Issues
The richest 1% of Minnesotans now own nearly a third of all the wealth in our state. This level of outrageous wealth inequality is not normal, and it should not be acceptable to any of us. Meanwhile, many Minnesotans are faced with housing insecurity, and unaffordable childcare and health insurance. Too often we are told that we don’t have the money to meet these needs. That’s not true. We live in a wealthy state, in the wealthiest nation to ever exist on the planet. The problem is our extreme wealth inequality.
I am working to increase taxes on the rich. Last year I introduced S.F. 2290, and in the bill’s hearing we showed that simply by taxing the top 2% of earners in Minnesota just 2.6% more, we would raise over a billion dollars each year to go toward the public goods we desperately need.
If we made the rich pay their fair share, we could have:
Housing
We must move away from using our tax dollars in an attempt to entice private developers to build affordable -- including low-income -- housing. Instead, we should be using our public dollars to directly fund housing that is truly affordable for middle and lower-income people. Great ideas and models such as tenant-run housing, cooperative housing, and rent-controlled housing, are all ready out there, paving the way to a future where we have housing for all. We do not have to reinvent the wheel. Rather, we can have our tax dollars start housing people, rather than going to profiteers.
Childcare
Children and the people who care for our children are not being valued. Childcare workers are not paid nearly enough for the work that they do. Childcare centers are closing because they can't make ends meet. It’s too expensive for families. We must invest in childcare the same way we invest in public education. When the rich don't pay their fair share, we pay the price for not having adequate childcare.
Reductions in Property Taxes
When the rich do not pay their fair share, the costs are disproportionately shifted to the rest of us, most notably through increased property taxes. Many of us dread seeing our property tax bill every year. For those on fixed incomes, this ever-increasing burden is unreasonably harsh.
We also must be careful stewards of our public funds. We can close the door to fraud by taking back our public goods, starting with our public health care systems, MinnesotaCare and Medicaid. We shouldn’t have to fight insurance companies to receive the care we need, and we shouldn’t be using public dollars to enrich outrageously high-paid insurance executives and their investors. It’s time we finally get it right, take back our public goods, and start treating healthcare like the human right that it is.
Wins
While I am committed to these reforms to create a future where we all have dignity, I also recognize that it is essential to celebrate our wins along the way.
Reproductive Rights
Workers and Labor Unions
We have protected reproductive rights in MN, including access to abortion healthcare, after I and other legislators in the Reproductive Freedom Caucus were successful in seeing those rights enshrined into Minnesota law.
As the Chair of the Labor Committee, I worked with unions across the state to pass landmark legislation for workers’ rights. We made it easier for people to join unions, affecting tens of thousands of people in Minnesota, and expanded rights for people regardless of whether they have union representation, including earned sick and safe time for every worker. We strengthened our wage theft laws and made historic expansions to the prevailing wage. We made workplaces safer, and passed family and medical leave and defended it from attacks. While workers’ rights are being dismantled at the federal level, we have been expanding them here in Minnesota.
Protecting our Water
This past year, we also held a “people’s hearing” at the Capitol on my Prove It First legislation, which would require copper-sulfide mine proposals to first demonstrate that another similar mine has operated and has then been closed without polluting the surrounding environment. While some politicians and powerful industry backers continue to block official hearings for Prove It First, we packed a room for our hearing for the people. Minnesotans deserve to have the information we need before a mine of this type is considered for permitting. We will not be a test case for international corporations’ profiteering experiments that put our health, our economy, and our environment in danger.