Friends and neighbors,
The 2026 legislative session wrapped up just before midnight on May 17. I have been getting a bunch of questions about everything that happened, so I wanted to take a few minutes to walk through a few things we got and what it means for you.
The session had its frustrations, as they all do. At times things felt rushed, the process felt lacking in transparency, and the Senate committees only seemed to hear Democrat bills with very little input from Republicans. But the final weekend of the session produced some pretty good victories.
Tab Fees
This was my number one issue coming into the 2026 session. In 2023, Democrats raised license tab fees on Minnesota drivers (along with $10 billion in other taxes and fees). They raised the tab tax rate and slowed how fast your vehicle depreciates. It sounds technical until you get the sticker shock from your license tab bill: tabs barely go down from year to year or even remain the same, even as your car gets older and loses real-world value. People across Minnesota have been feeling that in their wallets ever since.
The centerpiece of our end-of-session agreement was a one-year rollback of the tab fee tax rate to 2023 levels. It is a reduction that saves Minnesota drivers $245 million. I'll be honest: a one-year fix isn't what I wanted, and I don’t think it’s what you wanted either. I pushed for a full repeal, but $245 million in savings is real money going back to real people. You better believe I'll be back in 2027 to finish the job and permanently undo what Democrats did in 2023.
Stopping fraud
As you are well aware, Minnesota has a serious fraud problem in its public assistance programs. At least $9 billion has been lost to fraud, waste, and abuse, and for years Democrats dismissed warnings about it. The 2026 session produced meaningful steps to change that.
The biggest one is the creation of a new statewide Office of Inspector General. This will be a fully independent office with oversight over every state agency and law enforcement authority to pursue fraud. It will operate outside the governor's control. That independence means this office can actually do its job without political interference.
We also strengthened whistleblower protections for state employees who speak out about fraud, made it easier for agencies to withhold payments when fraud is suspected, and required the Department of Human Services to publish regular reports on fraud investigations and funds recovered. Funny enough, those reports actually existed for years, then quietly stopped in 2018 for some unknown reason. They will be back now.
Infrastructure for Southern Minnesota
As a member of the Senate Capital Investment Committee, I worked to make sure southern Minnesota had a seat at the table in the bonding bill. Here's what we secured:
- Waseca's aging sewer system will receive $8.9 million to fix a problem that's been sending sewage toward area lakes and into home basements during heavy rains. That fix also supports ConAgra's planned year-round operations at its Waseca facility, a $300 million investment that's good for the whole region.
- Waseca also received $1 million to begin work on a new water tower to improve water pressure, fire protection, and support for commercial growth on the city's west side.
- The city of Medford received $400,000 to get a new fire station off the ground.
- The North Zumbro Sanitary Sewer District received $12 million to build a regional wastewater system serving Goodhue, Pine Island, Wanamingo, Zumbrota, and the Prairie Island Indian Community. All four communities have aging facilities that can no longer meet state requirements. One shared modern plant will cost about $1 million less per year to operate than four separate aging ones.
- The Greater Minnesota Business Development Public Infrastructure program received $2 million. This is a competitive grant program that helps local governments build the infrastructure needed to attract and support economic development across Greater Minnesota. It's consistently oversubscribed because communities across the state know it works.
- And the bonding bill includes $47 million for local road improvements, $25 million for local bridge replacement, and $3 million in township road aid statewide. These are transportation infrastructure programs that help counties, cities, and townships maintain the roads and bridges that connect our communities.
While I share your frustration that we couldn’t get our Democrat friends to compromise with us on larger tax relief or tab fee relief, all in all it was a positive end to the session. If you have any questions about an issue I didn’t cover here or any ideas for the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.
As always, it is a privilege serving you!