Featured Stories
Jobs report for October is positive, but economy hasn't fully recovered: CEI analysis
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The Competitive Enterprise Institute posted the following news release:
* * *
Jobs report for October is positive, but economy hasn't fully recovered: CEI analysis
*
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 165,000 jobs were added to the economy in October, a positive sign for the labor market. While the unemployment rate has continued to stay steady around 4.1 percent, lingering inflation and policy uncertainties have held the economy back from achieving full health.
CEI senior economist Ryan Young:
"This month marks five full years with an unemployment
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The Competitive Enterprise Institute posted the following news release:
* * *
Jobs report for October is positive, but economy hasn't fully recovered: CEI analysis
*
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 165,000 jobs were added to the economy in October, a positive sign for the labor market. While the unemployment rate has continued to stay steady around 4.1 percent, lingering inflation and policy uncertainties have held the economy back from achieving full health.
CEI senior economist Ryan Young:
"This month marks five full years with an unemploymentrate under 4.5 percent. This is the longest stretch on record, going back to at least 1948, when Harry Truman was president. Traditionally, readings under 5 percent are considered full employment. However, real wages are down 0.6 percent since September 2025 because inflation has outpaced nominal wage growth. Even so, people who need jobs are finding them.
"This month's good news on jobs numbers will likely not affect the Federal Reserve's interest rate plans. It was already indicating a likely interest rate increase at its next meeting in December. If anything, this strong jobs report, plus strong GDP growth, gives the Fed more breathing room to raise interest rates. This would help bring down inflation a little bit, though at this point the main culprits in rising prices are tariffs and the Iran war's effects on energy prices."
CEI research fellow Sean Higgins:
"Friday's Labor Department report that the country gained 165,000 jobs in October and revising upwards August and September's numbers by a combined 84,000 indicates that the economy remains resilient even in the face of inflation and Iran war turmoil. The AI-based jobs apocalypse has been postponed yet again.
"That does not mean the economy is at full health. The most striking feature is that the number of people employed part time for economic reasons rose by 339,000 in October. This is likely a combination of businesses cutting back hours rather than laying people off and workers resorting to part-time jobs and/or "gig" work to make ends meet because they cannot find better jobs. For many, it is still the "no hire, no fire" economy.
"The substantial revisions to August and September are a reminder that creating a snapshot of a country of 330 million people remains tough work and these latest numbers should also be viewed cautiously. They're likely to be revised in the coming months as well."
***
Original text here: https://cei.org/news_releases/jobs-report-for-october-is-positive-but-economy-hasnt-fully-recovered-cei-analysis/ (TNSmrp)
ICYMI: Holtz-Eakin on Trump Economic Agenda in The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The American Action Forum issued the following news release:
* * *
ICYMI: Holtz-Eakin on Trump Economic Agenda in The New York Times
*
Today The New York Times featured an op-ed authored by AAF President Douglas Holtz-Eakin, regarding the Trump Administration economic agenda. See excerpt below:
"Of the many losers in this year's midterm election, one stands out: President Trump's populist economic platform. Many Republicans have always known that Trumponomics is a false promise. On Election Day, America showed that it agrees. The best course forward
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The American Action Forum issued the following news release:
* * *
ICYMI: Holtz-Eakin on Trump Economic Agenda in The New York Times
*
Today The New York Times featured an op-ed authored by AAF President Douglas Holtz-Eakin, regarding the Trump Administration economic agenda. See excerpt below:
"Of the many losers in this year's midterm election, one stands out: President Trump's populist economic platform. Many Republicans have always known that Trumponomics is a false promise. On Election Day, America showed that it agrees. The best course forward-- for Republicans or any other politicians seeking a record of economic success -- is a return to traditional limited-government values.
...
A return to a traditional platform of contained, efficient government with a well-targeted social safety net and a responsible budget will best serve the country's economic needs. Now that Americans can see that populist economics have failed, leaders who embrace this platform might win some elections, too."
