WASHINGTON – Following the DLCC’s historic 2022 cycle in which Democrats won a trifecta in Minnesota for the first time in a decade, Minnesota Democrats are using their new power to move an ambitious agenda forward and improve countless lives in the state. The progress in Minnesota showcases how state legislatures are key to enacting the Democratic Party’s agenda, especially as we face gridlock in Congress and a conservative Supreme Court hellbent on restricting rights.
“From enshrining abortion access to expanding voting rights to cutting costs for working families, Minnesota is a textbook example of what happens when Democrats flip state legislatures – they make sweeping, transformative policy changes,” said interim DLCC President Heather Williams. “While Republicans relentlessly attack LGBTQ+ equality and our democracy, Democratic-led state legislatures protect our fundamental freedoms and fight for American progress. The Democratic Party cannot implement their vision for this country without state legislatures, and the DLCC is leading the charge to expand Democratic power across the country.”
NBC News: “How Minnesota is becoming a laboratory in pushing progressive policy”
State Democrats won back control of the Legislature in 2022, and they’re using that power to achieve long-sought policy goals of the left.
When Minnesota Democrats won back the majority in the state Senate last fall, they achieved the dream: a trifecta of control across the Legislature and the governor’s office.
They weren’t the only ones. Democrats did the same in Maryland, Massachusetts and Michigan, whereas Republicans failed to nab any new trifecta in the 2022 elections.
But it’s Minnesota that’s attracting attention as a laboratory for how to effectively use that power to achieve progressive policy priorities.
…
Just over halfway through their legislative session, Minnesota legislators have already enacted or advanced measures that touch nearly every area of the Democratic Party platform, including policies about reproductive rights, democracy, voting, green energy and LGBTQ protections.
Weeks after their sessions kicked off, Democrats in the Legislature moved to enshrine abortion rights into law, making Minnesota the first state to do so this year. The state still restricts the procedure after a fetus is determined to be viable — usually around 24 weeks — but the restrictions remain enjoined.
Abortion-rights advocates have touted the new law as especially crucial for pregnant women in states bordering Minnesota — like Wisconsin, South Dakota and North Dakota — where abortion remains illegal after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.
In addition, state Democrats approved what advocates have called the largest expansion of voting rights in the state in decades. The bill, which Walz signed last month, restored voting rights to people who were incarcerated as soon as they completed their sentences — a measure that was expected to affect almost 60,000 people. Previously, people who had once been incarcerated had those rights restored only after they completed a yearslong probation process.
###
