Publications

Minnesota ended the recent budget year much stronger than expected, according to preliminary analysis from Minnesota Management & Budget (MMB).… Continue reading Minnesota’s revenues beat expectations

With the legislative session over, we’ve had the opportunity to pick up some of our ideal beach reads: the latest… Continue reading Summer reading: New reports show that policy choices build ladders to economic opportunity

By the early hours of June 13, Minnesota’s House and Senate passed the budget bills responsible for education, jobs and energy, and… Continue reading Budget bills passed during special session avert shutdown

With thoughtful reforms, the State of Minnesota can better target our resources without decreasing eligible families’ access to vital services. Dorothy Rosenbaum at… Continue reading Report contains good practices for addressing health care eligibility issues

The Health and Human Services budget (Senate File 1458) provides more families with options for affordable child care, more resources to… Continue reading Health and Human Services budget combines some good investments with harmful changes

Legislators ended this session with a flurry of late-night conference committees and marathon floor sessions. “Global targets” were established just a few days… Continue reading Policymakers put budget together, but it’s not a done deal

The Health and Human Services budget passed by Minnesota’s Senate and House of Representatives will increase health care costs for… Continue reading Budget deal on MinnesotaCare triples out-of-pocket costs, raises premiums for working Minnesotans

As policymakers work to set the budget for the upcoming FY 2016-17 biennium, they bring very different visions to the… Continue reading What’s at stake in final budget negotiations: Three different approaches to Minnesota’s future

The Senate Health and Human Services omnibus bill (Senate File 1458) uses the committee’s $341 million target to expand access to… Continue reading Senate HHS omnibus bill focuses on economic opportunity, health care and vulnerable youth

The House Health and Human Services omnibus bill (House File 1638) makes more than $1 billion in cuts in FY… Continue reading Despite surplus, House HHS budget bill cuts affordable health coverage, cancels long-term savings

The Senate transportation omnibus budget bill (House File 4) would expand economic opportunity for Minnesotans by allowing them to apply for… Continue reading Senate transportation omnibus bill expands access to driver’s licenses

Policymakers have critical decisions to make this legislative session. Will they make sustainable tax and budget choices that prioritize the… Continue reading More estate tax cuts shouldn’t be Minnesota’s priority

The House omnibus tax bill (House File 848) would exempt all Social Security income from state income taxes. This poorly-targeted… Continue reading House tax proposal to exempt Social Security is expensive and poorly targeted

With rising tuition costs, college is becoming more unaffordable for many Minnesota students. The House and Senate higher education omnibus budget proposals have different… Continue reading House and Senate higher education omnibus bills use different approaches to invest in students

More than 100,000 Minnesotans would lose their current health care coverage under Representative Matt Dean’s House Health and Services omnibus bill (House… Continue reading House HHS bill dramatically increases cost of health care for 100,000 working Minnesotans

The House omnibus tax bill would take Minnesota in the wrong direction for a number of reasons: It is larger… Continue reading House tax bill contains ticking time bombs

All year long, policymakers, the public and a diverse group of advocates have been discussing the need to address the… Continue reading Senate proposal extends affordable child care to more Minnesota families

Legislators are busy putting together the FY 2016-17 budget, but some of the budget plans coming out do not help build… Continue reading House jobs omnibus bill lowers wages, threatens job quality and cuts affordable housing

In 2012, Illinois policymakers authorized about $70 million to hire a private contractor to redetermine whether people enrolled in the… Continue reading Lesson from Illinois: Use of outside contractors to verify health care eligibility unlikely to deliver promised savings

Despite Minnesota’s economy showing signs of recovery, we know we still have work to do to achieve economic prosperity for… Continue reading Voices for Racial Justice offers equity agenda for Minnesota

The typical family in Minnesota needs to make $16.34 an hour to make ends meet. That’s according to data from the Minnesota Department… Continue reading Resource measures basic needs budget for Minnesota counties