***
Original text here: https://www.americanactionforum.org/press-release/icymi-holtz-eakin-on-trump-economic-agenda-in-the-new-york-times/
Streamlining Satellite Licensing: A Space Modernization Odyssey
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The American Action Forum issued the following news release:
* * *
Streamlining Satellite Licensing: A Space Modernization Odyssey
*
Advances in satellite technology have enabled vendors to offer broadband access in remote areas by utilizing clusters of hundreds or thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) In a new insight, Director of Technology and Innovation Policy Nick Krosse discusses the advancements in satellite technology and why licensing policies are being updated.
* Satellite licensing has long relied on a bespoke, or individualized,
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The American Action Forum issued the following news release:
* * *
Streamlining Satellite Licensing: A Space Modernization Odyssey
*
Advances in satellite technology have enabled vendors to offer broadband access in remote areas by utilizing clusters of hundreds or thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) In a new insight, Director of Technology and Innovation Policy Nick Krosse discusses the advancements in satellite technology and why licensing policies are being updated.
* Satellite licensing has long relied on a bespoke, or individualized,application and review process designed for a small number of large geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) communications satellites.
* This licensing process was not scalable to meet the demands and challenges presented by LEO constellations, however, unnecessarily delaying the deployment of these much smaller and more economical satellites such as SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's Leo.
* The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently revamped its satellite licensing rules to shift away from the older model toward a rules-based, scalable process; Congress is considering revising the FCC's regulatory authority over communications satellites through the proposed Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act, but the House and Senate must resolve differences in their respective versions before it can become law.
***
Original text here: https://www.americanactionforum.org/press-release/streamlining-satellite-licensing-a-space-modernization-odyssey/
Expert Insight: Five Takeaways on Nature Finance from COP17
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Nov. 5 [Category: ThinkTank] -- Ceres, a non-profit organization that is mobilizing companies and investors to take stronger action on climate change, water scarcity and global sustainability challenges, posted the following news release:
* * *
Expert Insight: Five Takeaways on Nature Finance from COP17
*
I just returned from the 2026 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, where the question of how to fund national nature plans loomed large. Across the preeminent nature summit this year, nearly 200 sessions explored ways to scale finance -
... Show Full Article
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Nov. 5 [Category: ThinkTank] -- Ceres, a non-profit organization that is mobilizing companies and investors to take stronger action on climate change, water scarcity and global sustainability challenges, posted the following news release:
* * *
Expert Insight: Five Takeaways on Nature Finance from COP17
*
I just returned from the 2026 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, where the question of how to fund national nature plans loomed large. Across the preeminent nature summit this year, nearly 200 sessions explored ways to scale finance -especially from the private sector - for stopping and reversing nature and biodiversity loss around the world.
Despite the priority of the topic on the agenda, the official negotiation outcome fell notably short of developing pathways to meaningfully mobilize funds to meet key goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). The Yerevan Pathway, the roadmap designed to accelerate progress of the framework through 2030, includes just a few resolutions for many of the hardest questions facing governments on how to pay for protecting the natural environment - and the global economy which relies on keeping ecosystems in-tact.
But outside the negotiating rooms, the conversations were much more positive and solution oriented. Alongside the official talks, I had countless conversations with investors, companies, policymakers, and NGO partners on what is possible when the private and public sectors align their policies, actions, and incentives.
From my time on-the-ground, five major takeaways emerged:
* The conversation has definitively shifted from philanthropic and moral imperative to business and financial ones. Nature loss is a material risk to company operations, supply chains, and investment portfolios, and addressing it strengthens long-term value and resilience. Ceres' research shows that the primary contributors degrading critical ecosystem services have the potential to cost eight key sectors up to $430 billion per year, globally, representing a cumulative loss of $2.15 trillion over the next five years if left unchecked. This theme is especially prominent in conversations about food systems. However, key gaps remain in integrating resilience into decision-making by companies and investors.
