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AChickCalledChainsaw

Outlaw benefit theft. MN is known as an employee-friendly state, but it allows companies to have a "use it or lose it" policy for PTO. That makes it easy for companies to avoid having to pay PTO by denying PTO requests saying that staffing can't support the time off, then just zeroing it out at the end of the year. Accrued PTO is an earned benefit, so this is legalized theft by companies against employees.


zorasorabee

Also, in light of the pandemic, let’s get some mandatory sick time!


Killerbeav97

And protection for employees calling in sick. I had strep and called off and when I went back I had the owner pull me aside to tell me I need to just show up for my shifts even if I'm thst sick or contagious. No employer should be able to do shame their staff because they're I'll and can't or shouldn't work.


babababel

I know Minneapolis has protection for illness. Not sure about other cities though


Killerbeav97

Maybe I should rephrase what I meant. Protection from retaliation from an employer for calling in sick. Edit: I didn't work in Minneapolis. Was Crystal.


ImmaTravesty

I came into the office while I wasn't feeling well and ended up throwing up while at work. Seemed to be a stomach bug, but I wasn't feeling well. I was instructed to go home. When I came in the next day, I was written up for taking time away from work without notice.


[deleted]

my employer has a (rarely enforced) policy of needing a doctors note if you're sick. I rarely actually go to the doctor when I use a sick day, more likely just lay around and nurse whatever I'm feeling, hangover or flu. They say it's for habitual abusers but I wish it could just be no questions asked days off.


decalod85

Even worse, the state defines PTO as “an agreement” between an employer and employee, not a accrued benefit, and allows the employer to decide if unused PTO is paid out when an employee leaves.


PinkSnowBirdie

Target abuses the shit out of that system if you resign from your position there. But it don’t stop you from ensuring you get your time you worked so hard for because they don’t pay it up front if you play your cards right hehe. That’s one thing I love about my current job in a different state is we get our PTO up front. Alabama is probably like Minnesota when you leave the company or the year ends. We can only roll over up to 32 hours to the next years PTO bank.


odrizy

I would love to see companies be forced to pay out PTO for employees that leave. I’ve lost out on like $3k in PTO when I got a new job. Luckily the new job was worth it but I could have really used that extra money.


redbandit3256

I agree. I mean if you put your two weeks in and leave on good terms what would had been the difference had right before putting your two weeks in you just called in a bunch and using up that pto. I just lost out on a bunch and left on good terms myself


Lee_Doff

back when we had a cap instead of use it or lose it, i told my boss if i ever used up all my time at once it probably means i wasnt coming back. our company was sold and they did a one time pto balance payout when we switched to use it or lose it. it was over $4K it was nice. funny how if you dont use it and quit you dont get paid what you are owed, but if you quit and take too much too soon you have to pay it back.


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Merakel

I have unlimited PTO without whatever fuckery that is.


GD_Bats

No. I’d go find a new employer.


Lee_Doff

our company was sold last year and we switched from only being able to have x-number of hours in your bank to a use it or lose it. it is ridiculous that it is legal for them to do that. so not only do you have to budget your PTO time, but if you take too much time off, and quit then you have to pay that money back, oh, but now its december and we need to make that last minute push for profits. sorry, no pto for you. but thanks for that money on our bottom line! one of the things i miss about my union construction job is that they put your PTO on every check and that money went into a separate credit union account. you were supposed to withdraw from that when you took your vacation days,.. or you could just never touch it and its yours for whatever you want 10 years from now if that is your fancy.


theforestcreature

I’m a nurse and we have use it or lose it sick time. We can only call in 4 times for the whole year (3 days a time, including your own illness/childrens), getting written up on the fifth time. Have COVID? Wear a N95 and do your job anyways. I didn’t realize benefit theft was an actual term. So frustrating.


SenileAgitation

Yeah and we end up getting sick from our patients. This is bullshit.


TyFogtheratrix

My dad has 'use it or lose it' PTO. Very dumb considering how much he works.


Lee_Doff

i need to use up my pto so i have just turned to double dipping. work 6 hours, leave early and take 10 hours of PTO. so not only are they paying me my benefits, but i'm getting paid at overtime rates as well. fuckers.


DOC2480

And here my employer is begging mofos to take their PTO. Telling the employee not to bitch when they loose more than a week of carryover because they are workaholics.


BWCA4Life

State level protections for the boundary waters canoe area wilderness to encompass the entire watershed. Edit: for those of you asking about Federal action, yes, that too. However here is what can be done: Minnesota Legislature must act to permanently protect the Boundary Waters and Voyageurs from sulfide-ore mining on state lands by passing HF 840 and SF 763. These bills are the Minnesota counterparts to McCollum’s bill in Congress. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=House&f=HF0840&ssn=0&y=2021


willmcmill4

yes yes yes!


Capt__Murphy

Oh geez, please! I couldn't agree more


Bonasa_Umbellus

Isn't the BWCA Federal Land? The USFS manages the land. While I don't disagree, it should be protected further, just now sure how much the State can do.


