North Star Policy Action
@northstarpolicy.org
We're an independent research and communications institute that advances bold ideas that improve the lives of everyday Minnesotans.
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Well hello Blue Sky! We're North Star Policy Action, a Minnesota-based think tank using the power of research to make Minnesota work for working people. Here's a very quick summary of some of our research. 🧵
The Minnesota Chamber’s new 2026 Business Benchmarks report offers a snapshot of the Minnesota economy but leaves out some major forces shaping what employers + workers are actually experiencing.
November 20, 2025 at 8:25 PM
The Minnesota Chamber’s new 2026 Business Benchmarks report offers a snapshot of the Minnesota economy but leaves out some major forces shaping what employers + workers are actually experiencing.
Last night, we were honored to receive the CTUL Ally Leadership Award from our partners at El Centro de los Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL). The award recognizes our shared work to end worker exploitation and wage theft in Minneapolis’s construction industry.
November 14, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Last night, we were honored to receive the CTUL Ally Leadership Award from our partners at El Centro de los Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL). The award recognizes our shared work to end worker exploitation and wage theft in Minneapolis’s construction industry.
NEW REPORT: Minnesota has committed to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040, but we’re not on track to get there.
Our new report, Expanding Possibilities, shows how lifting Minnesota’s ban on new nuclear construction could change that.
READ: northstarpolicy.org/expanding/
Our new report, Expanding Possibilities, shows how lifting Minnesota’s ban on new nuclear construction could change that.
READ: northstarpolicy.org/expanding/
Expanding Possibilities: The Role of Nuclear Energy in Minnesota’s Carbon-Free Future | North Star Policy Action
northstarpolicy.org
October 29, 2025 at 3:45 PM
NEW REPORT: Minnesota has committed to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040, but we’re not on track to get there.
Our new report, Expanding Possibilities, shows how lifting Minnesota’s ban on new nuclear construction could change that.
READ: northstarpolicy.org/expanding/
Our new report, Expanding Possibilities, shows how lifting Minnesota’s ban on new nuclear construction could change that.
READ: northstarpolicy.org/expanding/
Yesterday we stood with labor allies and released our new report, A Roadmap to Compliance: Strengthening Worker Protections in Minneapolis Construction.
We called on the city to take bold steps to eliminate wage theft, retaliation, sexual assault, and labor trafficking.
We called on the city to take bold steps to eliminate wage theft, retaliation, sexual assault, and labor trafficking.
Labor groups are calling for Minneapolis to more proactively enforce the city’s regulations against worker wage theft and on-site harassment.
“The message is clear: For workers, the risks of reporting are greater than the rewards, while bad actors see the opposite,” said researcher Aaron Rosenthal.
“The message is clear: For workers, the risks of reporting are greater than the rewards, while bad actors see the opposite,” said researcher Aaron Rosenthal.
Advocates want the City of Minneapolis to do more to end wage theft, worker harassment
A report released by a progressive think tank recommends that the city use its permitting authority and independent audits to ensure that existing labor regulations are properly enforced.
www.mprnews.org
October 16, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Yesterday we stood with labor allies and released our new report, A Roadmap to Compliance: Strengthening Worker Protections in Minneapolis Construction.
We called on the city to take bold steps to eliminate wage theft, retaliation, sexual assault, and labor trafficking.
We called on the city to take bold steps to eliminate wage theft, retaliation, sexual assault, and labor trafficking.
We love to brag when Minnesota is the best. This isn’t a list we want to be high on.
Minnesota has the fourth largest teacher pay penalty in the country. Our teachers make 33% less than other workers with a college degree.
Nationwide, the gap is the largest it’s ever been and growing.
Minnesota has the fourth largest teacher pay penalty in the country. Our teachers make 33% less than other workers with a college degree.
Nationwide, the gap is the largest it’s ever been and growing.
In 2024, teachers earned 73 cents for every dollar their similarly educated peers made, on average—a record low.
In 1996, the gap was much smaller: teachers earned 94 cents for every dollar.
We need to pay teachers more! How? By investing in public education.
www.epi.org/publication/...
In 1996, the gap was much smaller: teachers earned 94 cents for every dollar.
We need to pay teachers more! How? By investing in public education.
www.epi.org/publication/...
The teacher pay penalty reached a record high in 2024: Three decades of leaving public school teachers behind
Over the past three decades, stagnant weekly wages of public school teachers have fallen further and further behind those of college graduates who chose other careers, resulting in an ever increasing ...
www.epi.org
September 24, 2025 at 4:24 PM
We love to brag when Minnesota is the best. This isn’t a list we want to be high on.
Minnesota has the fourth largest teacher pay penalty in the country. Our teachers make 33% less than other workers with a college degree.
Nationwide, the gap is the largest it’s ever been and growing.
