Newly empowered Minnesota Democrats pledge to move swiftly

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota's Democratic leaders pledged Wednesday to use their new control of the state Legislature — and a $17.6 billion budget surplus — to improve the economic security of residents and to quickly enact protections for abortion rights.

“We truly are moving swiftly, more swiftly than I can remember in my 18 years of service, because that's what Minnesotans expect and deserve,” House Speaker Melissa Hortman, of Brooklyn Park, said at a news conference on the first day of bill introductions of the 2023 session.

The Democratic proposals include a plan for employer-funded paid family leave and sick time. Hortman said it would help remedy the state's workforce shortage. Minnesota has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, and the lack of workers has hampered the ability of businesses to grow. The speaker said the bill will help attract people back into the workforce.

Child care costs are some of the biggest reasons people aren't coming back into the workforce, said new House Majority Leader Jamie Long, of Minneapolis. So Democrats plan to pass a $3,000 per-child tax credit for families with children age 5 and younger, with a cap of $7,500.

“That will make a real impact in people's pocketbooks and their ability to get to get to work,” Long said.

Democrats took control of the state Senate in the November elections, albeit with just a one-vote majority. They also preserved their six-vote majority in the House and kept the governor's office to win full control of state government for the first time in eight years. Hortman, who’s beginning her third term as speaker, said many Democratic priorities over the last four years were blocked by the “brick wall” of the Republican-led Senate, a barrier that's now gone.

Democratic leaders assigned the...