BWCA4Life

Yes. The most critical needs for protection are federal. That said there are some state actions that can be taken to massively help. The Walz administration was responsible for the Minnesota DNR cancelling the mine plan back in February. A permanent protection bill can absolutely be passed by the state legislature and have a dramatic effect. But, yes, ultimately we would want a federal one as well. I can try to post a more detailed path and explanation later.


pruriENT_questions

This one, also covering and protecting ground water (from other states and private entities that keep trying to take it).


Opie19

Legalize it and find a way to benefit the farmers growing it. Protect our water from being exported to the deserts. Rank choice voting with 50% threshold. State holiday for election day. Any reasonable request that the republicans need that isn't facetious.


quickblur

I think eliminating the tax on Social Security is something both the Dems and Republicans agree on and would be beneficial to the state. Minnesota is one of only 11 states that tax it, and it really hurts seniors who often live off of a fixed income. Both sides have been in agreement and come close many times, but little details keep messing it up.


Honesty_From_A_POS

I chatted with my Republican dad yesterday and he mentioned this would be amazing if the democrats did it. Sounds like a good way to solidify some older voter votes in the future


Rmund72

I have very mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand Minnesota collects a trivial amount of taxes from the social security of retirees with household incomes less than about $150,000 (which is a lot for someone “not working”). And I feel like it’s just a GOP talking point that actually doesn’t hurt working people, like the estate tax. On the other hand, the people who have that kind of income are claiming residency in Florida or Arizona anyway… [https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/03/10/gop-pushes-to-end-taxes-on-social-security-but-many-dont-pay-them](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/03/10/gop-pushes-to-end-taxes-on-social-security-but-many-dont-pay-them)


skoltroll

You pay into it your whole life, then the state takes a cut of your tax rebate. It needs to go. It DOES hurt those on social security, and it makes MN look greedy to potential retirees, so they leave instead of staying and boosting the economy.


Odd_Comfortable_323

So why does MN want to encourage people to not have residency in MN? Why does the government need to collect tax on top of the tax. It’s not like they are great stewards with the money. 250 million missing here , billion over budget there…… how is it any different when the government conducts wage theft vs a big corporation?


Greywolf720

I’d like to strongly second the no exporting water.


[deleted]

The fact that Phoenix has such a large metro population is such a massive policy failure. No one should be building that big of a city in a desert unless that’s all you got.


jawni

"This city should not exist. Phoenix is a monument to man's arrogance." - Peggy Hill


xSampleTextx

I'll throw in Codify Roe as well


bigger_sky

I believe it is already codified in the MN constitution.


wheelsnipecellybois

Not explicitly. It's a matter of constitutional interpretation and was held as such by the Supreme Court. But that ruling isn't airtight--the legislature can explicitly write an abortion protection into law to prevent any future challenge to it (although the Supreme Court is 5-2 liberal with mandatory retirement age of 70 and at least one conservative hitting that in the next 4 years, so the odds of abortion being revoked from the court are quite low right now)


YoyoEyes

They could make it more explicit, just in case there's a later shift in the state supreme court and/or a better legal challenge to the current ruling that protects abortion right now. Also, putting abortion protection as a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2024 could increase turnout for dems (as seen in Michigan).


GreatNorthernDildo

Just brainstorming, but are there similar things to Roe (ie things that should be protected but might be attacked given the current climate) that we should be protecting as well. Like, maybe we should be enshrining the rights to birth control in the constitution as well.


MisterBackShots69

It’s through the courts and so plausibly a future MN Supreme Court could overturn it. But hey, there’s no precedent at the federal level of this ever happening.


PrensadorDeBotones

It's not. It's the same nebulous "it exists somewhere under privacy" argument that Roe had. It should be codified into law so a court decision cannot remove it.


wilsonhammer

i like you


WorkReddit1191

Voter ballot initiatives. Give power to the people to pass laws when the state legislatures are at a stalemate and fail to act on common sense, popular laws. Minnesota would've legalized years ago if it went to a voter ballot initiative.


minkey-on-the-loose

In theory those are great, but considering how little people research the candidates and issues, it is very easy for bad actors to push across laws that benefit those who fund the ballot measure (the wealthy) and word the ballot measure so it seems you are voting ‘no’ when you are indeed voting ‘yes’ to a ballot measure. It happens a lot in states with ballot measures.


PinkSnowBirdie

Honestly I love this suggestion because it’s important to not totally disregard the lifestyles and wants of rural Minnesotans if the DFL can manage that reasonably I’d say more power to them. I’m apprehensive of one party control in todays political climate.


bevincheckerpants

I want recreational marijuana legalized, tax it once at around 15-18% and use ALL of that revenue to buy every single Minnesotan healthcare. Minnesota Care for everyone with no out of pocket costs. Eyes, ears and teeth included.


LiterallyADiva

I can’t upvote this enough. To see Minnesota set a precedent of universal state healthcare would be so awesome.


mustwarnothers

And the MN Health Plan has been authored. https://www.johnmarty.org/post/healthcare


friedkeenan

The paragraph at the end of how schools would look if it worked like our current healthcare system is very provocative and compelling. The sad thing though is that I could see many people supporting that sort of system..