Minnesota has the fourth largest teacher pay penalty in the country. Our teachers make 33% less than other workers with a college degree.
Nationwide, the gap is the largest it’s ever been and growing.
Minnesota's Republican Members of Congress voting to hurt tens of thousands of their constituents, so they can send even more money to their billionaire supporters. This is the real class warfare, and Minnesotans are losing.
September 8, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Minnesota's Republican Members of Congress voting to hurt tens of thousands of their constituents, so they can send even more money to their billionaire supporters. This is the real class warfare, and Minnesotans are losing.
Reposted by North Star Policy Action
This is solidarity! ✊ THANK YOU to everyone in our pro-labor community who showed up and spoke up yesterday to protect prevailing wage for Bloomington workers. 🗣️ Together, we did it. 👉 We’ll keep showing up when pro-worker policies are up for debate. #WhenWeFightWeWin #BloomingtonMN #prevailingwage
August 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM
This is solidarity! ✊ THANK YOU to everyone in our pro-labor community who showed up and spoke up yesterday to protect prevailing wage for Bloomington workers. 🗣️ Together, we did it. 👉 We’ll keep showing up when pro-worker policies are up for debate. #WhenWeFightWeWin #BloomingtonMN #prevailingwage
Just wait until people find out their health care and food costs are skyrocketing, and their kids' childcare is closing all so that we could spend $170 billion more doing this unpopular stuff.
New Quinnipiac poll:
Trump approval cratering on immigration: 40-55
On deportations it's even worse: 38-59
Seems like something the opposition party might be able to exploit to its advantage!
Trump approval cratering on immigration: 40-55
On deportations it's even worse: 38-59
Seems like something the opposition party might be able to exploit to its advantage!
July 16, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Just wait until people find out their health care and food costs are skyrocketing, and their kids' childcare is closing all so that we could spend $170 billion more doing this unpopular stuff.
The Giant Nightmare bill moving through the Senate is bad. Really bad. Our @aaronrosenthal.bsky.social wrote about the growing threat to workers and consumers from AI, and why we needed Minnesota's members of Congress to strike this moratorium on regulations.
www.startribune.com/big-beautifu...
www.startribune.com/big-beautifu...
Opinion: Big Beautiful Bill’s AI regulation moratorium would imperil Minnesota workers and consumers
"Minnesota workers deserve an economy where AI innovation and worker welfare go together," writes Aaron Rosenthal, research director at North Star Policy Action.
www.startribune.com
July 1, 2025 at 2:14 PM
The Giant Nightmare bill moving through the Senate is bad. Really bad. Our @aaronrosenthal.bsky.social wrote about the growing threat to workers and consumers from AI, and why we needed Minnesota's members of Congress to strike this moratorium on regulations.
www.startribune.com/big-beautifu...
www.startribune.com/big-beautifu...
Reposted by North Star Policy Action
📉Our State of Working Minnesota report finds a major shift: fewer Minnesotans are earning poverty wages. In 2024, the share of workers earning below poverty wages dropped by more than 12%. Recent gains have been particularly strong in communities of color.
🔗 northstarpolicy.org/sowmn-2025/
🔗 northstarpolicy.org/sowmn-2025/
June 5, 2025 at 7:29 PM
📉Our State of Working Minnesota report finds a major shift: fewer Minnesotans are earning poverty wages. In 2024, the share of workers earning below poverty wages dropped by more than 12%. Recent gains have been particularly strong in communities of color.
🔗 northstarpolicy.org/sowmn-2025/
🔗 northstarpolicy.org/sowmn-2025/
Health insurers are reporting 14-26% increase in health care costs in MN next year, driven by Trump and Congressional Republicans cutting people's health insurance.
🚨NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THIS DISASTROUS BILL. Even if you get to keep your insurance, your premiums are about to skyrocket!
🚨NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THIS DISASTROUS BILL. Even if you get to keep your insurance, your premiums are about to skyrocket!
Health insurance could be getting a lot more expensive in Minnesota next year.
Health insurers propose hiking Minnesota prices at least 14% next year
All major individual market insurers are seeking double-digit rate increases for 2026 in market that’s often a bellwether for general premium trends.
bit.ly
June 17, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Health insurers are reporting 14-26% increase in health care costs in MN next year, driven by Trump and Congressional Republicans cutting people's health insurance.
🚨NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THIS DISASTROUS BILL. Even if you get to keep your insurance, your premiums are about to skyrocket!
🚨NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THIS DISASTROUS BILL. Even if you get to keep your insurance, your premiums are about to skyrocket!
Great rundown of labor legislation from @maxnesterak.bsky.social and @minnesotareformer.com. Lots of great pro-worker defense! Also happy to see our worker misclassification numbers cited and even happier to see that MN will be carrying out its own analysis thanks to @emmagreenman.bsky.social
Here is a look at changes in labor laws in the 2025 legislative session, in which DFL lawmakers defended their gains from 2023's session. minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/16/w...
