Defending our Futures: How Minnesota’s State Auditor strengthens democracy’s foundations and protects us against climate risks.

This year, every Minnesota voter will have a ballot with four statewide offices that are critical to how we move forward on building a multiracial democracy and equitable climate solutions. These offices are Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Auditor – together called Minnesota’s constitutional officers. 

Here at the 100% Campaign, we’re going deep on what these offices do. Specifically, we are interested in how each office can defend our futures by leveling up democracy-building and climate action. 

We’ll start with what is likely the least known office - the Office of the State Auditor. 

As the name suggests, the Auditor’s job is all about public money. And the way we handle public money connects directly to the strength of our democracy and our ability to navigate the climate change era. First, the Auditor plays a key role in transparency and accountability – both essential to building the foundation of trust in government so important for democracy. Second, the Auditor can help us be smart about how we invest public money, both proactively considering climate risks and guarding against extremist proposals to limit our ability to do so.

The State Auditor is essentially the Chief Transparency Officer for Minnesota’s local government spending. Our State Auditor oversees $40 billion in local government spending – making sure Minnesota’s local government spending is effective and accountable. 

Okay, okay that sounds a little boring. But here’s the thing. One of the most foundational parts of our democracy is that we trust it. It’s essential that we trust our elected leaders to do the right thing, follow laws and ethics, and use our public resources responsibly. Our State Auditor builds and protects this trust.

One of the key ways the State Auditor is responsible for public money is overseeing the investment of Minnesota’s public pension money. Public pensions are foundational to retirement security for many Minnesotans. If you, or someone you know, has worked for state or local government they have a big interest in how public pensions are invested. 

When I served in the legislature, one of the big lessons I learned was this – do not mess with people’s pensions. Because if you do, you’re messing with a basic aspect of people’s financial and life security. A big chunk of my own retirement savings are in Minnesota state pension plans, and I would be angry if the folks responsible for managing this money weren’t thoughtful about risk.

While public officials should shy away from messing with people’s pensions – something else is not. That something else is climate change. At the most basic level, climate change increases risk. Even more, it increases risk in ways we as a society have never experienced before – through changes to our weather and its impacts on our energy, food, and transportation systems, to name just three. We will also see risks to investment from the need to intentionally decarbonize these systems faster than we’ve ever done before.

New, increased climate change risks pose real challenges for pensions in part because pensions are designed to be invested for the long-term (think 30-50 years).

Luckily, here in Minnesota we have an entity – the State Board of Investment (SBI) that oversees state pension investments. The SBI is governed by our four constitutional officers. That includes our State Auditor. 

In the climate change era, overseeing long-term investments should definitely include considering climate change risks. Just recently, the Star Tribune Editorial Board agreed. They noted that our current State Auditor, Julie Blaha, has been pushing for the SBI to be proactively understanding and planning for climate change risks. In fact, the SBI commissioned three studies to understand (1) global trends in climate change investment analysis, (2) how other public pensions were addressing them, and (3) what possible paths forward are for Minnesota. 

These efforts are just plain smart. They also help defend the futures of Minnesotans invested in state pensions and all of us living through the climate change era.

At the same time, we Minnesotans need to be on guard against what a NY Times opinion piece by the Oregon State Treasurer, Tobias Read, called “a sneaky form of climate obstruction.” 

This sneaky form of obstruction involves climate science deniers trying to prevent private investment companies from considering the risks of climate change along with other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations when they decide how and where to invest. These extremists want to make it illegal for banks and investment companies that consider ESG risks to do business with governments on core investment and financing needs – things like pensions and government bonds. In short, they’re trying to put their political ideologies over the public interest.

Pretty wild, right? But it’s already happening! 

In 2021, Texas enacted a law making it illegal for municipalities (a fancy word for cities and towns) to do business with banks that have ESG policies. As a result, five of the big banks that lend money to local governments left the Texas market, which reduced competition. According to a study, in just the first eight months of the policy, municipalities in Texas will pay upwards of $532 million more in higher interest costs. 

We need a State Auditor who will lead the charge in building trust in government and democracy through good financial oversight. In the climate change era, that oversight involves considering climate change risks and guarding against any proposals to limit our ability to do so.

You can defend our futures by voting for a State Auditor candidate you trust to steward our state resources. You can find information about all of them here.