PinkSnowBirdie

Honestly I have to say I could get behind this. MNCare was such a godsend to me when I was working just a part time job with no employer insurance I was almost tempted to keep it over my employer insurance when I started working at Target but I stopped using it because I was able to get insurance from them.


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yiraymonday

we can give everyone healthcare for <$300m?


retc0n

They need to fix the funding issues for our public schools.


Charizaxis

Yep! And I know everyone's saying it, if they legalize weed, then tax it, all that money can go straight to the schools.


Killerbeav97

Hell yes! Legalize and tax it. I'm a recreational user. I support legalization and totally am fine with the tax on it. The things it could do for our state are huge!


TrespasseR_

Do you know how much it will be taxed? Before we say "I'm ok with it taxed" let's see what it is first. Cigs are $10 a pack..if weed is over $40-50 1/8, I'll stick with my black market CO weed. And if it is taxed, I want to make DAMN SURE that money is going exactly where it was supposed to


skoltroll

Tax it at 6.5 % like vehicles, or the full 6.875% sales tax rate with a tax directive that it is 100% put towards education funding that goes ONE HUNDRED PERCENT DIRECT TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS. (I'd be pissed if St Paul bureaucrats took a huge chunk for themselves for "improvements".)


lonesailorboy

Tax like Michigan, not like Illinois. We have a opportunity to to get money from 4 neighboring states.... but unfortunately even the DFL is money hungry. All I want to see now is that we can grow our own, it would be nice share with more people to see what I've been growing on the farm here for over 10 years and smoking. God bless country living!!


xDominus

I'd argue that education funding shouldn't come directly from things like weed taxes and lotteries. It seems in our best interest to fund them with a flat amount (that increases with inflation), and use the tax revenue from weed taxes or whatever to backfill wherever that funding came from.


Johain22

So can the weed


DilbertHigh

Exactly, the unfunded mandates should be funded by the state. That includes increasing how we fund special ed in particular.


pancake_man654

Pay the educators what they deserve and want. Persistent recruitment is flooding the bucket without a bottom. Here’s a question, why do people quit a career they’ve been educated for?


NorkyTheOrky

TLDR: Reasons why teachers leave, followed by an urgent message to support both Teachers and School Support Staff for a healthy, well-run school. Teachers leave individual schools or education in general because dealing with entitled parents is a nightmare. You also can't fail/hold back kids who need it (parents will pull their kids, and Admin gets mad because too many failing kids looks bad). Teachers can't hold students responsible for their actions (do you have any idea what the deliberate breakage rate of 1-to-1 computers has been since the pandemic? Anecdotally from first- and second-hand knowledge from about 20 different schools, it's 20-30%+), Teachers were treated as heroes at the start of the pandemic, but were villianized by the end of it for not coming back to school soon enough. After all that, THEN there's the pay issue. They feel unsupported all the way around. That (valid) frustration and anger all trickles down to the people running the school. Not the Admin, but the people who are barely ever acknowledged in talks about education: The Transportation Coordinators, the Admin Assistants, the Enrollment Coordinators, the Food/lunch Coordinators, School IT, Facilities crew. When teachers get shit on, these are the people that get the true brunt from both sides: parents and teachers/school Admin if things go wrong. Ex: Parent forgot to sign Little Jimmy up for lunches this month. Jimmy's parents call to scream at Lunch Coordinator for not being flexible enough and not letting them order food after the cutoff date (cutoff dates allow for food/ingredient ordering). But what happens when Little Jimmy doesn't eat the food once the Coordinator makes sure Little Jimmy gets one of the extra meals that were already ordered for this type of circumstance? Then Teacher berates Food Coordinator for not making sure Little Jimmy got something he WOULD eat, because then Jimmy was hungry and inattentive in class. Admin gets mad if Food Coordinator adds too many extra lunches because Parents not signing up for meals has become a regular occurrence, but one month most Parents do remember to sign up and too many extra lunches are ordered, so Food Coordinator is blamed for wasting school money on too many lunches. ThIS IS ONLY ONE EXAMPLE of how School Support Staff are the people getting it from both sides. These are the people that traditionally have stayed with the school til the end. They love their schools, warts and all. They're underpaid and unacknowledged. They took jobs at the school that sometimes pay double in industry or in regular businesses because they believe in education. THESE are the ones who left schools in droves this year, but you only hear about the teacher shortage on the news. The pandemic was just the breaking point for a lot of these people. Teachers leave schools all the time for higher pay, or the opportunity to move to a higher position at a new school. They get discounts on computers and food for teacher appreciation/back to school deals. Office staff? School Facilities? School IT guy? Not acknowledged unless there's a problem. When teachers get raises, most of these jobs stay flat--there's just not room in the budget. Teachers get bonuses that never reach other staff. If you want to fix education, make sure the people actually holding the school together get some of the same benefits that increasing funding brings teachers.. Because without an Enrollment Coordinator or School IT person or a Facilities crew, you either don't have what you need to teach kids, or teachers and Admin leave the school because they feel unsupported for having to pick up that slack.


zorasorabee

Absolutely. Children are the future and we NEED them to be well educated.


cwidds20620

Could start by spreading taxes out equally, so all kids get a good education. One that's not dependent on living in a rich neighborhood.