* Investors are stepping up on nature. Drawing on findings from a new policy brief - published by Ceres in partnership with other investor-facing organizations - we find growing evidence of investors stepping up to support the goals of the KMGBF. Over 680 institutional investors are building nature-related considerations into their strategies and investments and engaging with the companies in their portfolios, signaling their support for enabling policies.
* Companies are already acting, often quietly and behind the scenes. At the same time, Nature Action 100, the largest global investor-led engagement initiative on nature and biodiversity, released a new benchmark assessment showing meaningful corporate progress across geographies and industries. The results highlight areas of meaningful progress, alongside critical gaps where companies must accelerate action.
* Opportunities suited to private finance are still limited, but they are emerging. For investors, the challenge is matching projects with the revenue certainty, strong governance, and permanence they need. Sessions at COP17 explored those conditions for possible investment vehicles like habitat banks and biodiversity credit schemes, and how national biodiversity plans can be translated into investable project pipelines. Landscape-level solutions stand out as especially promising by bringing together companies, governments, local communities, and other stakeholders to carry out projects that can offer the scale, shared risk, multiple revenues, and long-term horizon suitable for institutional capital. By pooling funds and sharing resources, landscape initiatives also offer participating companies an advantageous path to manage complex environmental, economic, and social risks across an entire sourcing region.
* Comparable, consistent data paves the way for aligning private financial flows. During COP17, the International Sustainability Standards Board, the global standard-setting organization that provides sustainability disclosure frameworks, published a draft Practice Statement on nature-related disclosures, drawing on voluntary reporting and disclosure frameworks such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Discloses and Global Reporting Initiative. Although it is non-mandatory, the statement reflects a growing investor interest in better understanding nature-related risks and performance of their portfolio companies.
While the momentum we are seeing in the private sector is encouraging, my time in Armenia underscored the crucial work that Ceres is doing to bring more private sector actors to the table. Through our role as a partner of Nature Action 100 and beyond, Ceres is uniquely positioned to support key financial stakeholders in contributing to global efforts to accelerate solutions to safeguard the planet's rich biodiversity and reduce the considerable risks facing businesses, communities, and economies around the world.
***
Original text here: https://www.ceres.org/resources/news/expert-insight-five-takeaways-on-nature-finance-from-cop17
China's Fertilizer Export Restrictions Are Still in Place and Harming American Agriculture
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The Coalition for a Prosperous America posted the following news release:
* * *
China's Fertilizer Export Restrictions Are Still in Place and Harming American Agriculture
*
The sulfur trade still runs one way. The United States places no condition on who buys American sulfur, including Chinese state-owned enterprises, while Beijing bars its phosphate fertilizer and most sulfuric acid from world markets. U.S. sulfur exports rose 57 percent in January-July 2026, imports cost 2.5 times more per ton than a year earlier, and Mosaic idled a Florida mine
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 [Category: ThinkTank] -- The Coalition for a Prosperous America posted the following news release:
* * *
China's Fertilizer Export Restrictions Are Still in Place and Harming American Agriculture
*
The sulfur trade still runs one way. The United States places no condition on who buys American sulfur, including Chinese state-owned enterprises, while Beijing bars its phosphate fertilizer and most sulfuric acid from world markets. U.S. sulfur exports rose 57 percent in January-July 2026, imports cost 2.5 times more per ton than a year earlier, and Mosaic idled a Florida minefor lack of sulfur.
China is prioritizing its own supply during a global shortage.DAP and MAP exports fell about 95 percent through September, removing roughly 3.58 million metric tons from world trade.
The pressure reaches American farms. Retail DAP reached $939 per short ton and MAP $983 in late October, and import unit values are up 12 percent on a year earlier.
The U.S. must secure inputs and expand capacity together. Secure domestic sulfur access, open a fertilizer Section 232 investigation, retain the trade remedies that protect American producers, and accelerate production.
