WASHINGTON – Gov. Tim Walz is in Washington, D.C. this week to lobby for local issues, reconnect with the state’s congressional delegation and try to assess the impact on Minnesota of what’s happening – and not happening – in the nation’s capital.
It’s the National Governors Association’s (NGA) winter meeting, an annual rite that gives the nation’s governors access to Cabinet members, Pentagon officials, and even the president and his staff.
The event also allows governors to compare notes and socialize.
“It’s the least partisan group of folks because we all have to deliver,” Walz said of the bipartisan group of colleagues.
He said “a lot of common themes run through all states” and the NGA event allows governors to share “best practices” on a number of problems besetting the states, including homelessness and opioid addiction.
On Thursday, the first day of the winter meeting, Walz met with members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation and visited old friends on both sides of the aisle in the U.S. House chamber, whose access is a perk granted former members of Congress. Walz served Minnesota’s 1st district from 2007-2019.
He said some of his former House colleagues “lamented that (Congress) is not as cordial as it used to be.”
Walz said he is concerned about how the fight over the debt ceiling, which may end with an agreement on federal spending, will affect Minnesota.
“I don’t know … how budgetary concessions will affect the states,” he said.
Congress must agree to raise the debt ceiling in the next few months or the nation’s borrowing authority will end. But House Republicans are demanding unspecified spending cuts before they agree to raise the debt ceiling.
Walz said he was heartened that members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation are optimistic Congress will get a five-year farm bill done.
“There’s a lot of good, positive feeling about the farm bill,” Walz said.
The governor also said he met with Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall about the transitioning of the huge military transport planes flown by the Minnesota Air National Guard. They are in the process of being upgraded from the old C-130s, which have four-blade propellers, to the newer C-130H model, which has eight-blade props.
Walz also visited with Interior Department officials about federal approval that would finalize the transfer of state-owned land near Redwood Falls to the Dakota people’s Lower Sioux Indian community. This land is part of the tribe’s homeland and the site of the start of U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, which ended with 38 Dakota men hanged in Mankato.
All that – and a press conference with fellow Democratic governors – was accomplished before Walz dashed off to Politico’s offices for a 1:30 p.m. to be a part of its one-to-one interviews Thursday with some of the nation’s governors.
Walz cautioned that GOP attacks on Democrats over the issue of education would backfire in the state.
“I think they’re making a big mistake demonizing schools because parents in Minnesota love their schools,” he said.
The Minnesota governor defended his clean energy initiatives, saying they will provide economic opportunities, even as North Dakota tries to stop those initiatives with a lawsuit.
“Fighting against the ability to create more clean jobs and reduce carbon emissions, and suing your neighbor. I don’t think it looks very good,” Walz said.
He said the staff of Tennessee’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, reached out to him after Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating at the hands of the police to ask “how did you mobilize” after the police killing of George Floyd. He also told Politico he doubted Congress would pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing bill, and said states had to take the initiative to reform police.
Walz will attend meetings and a black-tie dinner at the White House with President Biden on Friday. The governor also plans to attend sessions on Saturday hosted by fellow governors on a wide range of issues, including youth mental health care, workforce shortages and disaster response.