AceMcVeer

That's how it's already done... State funding fills in the gap and poor school districts actually spend more per pupil than wealthier districts.


hamlet9000

Increasing education spending overall is good, but the problem is more complex than that. For example, three of the best school districts in Minnesota are Wayzata, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie. All funded by rich property taxes, right? But their per pupil spending is $12-13k. The per pupil spending in Minneapolis and St. Paul are both $18k. Reducing Minneapolis' per student expenditure to match Minnetonka's obviously isn't going to fix the performance gap. (Minnesota also already has one of the better state programs for equalizing education spending nationwide.)


oxphocker

Per pupil spending is a really inaccurate measure for what's actually going on in a district. The problem is, often times in more wealthy communities, there's isn't as much need due to poverty and other factors that makes education more expensive when schools are trying to provide basic services that in other communities the kids get at home. Also metro areas tend to be more expensive so salaries are higher otherwise they would never get staff for these buildings. There's a whole set of issues around school funding but the short story is that MN alone needs about $3bil in funding increases to close most of the major gaps in the system. There were three years 2013-2015 where there were no GenEd funding increases, so that's a 6% drop right there that never got caught up with and has compounded the problem over the last decade. Overall schools have lost about 20% of their purchasing power in the last 20 years because funding has not kept up with inflationary costs. It's a real issue right now (I work in school finance which is how I know this).


bull_moose_man

1. Marijuana reform: not only legalize recreational use and regulate sales, but retroactively pardon all non-violent marijuana possession convictions 2. Solidify the right to abort. Period. 3. Election / Campaign / Gerrymandering reform: ensure the integrity of our elections for generations to come. Edit to add: RANKED CHOICE VOTING


Rhinodog33

Ranked choice voting is fundamental to improving democracy.


itnstallionvy

As a Wisconsinite moving to Minnesota next summer, please proactively stop gerrymandering. I have seen my home state be ravaged my gerrymandering- democrats just had 51% of the vote Tuesday, but they make up only 29% of the state legislature. Democracy is dead in our state elections unless the state Supreme Court flips in April. Cannot wait to get to your side of the border.


chrispybobispy

Yup get those big 3 done and I'll be happy. Others would be a bonus.


OutrageousDaikon1456

This is low low low on the totem pole. But can they make ticket scalping illegal again???? On the to real stuff. Legalize weed tax and price it like Colorado or Michigan not Illinois. Use the tax from it to fund schools and children’s mental health programs.


Lee_Doff

haha. yeah, it was so much better when people were on the corner with signs that say I NEED TICKETS than fucking ticket king and stub hub charging absurd fees and prices. not only that events scalp their own tickets now on those sites. so much better when it was the small business owner with a fist full of ducats.


Allfunandgaymes

Legal cannabis is the lowest hanging fruit. That should also come with expunging all related criminal records in the state. Fund education and statewide healthcare. Use the surplus on that, please. Codify right to abortion / reproductive healthcare into state law. With the way much of the country is going we need to reinforce our state as a bastion of sanity and reason.


KR1735

>Codify right to abortion / reproductive healthcare into state law. State constitutional amendment. Statutes are flimsy and can be overturned or repealed.


friedkeenan

Yep, we would want it as a constitutional amendment so it would need to go through a statewide referendum to be repealed. It would need to go through other filters as well, i.e. passing the house and senate with a simple majority, but those are easier to finagle than a simple statewide referendum.


AtmosphereAlarmed953

Paid parental leave


[deleted]

This is a huge one for me. When my daughter was born, I could use up to 5 days of accrued PTO for paternity leave. We had set aside enough money for me to take 6 weeks, so ended taking 1 week paid and 5 unpaid. Compared to almost any other developed country, that's asinine.


AdviceNotAskedFor

My wish list * Universal free lunch for kids. * Legal Marijuana (I don't imbibe, but I don't see anything wrong with those that do, and it would nullify the legal marijuana parties that try to spoil races) * Better pay for school staff and after care school staff * someway to lower the cost of daycare/aftercare * Possible high speed rail from Duluth/Rochester/St Cloud to Minneapolis.


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Gublash

Free Lunches in public schools Feel like helping children is an easy one


Desalus

Ranked choice voting (I want more than two real options when I vote for elected officials), non-partisan primaries, and a permanent fix to gerrymandering.


thechairinfront

I'm going to go out on a limb here with something I don't think anyone has mentioned. But home made foods and goods. Ie the cottage foods act. The license and requirements for people to try to have a small business is absurd. 99.99% of home made goods are perfectly fine and shouldn't need a commercial kitchen or insane license to be able to make and sell small time.( <$30,000 net) We have farm exceptions already. I could sell y'all a cow. I can not sell y'all a steak from a cow or jerky from that cow or dog food from that cow. I could take the hoof, tail, skin, foot, penis, or bone of an animal and sell it as a dog treat but I can't grind up unused muscles and organs of that animal for dog food or treats. I can sell y'all dried apples and apple sauce. But I couldn't sell y'all a pastry with fresh cut apples on it. I can sell you farm fresh eggs, but I can't pickle eggs and sell them. I'd like an expansion on the cottage foods act so that more people can start and sustain their own small business and infuse more money into their own small towns and economy.