Which labor bills passed — and which didn’t — in Minnesota in 2025 • Minnesota Reformer
Having lost control of the Legislature and confronting a looming budget deficit, Democrats were forced to abandon plans to advance pro-worker legislation and instead defend their gains from the histor...
minnesotareformer.com
June 17, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Great rundown of labor legislation from @maxnesterak.bsky.social and @minnesotareformer.com. Lots of great pro-worker defense! Also happy to see our worker misclassification numbers cited and even happier to see that MN will be carrying out its own analysis thanks to @emmagreenman.bsky.social
As @mprnews.org points out, MN passed almost no new AI laws even as the federal gov't seeks to ban state AI regulation for 10 years. We found that 500,000 MN workers are at high risk of AI impact and highlighted ways to align AI innovation with worker welfare. The time for action is now!
This year's Legislative session saw dozens of AI-related bills proposed, and while none passed on their own, others will be reevaluated. Here's a look at the AI conversations Minnesota legislators had and what it could mean for the technology moving forward.
Artificial intelligence and legislation: The latest in Minnesota
The use of artificial intelligence has become a hot topic in classrooms, around dinner tables and, increasingly in recent years, in state legislatures. What AI conversations did Minnesota legislators have this session? And what could it mean for the technology moving forward?
www.mprnews.org
June 17, 2025 at 6:37 PM
As @mprnews.org points out, MN passed almost no new AI laws even as the federal gov't seeks to ban state AI regulation for 10 years. We found that 500,000 MN workers are at high risk of AI impact and highlighted ways to align AI innovation with worker welfare. The time for action is now!
Our State of Working Minnesota report shows the state’s Black unemployment rate is the lowest in the Midwest after being the region’s highest during the Great Recession. The gap between Black and white unemployment is at its lowest level in decades. There’s more work to do, but progress matters.
June 6, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Our State of Working Minnesota report shows the state’s Black unemployment rate is the lowest in the Midwest after being the region’s highest during the Great Recession. The gap between Black and white unemployment is at its lowest level in decades. There’s more work to do, but progress matters.
📉Our State of Working Minnesota report finds a major shift: fewer Minnesotans are earning poverty wages. In 2024, the share of workers earning below poverty wages dropped by more than 12%. Recent gains have been particularly strong in communities of color.
🔗 northstarpolicy.org/sowmn-2025/
🔗 northstarpolicy.org/sowmn-2025/
June 5, 2025 at 7:29 PM
📉Our State of Working Minnesota report finds a major shift: fewer Minnesotans are earning poverty wages. In 2024, the share of workers earning below poverty wages dropped by more than 12%. Recent gains have been particularly strong in communities of color.
🔗 northstarpolicy.org/sowmn-2025/
🔗 northstarpolicy.org/sowmn-2025/
📈Minnesota just hit 3 million jobs for the first time in state history, as reported in our new State of Working Minnesota report. The biggest gains? Construction, education, and health care—sectors that fuel our economy and strengthen our communities. Read more: minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/05/m...
Minnesota’s workers are gaining. Trump and his henchmen could take it all away. • Minnesota Reformer
I’ve been a Minnesota sports fan my whole life, so I know false hope. Every year, at least one of our teams shows signs of championship form, only to see that promise wiped out in some new, heartbreak...
minnesotareformer.com
June 5, 2025 at 2:20 PM
📈Minnesota just hit 3 million jobs for the first time in state history, as reported in our new State of Working Minnesota report. The biggest gains? Construction, education, and health care—sectors that fuel our economy and strengthen our communities. Read more: minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/05/m...
"We don’t have to choose between abundant housing and fair pay. In fact, the best way to build more homes quickly and sustainably is to restore the natural alliance between pro-housing advocates and the people who build housing." Our @aaronrosenthal.bsky.social together with @moreneighbors.org
"Let’s build more homes for our neighbors, AND make sure the people building those homes are paid fairly and treated with dignity. That’s how we solve our housing crisis and build the kind of communities we all deserve."
moreneighbors.org/2025/05/30/w...
moreneighbors.org/2025/05/30/w...
June 3, 2025 at 5:28 PM
"We don’t have to choose between abundant housing and fair pay. In fact, the best way to build more homes quickly and sustainably is to restore the natural alliance between pro-housing advocates and the people who build housing." Our @aaronrosenthal.bsky.social together with @moreneighbors.org
Reposted by North Star Policy Action
Rep. Stauber likes to say he's "fighting for our way of life." Casting the deciding vote for the GOP budget shows he's fighting for Wall Street execs in NYC and tech billionaires in San Fran, not working families in MN's 8th Congressional District.
www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/colu...
www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/colu...
