The legislature delivered on climate in all budgets and a better future for Minnesota
This is part of “Climate in All Budgets,” a blog series by 100% Campaign Managing and Research Director, Dr. Kate Knuth
This year during Minnesota’s legislative session, we took a decisive leap toward a different, and better, future for our state.
It’s a future of less pollution, more climate resilience, and greater connection to each other. Given the big wins at the legislature this year, we have many of the tools we need to build this future.
Starting way back in early February, the 100% clean energy bill became law. That’s a huge win on its own. Since then, I’ve been writing about how Minnesota can invest in climate action all across our state budget.
The legislative session wrapped up last month, and our next biennial (that’s two years) is set. Let’s dig in on what climate in all budgets looks like in Minnesota and what that means for people in our state.
The top-line number: $3 billion+ (!)
Across all our state budget bills, the legislature invested more than $3 billion (with a b!) in direct climate investments. That is an exciting number. Also exciting is our Minnesota budget goes big on climate action areas that really matter AND goes across nearly all our state budget areas.
Energy and buildings
First up, energy and buildings. This is an area Minnesota needs major climate pollution reductions in order to meet our goals. The climate and energy omnibus budget bill is where you will find many of these investments and these total a little over $250 million in the next two years. So, where does that money go, and what does it mean for Minnesotans?
The legislature put significant money into helping Minnesotans make their homes more energy efficient and switch from burning fossil fuels to running things on electricity. Minnesotans will be able to access tax credits or rebates for installing solar, heat pumps, and electric panels needed to make electrification work in older homes.
Another chunk of money – $38 million to be exact – will go to pre-weatherization and workforce training. This money will help make sure people whose homes need improvements before weatherization will be eligible for this important energy efficiency measure and that Minnesota has the workforce to do all this energy work.
Public buildings and energy systems will also see upgrades from state money this year. The legislature put money into solar on schools (nearly $30 million) and solar on public buildings. Energy is one of the biggest school costs after staffing, so saving money there will pay long-term climate and educational benefits. Speaking of schools, the legislature also put $13 million into electric school buses to get kids to school in a healthier, more climate-friendly way. Super cool!
Transportation
Transportation is another sector where we need to go big to meet our climate goals. It’s the largest source of climate pollution in the state after all. And here the legislature delivered.
The centerpiece of the transportation climate budget is the creation of dedicated, ongoing revenue for metro area transit. This transit funding will reach $750 million in this biennium and nearly $1 billion in the next biennium. These transit investments will help build and, importantly, operate a transit system that is easy to use. It will create a transit system with more options in more places and buses and trains coming more often. This kind of user-friendly system is a vision advocates have had for years, which is why this ongoing funding is such a huge win for Minnesotans and our climate.
The legislature also invested in specific transit projects to help connect more Minnesotans to their daily lives without needing a car. The Blue Line Extension ($50 million), Northern Lights Express between Duluth and the Twin Cities ($195 million) both got funding, as did expanded service to Chicago ($14.6 million) and expanded bus rapid transit ($72 million).
In addition to more and better transit options, the legislature also funded programs that help people walk, bike, and roll, including funding for active transportation programs ($58.1 million) and for safe routes to schools ($29.2 million).
Finally, the legislature put money into electrifying transportation, including the electric school buses, EV charging infrastructure, and incentives for folks to go electric with their cars and bikes.
Lands and trees
The legislature also put significant funding into key programs for making our state’s lands more effective at sequestering carbon while also making them more resilient. These programs show up as investments in protecting certain kinds of lands, in funding better land management practices, and in programs focused on trees.
The legislature funded a host of items to promote soil health practices in agriculture including cover crop incentives ($12.6 million), a soil health financial assistance program ($21.2 million), Forever Green research ($9.2 million), and the Lawns to Legumes program ($4 million). These programs, and more, will help more Minnesotans make climate-resilient lands across our state.
Investments in trees were also key this year. Trees play a key role in making cities more resilient, in sequestering carbon, and in stewarding more climate-resilient lands. Our state forest nursery will get needed capital investment ($10 million), and we will accelerate tree seed collection. Both these programs will ramp up our ability to grow the seedlings and trees needed to meet planting goals. Communities will be able to plant more trees through the ReLeaf Program ($15.2 million) and community tree planting grants ($10.6 million). And both state and private landowners will benefit from more reforestation and health forest funding.
Adaptation and Resilience
Alongside major investments in reducing the emissions that make climate change worse, the legislature also invested in adapting to climate change and making our communities more resilient.
A key way to make that happen is to support local governments with the resources and technical capacity needed to adapt. The legislature made smart investments in local governments including grants for local climate action planning ($5 million), technical support through expanding the Weather-Ready program at the UMN Extension ($1 million/year), and a resilient communities grant program available to local governments ($100 million). Climate change is already affecting our communities, and now local communities have the resources to better prepare and adapt.
The legislature also put $40 million into our state’s Disaster Assistance Contingency Account. This wonky name describes a pot of money that can be used to help communities deal with the disasters climate change is making more common.
Environmental justice and a just transition
The transition to an equitable clean energy and climate resilient future will take an intentional focus on repairing past harms and building a more just future.
The legislature put $240 million into lead pipe removal, which will make huge progress on ensuring every Minnesota home has water without the risk of lead exposure.
A suite of policies will help reduce pollution in communities currently overburdened by pollution. These include funding for increased community air monitoring ($8.5 million) and for industrial facility air toxic and criteria air emission reduction grants($6.2 million). In addition, new and ongoing pollution permits in the metro area will now be required to consider the cumulative impacts of pollution in environmental justice communities.
In Minneapolis, the East Phillips neighborhood, a community with a major pollution burden, will get help ($6.5 million) to realize their vision of an urban farm at the Roof Depot site.
Communities that have hosted fossil fuel infrastructure got some funding to help them navigate the transition to a clean energy economy including a community energy transition office and grant program ($11.4 million), an economic development program for host communities ($3.5 million), and electric utility transition aid to local communities ($7 million).
The legislature also invested in workforce development programs designed to make sure we both have the workforce needed for a clean energy transition and, importantly, that pathways into clean energy jobs are more accessible to people historically left out of economic opportunities. The legislature funded a tribal construction workforce training program ($3.6 million), expanding equity in apprenticeship grants ($3.6 million), growing clean economy apprenticeships ($3 million), and clean economy equitable workforce development ($3 million). The Rise Up Center in Minneapolis got $1.5 million of state funding.
Financing and funding for more progress
Finally, the legislature put state funding into programs that will multiply financing options for climate action.
The Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority was funded at $45 million. The Finance Authority will use this money to finance projects that have a hard time securing traditional private financing, but have big climate and economic benefits for our communities and the state as a whole.
The legislature created a State Competitiveness Fund with $190 million. This money will be used to leverage the huge federal investments going into clean energy and climate solutions in the Inflation Reduction Act. $276.4 million will also go to provide matches for federal funding for multimodal transportation in the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The 2023 session – turning point in our path to a better climate future
With a little over a month to reflect on the 2023 legislative session and look forward to the future it will help us build, I’m even more excited about what happened this year. The 2023 session marks a turning point on Minnesota’s path toward a climate future that works for each of us and that we all have a role in building.
Reflecting on the session, and all the big policy and funding wins, I feel gratitude. I am grateful to every Minnesotan who worked for an equitable clean energy and climate resilient future,whether it was voting or making calls during a campaign, sending an email to a legislator or showing up at the capitol. Your work made a difference.
Thank you, Minnesotans, for this historic session and, even more, for the bright future it promises to create.