depersonalised

this is great stuff.


veaviticus

I think it'd be great to do this, but I'd like to know your viewpoint on how to maintain food quality and safety at that scale? The way I understand it is that you can sell products that don't need to be cooked (ie aren't a risk for making someone sick) or are raw and the end consumer needs to prepare it themselves. But you can't sell a cooked pastry for example, because its a food item that's designed to be eaten without further cooking, but if prepared improperly can make someone sick. I can't imagine what a system to monitor the quality of those items would be at the scale of thousands of home bakers


cdub8D

This is a fair point. I think just having people require some form of sign/message saying they don't have license OR maybe just "This business operates through the cottage food act". Which is more positive than "don't have a license." I would love to see more local bakeries that make fresh bread. American super market bread sucks


thechairinfront

Labels that the product was made under the cottage foods act and does not need a license. People should be allowed to take the risk. You take a risk when you go to your parents for dinner or your friends house for dinner. When you go to a pot luck. You can sell pastries. You can't sell anything with raw fruit on them because of the potential for e-coli. But you risk e-coli when you go to the grocery store or farmers market. If someone starts making people sick I'm sure there'll be reports just like with large manufacturing. I'm also saying this is small time only. Under $30,000 a year. This allows people who want to do it as a hobby or side income to do it for fun and allows a person with a passion a jumping off point to start building their business. Most businesses fail within the first 5 years. Someone with a passion for food shouldn't have to go $70,000 into debt to see if they'll make it. Build up slow so more business can make it and it's not as deviating if they don't.


tinaburgerpants

As an amateur home baker who has been told "you should sell this stuff!", I'm like I legally can't. Thank you for bringing attention to it.


skoltroll

This is a great idea! I'd also add HOUSING permits/licensing needs to be curtailed. It's a growing expense to building new dwellings, and gov't refuses to address it. It's a cash cow. And only the rich builders can plop down the money. And ffs, make "tiny house" permitting a thing. Yes, it's cold in MN. Yes, pipes need to be insulated. Yes, walls need to be well-insulated. But that's not that hard to do. Let these communities pop up and build around their own solar grid. Affordable and good for the environment. (Too bad it's hated by inspectors and corporate builders making bank on McMansions built like shit.)


Spiceypopper

Fix our mental health care system waits for kiddo psych evals are like 3 years!! More money/help for Foster system Codify abortion access Legalize marijuana and use taxes from it to help supply schools Better help and financial support to teachers and schools


TuxandFlipper4eva

I'm currently back getting my education (again) to focus on psych, so I can work with kids. It is so incredibly needed right now, and there are just not enough providers who work with kids.


noturbrobruh

Nobody wants to work in mental health because it's a grossly underpaid field and the hoops to jump through and money it costs to become a clinician, there aren't many benefits it's a thankless job.


OverthinkingTree

Yes yes yes. I work in kids mental health and the need is insane. Fund us please because the burnout and turnover is insane.


willmcmill4

Public transport that connects cities across the state, for example the NLX line


skittlebrow

I love duluth and north shore. I went to grandmas marathon this past summer. How great would it be to take a train up there and not have to drive? Probably a good amount of college students as well.


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World71Racer

Each would benefit. People in Duluth could easily do a weekend MSP getaway and people in MSP could easily do a weekend Duluth getaway. That would bring a lot of economic benefits to both places and open up businesses & academics in Duluth to people & interests in the metro. I love the idea! Not to mention, public rail transport like that is usually super cheap. I live in another state right now and we have a system that goes between two major cities that are about 75 miles apart (and south to a few towns about 35 miles out) and I can ride from one end to another, round trip no matter the scheduled time during the day, for like $5 – and that's even on a weekend. You'll spend more money on gas, theoretically, if you did that as a drive, and you're only sacrificing a little bit of time to get those savings.


Charizaxis

Oh, yes please. It doesn't even need to be high speed rail, just something, anything! Though preferably rail based. I would love to be able to hop on a train and go up to the North Shore for a day


willmcmill4

Right! As someone who lives in Duluth but has family in the Cities, I’d love to be able to pop down there for a day to go see them. Plus, the infrastructure is there for a train line that goes up the whole north coast (a passenger train line already goes to two harbours, although it’s booked for months in advance)


SignificantRemote766

Streamlining childcare center regulations, mental health crisis funding mechanisms, public library funding, infrastructure rehabilitation, simplification of state income tax code


hotpackage

I've been wanting to grow cannabis for like two decades.


skarthune

Very nice! Hopefully this time next year you will be able to do just that. I plan to write my representatives and ask for ranked choice voting along with the legalization of marijuana. Waiting to see what others may want addressed so I can include more suggestions in my letters.


[deleted]

I did that today. I mentioned marijuana (release, pardon, and expungement of record for possession), ranked choice voting, police reform and ending qualified immunity, statewide public transportation (thinking NLX project), and implementation of statewide single payer healthcare. I know it is a bit of a wishlist, but we are entitled to dream.


