Politics Friday

Politics Friday: DFLers pass their agenda at the Capitol

A person signs the bill
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signs the One Minnesota Budget into law at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News

For the first time in a decade the DFL had control of the House, Senate and governor's office — and they ran the table at the Capitol.  

In the last five months, the DFL passed legal marijuana, paid family and medical leave, renewable energy standards, election changes, and boosted education and transportation funding. It was virtually every major initiative the Democrats proposed.  

MPR News host Mike Mulcahy talks to Gov Tim Walz about his take on the session and gets his response to criticism from Republicans and others who say the Democrats went too fast, and too far this year. 

A person sworn
DFL Sen. Bobby Joe Champion presided over the Senate after being sworn in as the first Black Senate President on Jan. 3 in St. Paul.
Courtesy of Glen Stubbe | Star Tribune pool

Later in the hour, a conversation with the President of the Minnesota Senate, Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis. And MPR political reporters will analyze the 2023 Legislative Session and what comes next.  

Guests:  

  • Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz 

  • Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis  

  • Dana Ferguson is a politics reporter for MPR News.  

  • Brian Bakst is a politics reporter for MPR News. 

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Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.