Sulfur Goes Out, Fertilizer Does Not Come Back
In July, CPA's Food Security Is Fertilizer Security warned that foreign governments were working both ends of the supply chain: buying the raw materials American producers need while banning the return flow of acid and finished fertilizer. Three months later, no restriction, condition or monitoring requirement applies to American sulfur exports, whoever the buyer. USGS reports domestic sulfur exports of 1.65 million metric tons worth about $1.04 billion in January-July 2026, against 1.05 million tons worth $221 million a year earlier. Export volume is up roughly 57 percent while Mosaic says its South Fort Meade operation is being idled because of continuing global sulfur constraints. And America is buying the same material back at war-elevated prices: Census data show 1.21 million metric tons of sulfur imported in January-August 2026, almost all from Canada, at an average import unit value of $444 per metric ton against $180 a year earlier. The import bill rose from $151 million to $537 million, and August cargoes landed at $655 per ton.
China, meanwhile, keeps buying and does not sell back. China imported 3.06 million metric tons of sulfur in January-September, 432,000 tons of it from Canada, and S&P reports government sulfur discounts for domestic phosphate producers meant to support domestic supply, not exports. Its sulfuric acid exports remained 92 percent below a year earlier in September, and its phosphate exports have all but stopped.
The Expected Reopening Has Not Arrived
Beijing's own December guidance set August 2026 as the endpoint of the suspension, Reuters reported in March that industry insiders expected shipments to resume after August, and as late as July Argus still forecast 700,000 metric tons of Chinese phosphate exports this year. However, this relief never materialized. On September 2, S&P Global reported that Chinese producers had yet to receive official guidance on reopening exports; on September 11 a Qingdao-based exporter reported that plants and trading houses were not accepting new DAP or MAP export declarations and no clearances had succeeded.
This is not new behavior. China imposed mandatory export inspections on fertilizer in October 2021, cut phosphate export quotas by roughly 45 percent in 2022, asked producers to halt urea exports in September 2023, and did so again in June 2024 alongside tighter phosphate inspections. The 2026 episode is the most aggressive yet, but the pattern is five years old: exports open when domestic warehouses are full and shut when they are not. China is not a reliable trade partner.
Selective Exports Protect Domestic Supply
China's export restrictions are a primary cause of the current shortage. China shipped 5.3 million metric tons of DAP and MAP in 2025, roughly a third of world trade, so the 3.58 million tons it has withheld this year is not a domestic adjustment; it moves the global price. And the withholding is a choice, not a symptom of scarcity. Once domestic urea warehouses filled, September urea exports hit a record 2.45 million metric tons, more than four times August's volume, and S&P reports superphosphates are export-eligible while DAP and MAP stay shut. Beijing releases surplus when it can offload its excess capacity and withholds phosphate when it can take advantage of the global supply pressure, while drawing 3.06 million tons of sulfur from the open market to make the product it will not sell back. It relies on everyone else's willingness to trade while suspending its own.
The point of that selectivity is price. Keeping phosphate home holds Chinese domestic prices below what the rest of the world pays. SunSirs reported mid-October quotations as low as 3,900 yuan per metric ton (about $550) for 57 percent brown-grade DAP in Shandong; like-for-like, 64 percent granular quotations imply Chinese domestic DAP roughly 6 to 12 percent below the World Bank's September U.S. Gulf benchmark of $800.60.
Every country that built its supply around Chinese tons is now finding out whether the next planting season will be supplied, on the schedule of a government on the other side of the world. The error is America's: it sells its own inputs to anyone without condition, and it is now having to buy back finished product at war-elevated prices.
American Farmers Still Face High Costs
DTN's latest survey, published October 28, puts retail DAP at $939 per short ton and MAP at $983 for October 19-23, $13 and $51 above a year earlier. The import data tell the same story. Census records 977,000 metric tons of DAP and MAP imported in January-August 2026 at an average import unit value of $727 per metric ton, up 12 percent from $647 a year earlier and 24 percent from $584 in 2024, on volumes 41 percent below 2024.
