The Walz record: Abortion rights, free lunches for schoolkids, and disputes over a riot response

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz and his fellow Democrats have enacted big changes in the two years that they’ve had full control of the Minnesota Legislature, from expansions of abortion and LGBTQ+ rights to tax credits and other initiatives aimed at making life easier for families.

His record has delighted liberals and progressives and is a major reason why Vice President Kamala Harris chose him to be her running mate. He doesn’t try to claim all the credit — strong Democratic legislative leaders also played major roles. But his record continues to draw condemnation from Republicans, who say he squandered a huge budget surplus that should have been used for tax cuts, failed to prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud, and acted too slowly to quell the violence that followed the murder of George Floyd.

Here’s some of what Walz has done as governor and how it might connect to the campaign now that he’s on the Democratic Party ticket:

REMOVING ABORTION RESTRICTIONS

Walz signed legislation codifying abortion rights, repealing essentially all the state’s restrictions and adding protections for patients who travel from states where abortion is restricted. The governor joined Harris during her visit in March to a St. Paul Planned Parenthood clinic, where she paid tribute to Minnesota’s leadership in what her office said was the first time a president or vice president had toured a facility that performs abortions. Among the restrictions eliminated were a 24-hour waiting period and parental consent requirements.

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