HF3732 would have expanded Minnesota's taxpayer-funded workforce-development programs by creating new grants to address healthcare-worker shortages, increasing financial assistance for job training, and creating an Office of Community Investment to oversee government grants. The bill also would have extended unemployment benefits for certain laid-off iron-ore miners, modified electrical licensing and inspection fees, and reorganized state tourism advisory councils. Additionally, it would have eliminated nine outdated or unfunded economic-development programs, including tourism loans, rural-job-creation grants, and green-enterprise assistance.
The Minnesota State House of Representatives passed HF3732 on May 4, 2026 by a vote of 98 to 35. We have assigned pluses to the nays because workforce development, job training, and economic development are not the proper roles of government. Taxpayer-funded grants and subsidies distort the free market, favor certain industries and businesses over others, and force taxpayers to subsidize activities that should be financed privately. Furthermore, extending unemployment benefits creates preferential treatment at taxpayer expense. Although the bill would eliminate several outdated government programs, it would expand state intervention in the economy overall. Rather than picking economic winners and losers, Minnesota legislators should eliminate government subsidies, reduce taxes, and uphold the free market.
