Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham made the following statement on the close of the Minnesota Legislature’s 2025 Special Session:
“Despite an equally divided House and lawmakers from both parties attempting to weaken or eliminate key worker protections, Governor Walz and most DFL lawmakers stood firm to successfully defend Paid Family & Medical Leave, Earned Sick & Safe Time, Unemployment Insurance eligibility for school workers, and more. Consequently, we can confidently say that nearly every worker in Minnesota will have access to paid family and medical leave starting January 1.
“Lawmakers also came together to strengthen our infrastructure, create family-sustaining jobs, beef up enforcement of worker misclassification laws, and conduct a study to measure the impact of misclassification fraud in Minnesota.
“Most disturbingly, we are appalled that Republicans held the state budget hostage just so they could take away undocumented workers’ access to MinnesotaCare health insurance. This move is not only cruel but costly. Because Republicans’ prejudices overrode common sense, healthcare costs will increase for everyone as more people will wait until they are seriously ill before visiting the emergency room as a last resort.
“Given a looming budget deficit in two years, an erratic and unpredictable federal government, and the prospect of severe cuts to Medicaid funding on the horizon, we strongly urge lawmakers to not balance future state budgets on the backs of working people and the vulnerable.”