Ensuring more Minnesota families have affordable child care is one of our top priorities. It is no secret that child care is expensive; no parent… Continue reading Investing in our current and future workforce through Basic Sliding Fee

On March 10, Representative Matt Dean introduced a bill that would dismantle a path to affordable health care for more than 100,000 Minnesotans. MinnesotaCare… Continue reading Proposal would end affordable health care for more than 100,000 Minnesotans

With an eye on learning from the past and preparing for the future, Senate leadership today released their budget targets, charting… Continue reading Senate targets focus on education, more limited tax target

For a large number of Minnesotans, the daily activities we do to support our families, like getting to work safely,… Continue reading Driver’s license bill would expand opportunity for Minnesotans

All Minnesota families should be able to afford child care that meets their needs. Affordable child care allows parents to… Continue reading Kids Can’t Wait Day of Action for affordable child care

Minnesota has recently turned the corner after more than a decade of frequent budget deficits, and now has a $1.9 billion… Continue reading House budget plan sets Minnesota on the wrong course

Last week many concerned Minnesotans testified on the needs of our state at the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on budget resolutions.… Continue reading Legislators preparing to set budget priorities

There’s more evidence that the efforts Minnesota has taken to more equitably share the responsibility for funding schools, roads, nursing… Continue reading Minnesota’s tax system fairer; proposed legislation would take us backward

Governor Mark Dayton today released the outline of his supplemental budget. We’re looking forward to seeing the details, but here’s our… Continue reading Dayton’s supplemental budget focuses on children, broadening economic security

American workers earning the least saw wage gains from 2013 to 2014. Those gains were largely in states where the minimum… Continue reading Federal data affirm Minnesota’s choice to raise the minimum wage

In our final bite on Governor Mark Dayton’s budget proposal, we look at how he seeks to strengthen the state’s… Continue reading Dayton makes investments in workforce development, supportive housing and transit

Governor Mark Dayton’s budget proposal for health and human services would improve access to vital services for some of Minnesota’s… Continue reading Dayton’s health and human services budget invests in critical supports to Minnesota’s most vulnerable

The state’s February 2015 Economic Forecast released today shows good news for three budget cycles. After years of deficits and cuts in services, these… Continue reading February forecast’s strong surplus creates opportunity to invest

We’ve been sifting through Governor Mark Dayton’s budget. Previously we analyzed his tax and child care proposals, and now we’re looking into his education proposals. In his… Continue reading Governor Dayton invests in Minnesota’s students

The economic security of tipped workers in Minnesota is threatened by House File 1027, which passed the House Job Growth and Energy Affordability Policy… Continue reading Tip penalty threatens economic security for Minnesotans

To make Minnesota a state where every child can thrive, we must make efforts to support children directly, but also invest… Continue reading Governor Dayton’s budget invests in children

Poverty is more common among Minnesota children than adults, and child poverty is highest in rural counties. This information is presented… Continue reading Child poverty map demonstrates need for more state investment in economic opportunity

We’ve been digging into the details of Governor Dayton’s budget proposal, and I’ve been looking at the tax portion. It follows… Continue reading Affordable child care, transportation are focal points of Dayton’s tax proposal

All Minnesota parents should be able to go to school or work with the knowledge that their children are in a… Continue reading Seven reasons to invest in Basic Sliding Fee this session

Governor Mark Dayton’s state budget proposal released today provides new investments for our state, and particularly focuses on getting our youngest Minnesotans started on the… Continue reading Governor’s budget continues to invest in a strong future for Minnesota

Time is running out to make sure members of our communities find their way to affordable health care coverage. February… Continue reading Still time to get health insurance

More than 600,000 households in Minnesota face very high housing costs when they pay their mortgages or sign their rent checks.… Continue reading Housing costs stretch budgets across the state

In some parts of our state, 1 in 3 children live in poverty, more than 1 in 3 households have high housing… Continue reading Mapping Minnesota’s Future to Shared Opportunities