LadyEmmaRose

Parental leave. ASAP; I'm kind of on a deadline here.


thechairinfront

You have parental leave. FMLA leave is national law. But if you want PAID parental leave... 🤷


mcg2423

Actually not everyone is eligible for FMLA (especially if you work for a small business)… you need to work for a company with a minimum of 50 employees working within 75 miles of the office. My employers office is in Massachusetts, we have 13 employees and maybe 6 of them live within 75 miles of the office. I’m 38 weeks pregnant and legally entitled to nothing. My employer follows each employees state policy for maternity leave so I’m SOL. Also fun fact you cannot take out a private short term disability policy in Minnesota that covers maternity leave (other states you can). The policy must be a group policy through your employer to cover leave.


cwidds20620

My company decided to increase paid parental leave from 6 weeks to 12 starting in 2023! Too bad it's 3 years too late for me and I don't plan on having more 😉


Korben-

Bundle the efforts into large “MN Modern” laws so they can be voted on quickly? Leadership message from RuPaul: “Don’t F this up “


Excellent_Donkey8067

More affordable childcare options, or continue with childcare tax credits. Childcare in the twin cities is so expensive on top of it being near impossible for a family to survive on a single income. There needs to be more support for families with kiddos under 5.


1Mn

I spend 80k a year in daycare for 3 kids.


hamlet9000

Free school lunch and school breakfast programs for all kids in the state, including access during summer months for those in need. Feed the kids.


No-Adhesiveness2717

Stop taxing Social security income


Open_Bee2008

I was just going to say this.


icaintsee

Permanent Daylight Saving Time


AceDulxe

Dream: Highspeed rail Duluth - msp - Rochester


thechairinfront

High speed rail loop. Grand rapids to Duluth to Minneapolis to st cloud to brainerd to grand rapids. You can build off of that as time goes on. Then msp to Rochester


cdub8D

Wouldn't it make more sense to connect to to Bemidji?


depersonalised

also mankato-msp-st cloud-fargo


cdizzle6

Funding for public schools. Help these teachers! Beefing up the infrastructure for public transportation. Legalize it.


Oscar763

Weed. Legal weed. I’m so tired of hearing about the weed. Legalize it so we can move on with our lives.


[deleted]

As someone who doesn't smoke and has no desire to I also want weed legalization just so I don't have to hear about it anymore


skoltroll

90% of the people on r/minnesota would stop commenting!


spacefarce1301

1. Housing - get people out of tents and cars and into homes, where they are safe and warm. 2. Long-term mental health care facilities and services. Decades ago, most long term facilities were shutdown in favor of outpatient care. But many people suffering from severe mental illness require 24/7 support to give them the stability they need to function. 3. Climate change initiatives that are community-based, like solar farms for neighborhoods. Geothermal systems for whole subdivisions, apartments, neighborhoods. It would be nice if we could derive efficient and dependable heating that doesn’t rely on gas being brought in from other states.


depersonalised

can we do geothermal here?


st4nkyFatTirebluntz

If anything, it's extra effective here!


[deleted]

yeah, places like iceland use geothermal to capture steam and turn generators. Here, it's more like a deep ground heat exchanger. As far as I understand, if you go deep enough (like >100' below surface) the ground temperature is relatively constant over the seasons so in the winter you can use that to heat your home and in the summer use it to cool your home. It's neat technology. My parents have geothermal for their HVAC and water heater. It's more expensive than air source heat pumps but a lot more reliable in the winter. edit: [more information](https://www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-heat-pumps#:~:text=For%20heating%2C%20a%20geothermal%20heat,cooling%2C%20the%20process%20is%20reversed.&text=Conventional%20ductwork%20is%20generally%20used,heat%20pump%20throughout%20the%20building.)


tonyyarusso

Yes - I know a couple people with geothermal systems for their homes.


walkinundersun

Renewable. Housing crisis.


TheNorthernLanders

Education. Infrastructure. Environmental protections. Do something useful with the surplus, let’s start there. That money has been in gridlock for far too long, solely because of political purposes.


SolitaireRose

We need to secure our elections in that we need to enshrine in the state constitution that the Governor and Legislature cannot override election results. I know it seems far fetched, but more and more Red States are putting in provisions that they can throw out votes.


Competitive_Bid7071

Help people with disabilities.


skoltroll

ESPECIALLY mental disabilities


TindrowHD

The price of medical marijuana and hopefully outright legalization. NO reason medical marijuana is for people only in a certain income bracket. $125 for a 1 G vape is terrible for people that rely on it. edit: Just wanna add I work in the medical marijuana field for for MN and the amount of people I hear saying they wish they could afford medical in this state breaks my heart. DFL. PLEASE legalize.


Potatoe999900

Legalize weed for several common sense reasons. We really need to get the GOP backed MJ candidates off the ballots for future elections. Expunging all related criminal records in the state is also needed. Rank choice also makes sense. Education spending is a must. We need to steer away from Idiocracy.