Argus analyst Jay Harland now expects Chinese DAP and MAP exports to resume no sooner than May 2027, with risk of further delay if input costs stay high, so Chinese supply offers no help with U.S. spring procurement. America sells the input to anyone without condition and buys the finished fertilizer back from third countries at war-elevated prices, while China, which buys that same input, keeps its finished product at home. The answer is not to ask Beijing to be more generous, nor to shift dependence to Rabat.
In August, the second full month after the duty suspension for Moroccan phosphate took effect, Census records 111,400 metric tons of Moroccan phosphate fertilizer worth $67 million -- 24,500 tons of DAP and MAP plus 86,900 tons of triple superphosphate, the first Moroccan TSP since April 2025 -- against 21,300 tons in August 2025. That is subsidized state-monopoly product landing duty-free while a Florida mine idles. Washington must demand reciprocity for those who want to trade with us, and protect capacity at home for the supply American agriculture depends on.
What Washington Should Do
The record in the past three months strengthens the case for action on fertilizers, with immediate attention to the inputs that keep existing plants running.
Close the one-way door on sulfur. Establish an emergency elemental-sulfur reserve, improve transport to phosphate producers, and give domestic users a first opportunity to purchase available supply on transparent commercial terms. Pair that with a reciprocity rule keyed to beneficial ownership, so governments that ban the return flow of acid and fertilizer cannot buy American sulfur through intermediaries.
Open a fertilizer-specific Section 232 investigation. Assess finished nutrients and their inputs together, and sequence phased import measures with verified domestic capacity, exempting inputs not yet available at home.
Accelerate domestic mining, processing and sulfur recovery. China's selective reopening demonstrates why American planting seasons cannot depend on discretionary foreign export approvals.
MADE IN AMERICA.
CPA is the leading national, bipartisan organization exclusively representing domestic producers and workers across many industries and sectors of the U.S. economy.
***
Original text here: https://prosperousamerica.org/chinas-fertilizer-export-restrictions-are-still-in-place-and-harming-american-agriculture/
Center of the American Experiment Issues Commentary: Police Leverage Technology and Science to Solve "who Done It" Murder on the Light Rail
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, Nov. 5 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary:
* * *
Police leverage technology and science to solve "who done it" murder on the light rail
Written by David Zimmer | November 3, 2026
The murder
During the late evening of October 3rd, Jaquan Edwards, 30, entered the light rail train at US Bank Stadium heading for St. Paul. Edwards was alone, wore a "covid mask" which hid his identity, and was carrying a concealed firearm.
A few minutes later another man
... Show Full Article
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, Nov. 5 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary:
* * *
Police leverage technology and science to solve "who done it" murder on the light rail
Written by David Zimmer | November 3, 2026
The murder
During the late evening of October 3rd, Jaquan Edwards, 30, entered the light rail train at US Bank Stadium heading for St. Paul. Edwards was alone, wore a "covid mask" which hid his identity, and was carrying a concealed firearm.
A few minutes later another manentered the same train car at the East Bank station and sat in a seat across from Edwards. Surveillance video indicated that the two exchanged some dialog. As the train travelled between the Stadium Village and Prospect Park stops near the University of Minnesota, Edwards pulled out a gun and fired three shots at the other man. Edwards exited at Prospect Park and walked away on University Avenue, discarding his mask along the way.
The train stopped at the Westgate stop where police arrived and located the victim. The victim was unconscious and had a gunshot to his neck. Lifesaving efforts were attempted but the man died at the scene.
The murder appeared to be a random violent act between strangers. Edwards' identity was obscured and there were no eyewitnesses mentioned in available court documents. Cases involving these elements are often referred to informally as a "whodunit."
The investigation
The Minneapolis Police Homicide Unit began working on the case immediately - always critical in solving murder cases where evidence can disappear quickly.
While reviewing surveillance video of the murder suspect's movements associated with the light rail, detectives observed him spitting voluminously onto the US Bank Stadium train platform before entering the train. Crime scene technicians located the spital at the train stop and collected samples which provided a male DNA profile.
