Minnesota governor says his state is national model for transgender rights - PBS NewsHour
Geoff Bennett:
With the 2022 election, Democrats in Minnesota took control of both houses of the state's legislature for the first time in nine years.
Minnesota's Democratic governor has joined the state's House and Senate leadership in setting in motion a wide range of progressive reforms, like restoring voting rights for felons and allowing undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses. The latest reforms safeguards the rights of trans people. Last week, you signed an executive order guaranteeing that gender-affirming care would remain available in Minnesota. Reading through that executive order, it doesn't change any existing laws in Minnesota, Minnesota is a blue state. So, why did you view it as necessary to take that step?
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN):
I think the step was is because our trans neighbors, our children are feeling the pressure. We see states that are using state power as an apparatus of cruelty, quite honestly. And we know that these are communities that are always under risk. We know they have some of the highest suicide rates, attacks of hate crimes against them. And I think, in Minnesota, reaffirming through the executive order that, whether it be making sure our insurance companies are paying for what they need to pay for, or making it clear that, if you come to Minnesota, we will protect your rights — we are not going to extradite you or cooperate with states that are really trying to take away basic and, in many cases, lifesaving health care.
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Geoff Bennett:
Newly empowered Minnesota Democrats are also asserting themselves on gun legislation. What are you hoping to achieve? And are the politics trickier in Minnesota, given the vast rural areas there?
Gov. Tim Walz:
Well, we're hoping to achieve just reduce gun deaths and gun incidents. It simply is unacceptable. And it should not be something that we just accept that, in this country, that vast more people die or involved in these accidents.
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And I think, rural areas — we know this too. We see these things happen in rural areas too. We know that folks who are responsible gun owners recognize, none of the things that we're proposing will infringe on their right to do what they're going to do. And for those critics who say it wouldn't stop all of these shootings, no, but it may stop some. And I think we see this in nations around the world. They have their freedoms. They have the rights to own firearms. And yet we don't see the number of shootings, especially the mass shootings.
More about climate change,
The Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, these gave us the tools to move on clean energy. They're giving us the tools to move. Tomorrow, I will sign legislation that every child in Minnesota will have breakfast and lunch for free. There will be no more forms to fill out. There will be no different-colored lunch tickets or ostracizing children.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/minnesota-governor-says-his-state-is-national-model-for-transgender-rights