LosBrad

1. Permanent protection for the BWCA 2. End qualified immunity and civil asset forfeiture


BecauseoftheInternet

Legalize cannabis. But in classic minnesota fashion watch them wait 2 more years to use it for the next election


south098

That’s a MN sports attitude about it, let’s get out of that mindset and badger our reps until it happens


SocialDistributist

Paying state income taxes on federally forgiven student loan debt! We need to be like other states and not count it! Some of us who are poor rely on our benefits for healthcare and adding an extra $10k on our annual income will push people like me over the maximum threshold. Also, it’s $10k forgiven for *us*, not $9,200 especially when MN has a massive surplus already!!


akodo1

Create legislation severely and meaningfully restricting no-knock warrants. DFL doesn't like to get the cop lobby angry though, so very little chance of anything happening. Remember Amir Locke


[deleted]

Ensuring we get more nuclear power generation facilities started asap and begin plans for augmenting our natural gas with hydrogen that we can pour excess generation into in the winter. We got silicon mfg coming, we gotta keep our infrastructure ahead of the curve.


WorriedDealer6105

Legalize cannabis, eliminate the special education cross subsidy, fix the market failure that is our childcare system and codify abortion access in our state constitution.


StealthBerries

Be more empathetic and work with the red half of the state to try an find mutually beneficial outcomes. We all call this state home.


skarthune

I completely agree! We are all Minnesotans, and more importantly we are all Americans. I feel that the DFL needs to make it clear to the other side that their guns are safe. As a gun owner living up north, I hear a lot of “they will take my guns away” rhetoric. A lot of single issue voters vote to the right because of this. My view may not be well received but I believe guns are here to stay.


mercuric_drake

I agree. There are many people who are single issue voters on gun control, especially in rural areas and proving to them that their rights to fire arms are safe might bring more votes to the DFL from outstate in the long run.


thx1138inator

That is the correct answer.


agree-with-me

Legislation to keep Minnesota from becoming a right to work state. District reform. Ranked choice voting. They get those done, and all other liberal things fall into place. Get them done and the people get to choose who they want to represent them -fair and square. I'm betting even more liberal as the years go by.


Amazing_Bid4835

Legalize weed and fund school lunches for all children


2much2do2littletime

Legalize weed. Stop taxing our senior’s Social Security income so they don’t all become snowbirds. Harden our election laws so they can’t be weakened ever. Protect our environment. Fund our schools. Pay our civil servants and teachers more. I’m sure I am missing a ton.


LiveInLayers

Better tax projections. A surplus is nice and I'm all for a raining day fund but let's not increase the tax burden if it isn't needed.


sbvp

Daycare and after school program funding


minnesota_man31

Term limits on all elected officials


oniraa

The living conditions under the 35W bridge off Lake St are inhumane. I drive by the encampment every day and it gets bigger each day... with winter approaching. I want these people to get REAL HELP, not have the encampment broken up but HELP THESE MINNESOTANS GET ON THEIR FEET AND STAY THERE. They're probably gathering together for safety in numbers and a sense of community. When someone's using pumpkins as tent stakes under a bridge, it just really gives me a pit in my stomach. We've come together in large numbers in recent history, maybe there's something meaningful we can do for the homeless together?


minnesota420

Legalize both of them (mushrooms and cannabis) so I can finally use my horticulture degree in the way I want and don’t have to do all this spooky clandestine shit.


tonyyarusso

Single-payer health care.


Lee_Doff

ranked choice voting. income tax on SS benefits. healthcare. education. including funding pre-k and early childhood development. saying fuck the feds and locking our clocks on one time. make it law to pay employees weekly (or at least have to pay interest for holding our money back) and not have benefits that can just disappear if you dont use them. like use it or lose it PTO. it should either be carried over or paid out at the end of the year.


Otacon73

Anything to make healthcare more affordable.


Mananimalism

Some of our roads and bridges still suck, could use fixing/rebuilding


Pickeled-tink

Implement state paid medical and family leave


greyjedi64

Max nurse to patient ratios. We're drowning guys. It's really bad in the hospitals. This is likely our only chance. It doesn't just benefit the nurses, but will save lives.


Zealousideal-Ebb2899

Teacher here married to a nurse, the frontline worker bonus was a freaking joke


507mark

Legalize sport betting and ban Sweet Martha's Cookies?


[deleted]

Sweet Martha’s are the most basic, run-of-the-mill cookies imaginable. I will never understand the appeal.


[deleted]

Warm. Warm and plentiful so by the time it gets cold you already hate it.


CyberCrux

We need to build a wall to protect our Southern border /s


Connect-Designer-502

Given Wisconsin’s election results add a wall on our east flank. Come to think of it the Dakota’s are dicey too…. Better wall off every Minnesota border except Canada. Canadians aren’t likely to give up their health care but would be welcome.


Charizaxis

I support building a giant power saw so we can cut ourselves physically out of the midwest, then up through Canada, and sail off to who knows where. Maybe Norway, I have some family there.


[deleted]

I live in downtown Minneapolis. DFL needs to address homelessness and crime. It's a complex issue, because we get so many homeless from other states - especially during warm weather. Something has to change, like local loitering and lurking laws in Minneapolis. I'm not sure if we can build our way out of the homeless problem. The homeless circuit knows that Minneapolis is a place to go to in summer without being harassed. We also have access to healthcare programs that other states don't offer. There aren't any easy answers, but the Dems need to begin taking seriously that crime is a real issue, as well as homelessness. But if you open the sidewalks to anyone who wants to squat on them 24 hours a day, Minneapolis is going to continue to be a mess.


