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Chamber Federation Priorities

Minnesota Chamber & Chamber Federation
2025 Session Priorities

Costs Matter

After two challenging years of single party control in Minnesota, voters sent a clear message that they want a balanced approach to governing our state, with a focus on improving the economy by lowering costs for families and businesses and through reasonable bipartisan solutions to the state’s challenges. With a one vote majority in the Senate and a tied House, compromise and bipartisanship will be required.

Costs Matter: Reasonable Responsible State Government

Fiscal Responsibility

Job one for the Legislature is to enact a sustainable, balanced budget by May 19th. Legislators need to confront the fact that the state budget is projected to spend more than is collected in revenues over the next four years. Policymakers must recognize that Minnesota businesses cannot afford any new tax increases or additional workplace mandates on employers.

 

Good Governance Through Accountability and Transparency
  • Fraud in state government programs has resulted in hundreds of millions of lost taxpayer dollars. The Legislature should respond to and act upon Office of the Legislative Auditor recommendations to enact necessary accountability measures for state agency practices and programs.
  • More than 35 new workplace mandates were passed in the previous two sessions. Timelines for implementation must be fair to employers and provide sufficient guidance so they are able to comply. Allow flexibility in how the state mandated paid family and medical leave program is implemented by employers who may choose to “opt-out” to best serve their employee needs.
  • A host of other state-imposed mandates, from health insurance to energy production and consumption, are increasing costs and weighing down the state’s economy. More effort must be placed on identifying, quantifying, and addressing the growing burden of these hidden state-imposed costs.

Costs Matter: Economic Competitiveness

Taxes
  • We support a pro-growth tax system that improves competitiveness, cultivates innovation, attracts investment and talent, and fosters job growth and retention.
  • Adopt tax provisions to encourage greater investment in Minnesota operations such as enhancing the R&D tax credit. If the federal government extends provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, immediate conformity is needed with priority attention to provisions such as research and development expensing.

 

 

Workforce
  • Build and retain a skilled workforce that is responsive to the evolving needs of the state’s economy. Ensuring that recipients of state aid (e.g. North Star Promise Program) stay in Minnesota for a three-year period post-graduation guarantees taxpayers and the state receive a direct return on this investment - and is a critical tool for mitigating demographic, employment, and migration trends.
Bi-Partisan Solutions to Reduce Costs
  • Enact regulatory reforms to the state’s environmental permitting process so it is more predictable, accountable and timely with the goal of protecting our natural resources while encouraging economic development and expansion.

 

  • Provide the state funding necessary to continue the state’s individual market reinsurance program to avoid large premium hikes for employees and destabilization of the market.
  • Repeal the state’s ban on nuclear energy development to ensure reliability and affordability of electricity as the state makes its transition to carbon-free by 2040.

 

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