Local View: Stauber could have killed bill that will hurt his constituents
From the column: "Whose way of life (is he fighting for)? The Wall Street executive in New York City? The tech billionaire in San Francisco? Or the working family on the Iron Range?"
www.duluthnewstribune.com
May 23, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Rep. Stauber likes to say he's "fighting for our way of life." Casting the deciding vote for the GOP budget shows he's fighting for Wall Street execs in NYC and tech billionaires in San Fran, not working families in MN's 8th Congressional District.
www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/colu...
www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/colu...
Reposted by North Star Policy Action
Last week, Rep. Fischbach cast the deciding vote for a budget bill that will hurt her constituents. They will lose health insurance, food assistance, jobs and more. It will send that money to the richest Americans, people who don’t live in Western MN.
www.inforum.com/opinion/lett...
www.inforum.com/opinion/lett...
Letter: Rep. Fischbach was the deciding vote
Jake Schwitzer, executive director of North Star Policy Action, writes about Rep. Fischbach's vote to pass President Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
www.inforum.com
May 28, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Last week, Rep. Fischbach cast the deciding vote for a budget bill that will hurt her constituents. They will lose health insurance, food assistance, jobs and more. It will send that money to the richest Americans, people who don’t live in Western MN.
www.inforum.com/opinion/lett...
www.inforum.com/opinion/lett...
Last week, Rep. Fischbach cast the deciding vote for a budget bill that will hurt her constituents. They will lose health insurance, food assistance, jobs and more. It will send that money to the richest Americans, people who don’t live in Western MN.
www.inforum.com/opinion/lett...
www.inforum.com/opinion/lett...
Letter: Rep. Fischbach was the deciding vote
Jake Schwitzer, executive director of North Star Policy Action, writes about Rep. Fischbach's vote to pass President Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
www.inforum.com
May 28, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Last week, Rep. Fischbach cast the deciding vote for a budget bill that will hurt her constituents. They will lose health insurance, food assistance, jobs and more. It will send that money to the richest Americans, people who don’t live in Western MN.
www.inforum.com/opinion/lett...
www.inforum.com/opinion/lett...
Rep. Stauber likes to say he's "fighting for our way of life." Casting the deciding vote for the GOP budget shows he's fighting for Wall Street execs in NYC and tech billionaires in San Fran, not working families in MN's 8th Congressional District.
www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/colu...
www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/colu...
Local View: Stauber could have killed bill that will hurt his constituents
From the column: "Whose way of life (is he fighting for)? The Wall Street executive in New York City? The tech billionaire in San Francisco? Or the working family on the Iron Range?"
www.duluthnewstribune.com
May 23, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Rep. Stauber likes to say he's "fighting for our way of life." Casting the deciding vote for the GOP budget shows he's fighting for Wall Street execs in NYC and tech billionaires in San Fran, not working families in MN's 8th Congressional District.
www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/colu...
www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/colu...
Oh look, another way Trump's budget bill hurts the working class. Stealing jobs from working people and increasing energy costs to funnel even more money to the rich.
www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/c...
www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/c...
The jobs and tax credits that could disappear if the ‘big, beautiful’ House GOP bill passes | CNN
House Republicans are proposing to gut energy savings and clean energy tax credits in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill — money that is creating thousands of jobs in GOP states.
www.cnn.com
May 21, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Oh look, another way Trump's budget bill hurts the working class. Stealing jobs from working people and increasing energy costs to funnel even more money to the rich.
www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/c...
www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/c...
Reposted by North Star Policy Action
In addition to stealing from the poor to give to the rich, and screwing over workers who will be hurt by AI, the bill also contains a $5 billion private school voucher program. Read here for our take on why vouchers are such a bad idea.
www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
May 14, 2025 at 4:35 PM
In addition to stealing from the poor to give to the rich, and screwing over workers who will be hurt by AI, the bill also contains a $5 billion private school voucher program. Read here for our take on why vouchers are such a bad idea.
www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
Reposted by North Star Policy Action
The GOP Congress is planning a massive bill that will give huge tax cuts to the rich while taking health care and food from the poor. And it has lots of other bad ideas, like prohibiting states from regulating AI. Our research shows why this is such a bad idea.
northstarpolicy.org/progress-and...
northstarpolicy.org/progress-and...
Progress and Protection: Aligning AI Innovation with Worker Welfare | North Star Policy Action
northstarpolicy.org
May 14, 2025 at 3:55 PM
The GOP Congress is planning a massive bill that will give huge tax cuts to the rich while taking health care and food from the poor. And it has lots of other bad ideas, like prohibiting states from regulating AI. Our research shows why this is such a bad idea.
northstarpolicy.org/progress-and...
northstarpolicy.org/progress-and...
Government services are good, actually.
May 15, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Government services are good, actually.