Additional surveillance video review and "To-Go" card useage led detectives to video footage of the murder suspect riding an MTC bus in Maplewood, Mn. Detectives conducted canvassing of businesses in that area and located video of the suspect entering a HyVee grocery store and an Advance Auto Parts store. Detectives showed the surveillance video to employees and learned that the suspect was an employee of the auto parts store. Employees identified him as Jaquan Edwards.
Detectives learned that in July 2026, the White Bear Lake Police Department had stopped Edwards for a traffic infraction while he drove alone in his mother's car. During that stop, the White Bear Lake police officer noted that Edwards was smoking a wood tipped cigar. Detectives conducted a search of discarded garbage from Edward's mother's Maplewood residence and recovered six discarded wooden cigar mouthpieces. The DNA recovered from those mouthpieces matched the DNA from the spital the murder suspect had left on the light rail platform just before the murder.
It's unclear for available court records whether the gun used by Edwards has been recovered or if ballistic evidence testing has been conducted.
On October 28th, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office issued a complaint and warrant charging Edwards with one court of murder in the second degree, and asking for $1 million in bail.
Hennepin County jail records indicate the Minneapolis Police arrested Edwards on October 30th in St. Paul. Edwards made an initial court appearance on November 2nd and has an evidentiary hearing scheduled for December 1st. Edwards remains in the custody of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.
The takeaway
It wasn't too many years ago that a murder like this may have gone unsolved. The investigative tenacity in this case was excellent - and in 2026 that tenacity is often rewarded by voluminous video and electronic evidence, advances in DNA technology, and advances in ballistic comparison technology. Thankfully, because of these advances, the case against Edwards appears strong.
This outcome supports the use of video surveillance in public spaces.
The outcome also supports the need for proper police staffing. The Minneapolis Police Department remains understaffed, some six years after its own city council attempted to "dismantle" the police department. While the outcome here was positive, a police department of 600 officers cannot be expected to properly service a city the size of Minneapolis.
When the deterrent effect of a highly visible police presence is missing and investigative follow up is severely compromised because of a lack of manpower, citizens ultimately pay the price.
* * *
David Zimmer is a Public Safety Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment. David.Zimmer@americanexperiment.org
* * *
Original text here: https://www.americanexperiment.org/police-leverage-technology-and-science-to-solve-who-done-it-murder-on-the-light-rail/
[Category: ThinkTank]
Center of the American Experiment Issues Commentary: Klobuchar, Presents No Obstacle to DSA Health Care Agenda
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, Nov. 5 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary:
* * *
Klobuchar, presents no obstacle to DSA health care agenda
Written by Matt Dean | November 4, 2026
Governor-elect Amy Klobuchar now faces a clear test from her own party's left wing on many fronts, but certainly a contender for House File One (considered the top priority) would be the current House File 1812, the Minnesota Health Plan (also called "MNCare for All" or MHP). MHP would outlaw private health
... Show Full Article
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, Nov. 5 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary:
* * *
Klobuchar, presents no obstacle to DSA health care agenda
Written by Matt Dean | November 4, 2026
Governor-elect Amy Klobuchar now faces a clear test from her own party's left wing on many fronts, but certainly a contender for House File One (considered the top priority) would be the current House File 1812, the Minnesota Health Plan (also called "MNCare for All" or MHP). MHP would outlaw private healthinsurance and replace it with a single statewide system covering every resident (here legally or otherwise) for medical, dental, vision, hearing, mental health, long-term care, and more.
Klobuchar ran on fixes to Medicare Advantage and all private health insurance, while more progressive DFLers like Peggy Flanagan ran on a complete takeover within MHP that outlaws all private health insurance, including employer-provided health insurance, Medicare Advantage, and union-provided health care.
The Minnesota Health Plan proposal has been around for several years and has survived by never having to become real. Proponents are typically the Bernie Sanders type, and in Minnesota that means Senator John Marty. Marty has carried the bill for years and is considered by many to be an earnest and good fellow, but not someone you would want to run the Mayo Clinic. Republicans and moderate Democrats have patted this idea on the head for a decade or more and kind of gotten used to having it around without causing fuss.
