Look to Minnesota as a Model for a More Supportive Economy | Opinion

It's that time of year when summer break is ending for both the nation's schoolchildren and the U.S. Congress. As those breaks end, I hope our federal lawmakers will keep our students and their caregivers in mind. Minnesota is a blueprint of what's possible at the state and the federal level when leaders listen to the people and respond to the advocates and workers who are the experts on how to build a more supportive economy—one that lifts families out of poverty, reduces inequality, and enables all people to thrive.

Over the last year, we have passed legislation in Minnesota that gets at all these areas. When members of Congress meet for their taxpayer-funded lunches, they will do so knowing every student in Minnesota will also get breakfast and lunch, no matter their income. One of the most gratifying moments of my career happened recently when I watched students in our schools being served meals without regard to their ability to pay.

This issue is deeply personal to me. While I'm now a lieutenant governor, I was once just a Native kid growing up in St. Louis Park, Minn. I was the kid who relied on free and reduced-price lunch at school. And I was raised by my mom who utilized Minnesota's Child Care Assistance Program, which allowed her to go back to school and earn her degree in phlebotomy. These public programs helped us survive, and ultimately, thrive. With those childhood experiences, I dedicated my education and career to fighting for children and families. Now, I am proud to pay it back and make sure families like mine feel supported and know that there are so many opportunities to succeed.

In Minnesota, we are investing in the people who support our state. I would not be in the position I am today without the benefits and paid time off I received from my employer when I gave birth to my daughter. This paid leave was crucial to my health and daughter's future. Since then, from my time at the Children's Defense Fund to now as lieutenant governor, I have been fighting to ensure every Minnesotan is afforded this time off.

Since the United States doesn't guarantee a single day of paid sick or family leave, states like Minnesota are leading the way in filling that gap. Nearly 75 percent of Minnesota's workforce currently lacks access to paid leave, but our new paid sick and paid family leave law will give all Minnesotans the option to take up to 20 weeks of paid leave by 2026. No family should ever have to choose between caring for a child or sick loved one and a paycheck. This life-changing program is the direct result of decades of advocacy by organizations like ISAIAH, the Children's Defense Fund, and the Women's Foundation of Minnesota, among others.

In 2023, Minnesota had one of the most productive legislative sessions for any state in recent memory. Our historic child care investments and child tax credit will greatly increase the accessibility and affordability of child care for Minnesotan families and caregivers and increase pathways for working women like me to build a career. Our child tax credit, which provides lower income families up to $1,750 per child—with no limit on the number of children—is expected to reduce child poverty in Minnesota by 33 percent. In fact, a new report from Oxfam—the Best States for Working Women index—ranks Minnesota in the top 10 states for working women thanks to policies like these. The correlation between states supporting working women and decreased child poverty rates is strong.

We also passed legislation to expand voting access, restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated Minnesotans, increase funding in affordable housing, establish Minnesota as a safe-haven for LGBTQ people, and legalize adult-use cannabis. Minnesota specifically invested in nursing homes, a paid care profession that overwhelmingly employs women and has historically been an underpaid job. The legislature agreed on long overdue and common sense gun safety measures, and we will now provide free state university tuition for families making less than $80,000 a year. Any of these are worthy of their own focus; we did them all in five months, work that reflects not just a clear collective agenda on behalf of the legislature, but also the long road of advocacy undertaken by the people of Minnesota.

Minnesota is charting a new path of investing in people, communities, and working women, creating a model for how to support people in effective and impactful ways. Congress can follow our lead and join Minnesota in making this country the best place to raise a family. Miigwech.

Peggy Flanagan is lieutenant governor of the state of Minnesota.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.