Red State Blue State by Aaron Rosenthal
The employer-employee relationship is foundational in the US. Labor protections begin with being recognized as an employee. Funding for many social safety net programs comes from employer and employee contributions. That foundation is now in jeopardy. Rather than...
In 1998, a crew installing broadband cable for high-speed internet in downtown St. Cloud struck a gas line. The resulting explosion killed four people, destroyed six buildings, and caused $400,000 in damage.[1] More than 25 years later, too little has changed. In...
Minnesota's economic landscape is marked by a growing disparity between corporate profits and workers’ wages. Between 2009 and 2021, corporate profits grew three times more than average earnings. When workers take action to shrink this gap, billionaire-backed...
In 2023, Governor Walz and the Minnesota Legislature established one of the nation’s most ambitious climate change goals, committing Minnesota to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. While many have rightly cheered this goal, several observers have also pointed out...
Minnesota has set ambitious goals for addressing climate change and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In 2007, the Next Generation Energy Act (NGEA) developed a series of goals to reduce GHG emissions incrementally, aiming for a reduction of 15 percent by 2015,...
School finance measures approved by the 2023 legislature and signed into law by Governor Walz provided the largest one year increase in state aid to Minnesota school districts in twenty years. According to data from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), total...
Minnesota faces a significant shortage of affordable housing. Middle and low income Minnesotans are finding it increasingly difficult to rent or buy a home. The supply of low-cost rental housing in Minnesota has actually fallen by a quarter over the last decade, while...
Despite Minnesota having $12.5 billion in one time money and a structural general fund surplus of $6 billion, there is no surplus in transportation funding. This report details decades of declining revenue from dedicated funding sources of transportation...
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