A divided Minnesota shouldn’t stall state lawmakers

Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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Wednesday morning’s thick fog that blanketed much of Minnesota seemed as metaphorical as it was meteorological. Because the results from Election Day suggested an unclear path for state governance going into a crucial 2025 legislative session.

This much was apparent, however: The DFL trifecta of controlling the state Senate, House and executive office won’t continue due to a 67-67 tie (pending recounts) in House races. Meanwhile, the Democrats will retain their slender one-vote margin in the state Senate after a DFL victory in a special election. And with President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory, the resident of the governors residence has been clarified: Tim Walz, who was Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, will return.

Sorting out the transition from a trifecta to a tie will take time and require cooperation and compromise, commodities all too rare in recent years at the Capitol. But it could prove to be a productive enterprise in order for lawmakers to work together on a long to-do list that cannot be kicked to yet another year, especially since 2025 is a budget year and 2026 brings another important election, this time with every statewide and legislative elected leader on the ballot.

Among the priorities is health care legislation that’s necessary to head off health-insurance sticker shock in 2026 (as recently detailed by Star Tribune columnist Jill Burcum). Basically, the state’s reinsurance program, which cushions individual market consumers from health insurance price hikes, effectively ends in 2025, according to the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, a trade group. Adding to the concerns about this: Enhanced federal subsidies keeping rates low for consumers also sunset in 2025, leading insurance-industry officials to sound the alarm about the combined effect.

“Regardless of party control, funding reinsurance needs to be a top priority for the 2025 Legislature. Absent action, the looming double-whammy will result in as many as 93,000 Minnesotans who have coverage today becoming uninsured,” said the council’s CEO Lucas Nesse.

Bipartisan advances on other issues should be sought, too, including the state’s status as a top place to do business. While Minnesota should be proud of its relatively high ranking, challenges (crystallized in a recent commentary from Doug Loon, president and CEO of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce) about slow growth, workforce development and the size of the state’s economy relative to other states are legitimate areas of legislative concern and should be considered accordingly. Because it should not be forgotten that the extraordinary innovation of Minnesota companies and the productivity of the state’s labor force is responsible for the excess revenue that prior legislative sessions have been quick to spend.

Some of the government programs made possible by that investment have proved susceptible to fraud, including the breathtaking criminality of the Feeding Our Future scandal. There is no constituency for this fraud, of course, which should mean there should be unanimity in bolstering oversight to root it out.

And just as criminal activity involving government programs should be addressed, so too should criminal activity on the state’s streets — especially the urban core. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul leaders are keenly aware of and working hard on addressing violent crime but could use the state’s help. Lawmakers shouldn’t be reticent to offer it, and the cities and representatives from these areas equally shouldn’t be reticent to accept it.

Other, ongoing challenges await, including unresolved bonding-bill investments as well as environmental actions meant to protect the invaluable asset that is the state’s natural resources. Education issues await, too, and lawmakers from both houses and both parties as well as Walz shouldn’t flinch from the fact that despite ever-higher spending on education, results are stagnant at best. And persistent demographic achievement gaps remain a scourge holding back an asset as precious as the natural environment: Minnesota’s kids.

The state and the nation just endured a draining national campaign. The results reveal a state that remains politically divided — a condition that can’t be a reason for inaction but should instead be an impetus for progress on statewide issues that must not be ignored.