Governor Walz unveils revised ‘One Minnesota’ budget

ST. PAUL, Minn. (GRAY) - Thursday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan announced their revised “One Minnesota” budget plan. The plan builds upon the budget proposal the pair released early on in 2023, adding new investments for public safety, education, and local projects.

“[The] fundamentals did not change, but with the new numbers and the ability to be able to invest in certain areas we’ve come back [and restructured it],” said Walz.

Walz says it was important for them to prioritize key issues like public safety by adding further investments in those areas.

“The biggest change to this budget probably will be an increased investment of a little over $200 million, in addition to what we already did, in a public safety budget,” Walz said.

The additional investment means a total of $550 million will be going directly to cities, counties, and tribal governments across the state. Walz said it was important to support communities at the local level. Walz also intends to further funding for public safety by adding an additional $160 million intended to battle the state’s opioid crisis through education, resources, and training.

Walz also introduced a permanent increase in local government aid, from $30 million per year to $40 million.

“This plus-up that we’re doing in local government and county programming gives the local communities the options to make the changes that they need,” said the Governor.

Lieutenant Governor Flanagan announced the state will be setting aside $240 million to begin removing lead pipes in every part of Minnesota.

“We have a real opportunity here to partner with local governments with the federal government to make a difference for both Republicans here. This proposal helps communities across the states increase safety for children and their families,” Flanagan said.

According to Flanagan and Walz, there’s a lot more work to be done to reach their goal of clean water statewide.

According to Flanagan, it would take an estimated $1 billion to reach their eventual goal, which is why Walz believes this will need to be a continued investment.

“I think what you’ll expect to see is every budget and supplemental budget going forward from here will have that as a line item,” Walz said regarding the investment into lead-free water.

The governor hopes to work with all levels of the state government to get his revised proposal passed.