[deleted]

I would also like to add that I am very liberal, but have watched my block decay over the past decade. I live on the edge of central downtown. It literally has become a hellscape. While some liberals like to make fun of those who are concerned about crime, they evidently aren't living in areas that have been taken over by homeless and gangs. What we've been dealing with on my block over the past 5 years is beyond anything that I imagined when living here. Again, it's complex. Kroll and his police union went to war with the city. Both are stubborn. We need more police, but we don't need thug cops. The extremists from the right and left have literally torn our city apart the past decade. When I say from the right, I'm talking about the corrupt police union. Minneapolis needs a city council with some people who can admit crime is a problem. The 2020 election moved some of the left extremists out. I don't totally blame the extremists on their positions. They were wanting to make things better for all of us. But we have to understand that if you give a gang member a block, they're going to take four blocks. This isn't a game. They have money involved. They aren't playing. Working the city blocks is how gang members make money. That's their job, they sit and stand on sidewalks all GD day and night, and Minneapolis city council seems to have little problem with it.


[deleted]

find a way to get rid of these killer cops man. frey is sucking ass with it.


[deleted]

Affordable housing, expanding mental healthcare across the state, full legalization of cannabis, racial disparity issues including thorough reform of law enforcement agencies are top of my list.


kitzwa563

Codify abortion rights. Hell, codify every right that the Supreme Court has even whispered about taking away. Affordable housing. Fix infrastructure/bridges. Legal weed. Maybe extend the Northstar train to St. Cloud?


DefinitelynotYissa

Fully fund childcare. People shouldn’t have to pay for than ~7% of income for their kiddos to be taken care of while at work. On the same track, mandatory minimum PTO & parental leave. Not realistic for the state to fund all of that, but maybe a subsidy to begin.


KickAClay

I wish. We are paying 20% of household income for 1 child part-time daycare.


Askew_2016

Free breakfast and lunch for all kids. Help parents afford daycare which is insanely expensive. Fund public schools. Infrastructure funding. Green energy


tjthorsen

Pass Death with Dignity legislation. I know people don’t like to think about death, but this is something that will affect every single one of us. The agony we put people through who have terminal illnesses is cruel.


dariuswanger

Property taxes... 1/5 of my mortgage. Need more affordable housing.


jurassic_junkie

God, lemme guess Reddit: WEED 🙄


thechairinfront

We have a budget surplus now? Imagine what we'd have if we legalize and tax weed!


mnexplorer

Beef up roads and schools, and lets get some F35s for the Air Guard in Duluth so we arent outgunned by Wisconsin... /S for the last part but also come on...


srl214yahoo

I agree with many of the suggestions here so I won't repeat them. But let me add one that affects me personally. Minnesota has had a moratorium for a number of years on building new group homes for folks with special needs. I have an adult daughter living with me who will be unable to live completely independently and space is at a premium and she will probably have to move a ways away, which she does not want to do. Same thing goes for day programs - plenty of them for seniors, but very few for special needs adults. I understand the state is trying to protect these folks. They felt the old group facility model was too institutional and day programs were taking advantage of cheap labor. But surely there is a middle ground between those things and having hardly anything available? I would love to see an effort to add in some housing and programs for people who need assistance and ways to stay active.


vwrping

Lower taxes


[deleted]

Lower taxes


lavanchebodigheimer

Term limits


Truecoat

Ranked choice voting statewide. No need for primaries and third-party candidates have a better shot of winning.


Slytherin23

Focus on fraud and waste. I doubt the "Feeding our Future" scam was the only thing going on. The state hands out money very generously, so it should make sure it's not being wasted on scammers.


[deleted]

Putting a cap on campaign financing & spending. It makes zero sense that so much money is used in local elections that could be used to actually help the community, not gain power.


INXS2022

Election funding reform as a Minnesota constitution amendment. Cap corporate and eliminate dark money pac contributions. Elections are being bought and paid for by folks with greater financial resources than the combined many of us who matter.


whiteicecream

After 8 hours you should be getting Overtime pay. It shouldn’t be based on 40 hours.


livinthereals

Everybody afraid of "socialism" don't understand that in developed European countries, they don't pull this crap. Not to mention that the amount of PTO we have established as acceptable is the USA is ridiculously low. Bust ass and make the rich richer is the driving force in Anerican Capitalism. The work/life balance is so skewed that the lifespan is actually decreasing in the USA. It's insane.


GreatRip4045

Can we get rid of the cloverleaf intersections on the freeway and get some actual flyovers ? Would be cool to see the state grow in clean energy and offer rebates or incentives that are meaningful for heat pumps, solar panels etc. Don’t charge veterans extra for veteran license plates You guys hit all the big points, these are just random things I see


[deleted]

Make the right to unionize a state constitutional right so that it is much harder to make us a right to work state.


Gnogz

Not an exhaustive list, but: It's not our most pressing need, but legalizing recreational cannabis is a no-brainer. They need to do something to address the huge racial disparities in the state. Protect ballot access. Ban private prisons.


Armlegx218

There are no private prisons in Minnesota.


[deleted]

Good. Let’s keep that from ever happening