Except now it is getting real. The bill attracted coauthors who likely will be running the legislature soon. Thirty-five House members signed on (the maximum number), including the current and former chair of the health care committee.
With Democrats holding majorities in both chambers, progressive sponsors--more than 40 co-authors--will push it again, and they are dead serious. Klobuchar campaigned on a different approach: targeted state tax credits if federal ACA subsidies stay lapsed, expanded bulk drug purchasing, strengthened reinsurance, rural hospital support, and a crackdown on fraud. She rejected new tax increases and said she was not interested in moving Minnesota left or right. Her incremental proposals assume a competitive private market continues. HF 1812 would simply outlaw traditional health insurance.
From each according to his "ability" to each according to his "need"
Under MHP, premiums would be set by ability to pay, and eligibility would extend to all residents regardless of immigration status. The bill creates a new Minnesota Health Board, Health Fund, ombudsman, and auditor general, plus a request for a federal waiver. It stalled earlier amid budget realities and the 2025 decision to end MinnesotaCare coverage for undocumented adults.
An unelected board with taxing authority and the sole and uncontestable ability to set health care benefits is on its face unconstitutional. It would have the ability to take taxing authority away from the legislature--where our constitution demands it must stay--and somehow determine a benefit set and pricing for every person (whether documented or not) who calls Minnesota home (or decides to move here).
Under the bill, taxes would not have to be raised by the legislature; rather, "premiums" would be assessed to corporations and individuals based on the cost to deliver the "necessary" care. This would cost in the billions of dollars.
But being unconstitutional is a matter for judges to decide. If you think cooler heads might prevail before such a bill is signed, think again. The Democrats ascendant believe they lost the last trifecta by not going far enough. Many point to Walz caving on free health care for the undocumented as the low point of their careers.
DFL Floor Leader Jamie Long said of the compromise removing adult undocumented aliens from MNCare, "This bill is cruel. It is inhumane. And it will cost real human, Minnesotan lives." When the deal was announced in the Capitol's reception room, outraged DFL members literally banged on the doors chanting "Don't kill immigrants!" and "Don't kill our neighbors."
The cost of MHP is unknown. The 2023 legislature commissioned a $3 million cost estimate that was to be released nine months ago but has yet to see the light of day. You can imagine why. The trillions such a plan would incur nationally has prevented other states from moving ahead on their own. Such a plan would not only cost billions for Minnesota, it would require the Trump administration to approve it. Hopefully no such approval would come, but it would present the administration with a tantalizing "watch out what you ask for" opportunity for Minnesota.
If MHP costs too much, or creates problems with the cash flow, perhaps HF2 will smooth over the rough patches. With DFL majorities restored in both chambers after the November 3, 2026 election--ending two years of split or tied House control--a new fifth-tier income tax is far more viable in the 2027 session. HF 4845, would set a new fifth-tier 10.85% top rate. While Gov.-elect Amy Klobuchar has not proposed broad new tax increases, DFL legislative control makes a targeted fifth-tier proposal substantially more likely than in 2026.
Klobuchar's Obamacare vote a prologue?
In her early years in the Senate, Klobuchar was unwilling to push hard against the liberal wing of her party even when it meant sour impacts at home. While others held their vote for Obamacare until sweeteners were added or provisions removed, Klobuchar voted yes and then worked to lessen the harmful effects of her vote at home.
After seeing the election results of last night, DFL legislators who are DSA, POCI caucus, and even most rank-and-file Democrats may find no resistance from Klobuchar should they want to enact even the most radical legislation. A new 5th top tier of 14% would be higher than any other state in the country and would go a long way in paying for MHP, or a growing DFL wish list. It would pass in a heartbeat.
For Additional Information, please see:
[View text in the link at bottom]
* * *
Matt Dean is a Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment. att.dean@americanexperiment.org
* * *
Original text here: https://www.americanexperiment.org/gov-elect-klobuchar-already-on-collision-course-with-dfl-legislature/
[Category: ThinkTank]
