. Julia Coleman (Waconia) said. “Putting students and parents first is our top education priority with this session. The very future of our state depends on making sure our students are successful.” Republicans will propose a pause on mandates, adjusting student funding to address disparities, address safety concerns and parental notification. They also proposed protections on girls’ sports and continued their support for funding and improving Minnesota’s nursing homes.