Minutes. I am your moderator and a host. I want to thank our hosts, minnesotas aarp and credit unions, for making these possible. Minnesota agora, thank you very much. There is a lot of work that goes into organizing these forums, and i think this has become a minnesota tradition. We had a coin toss. Governor walz won. He chose to go second. Kent will be the timekeeper. First opening question, youve talked about a vision of healing minnesota. Can you give a more specific vision of what that means right now and how you would heal minnesota in the next four years . When i see patients in the office, we cant begin the possibility of healing until weve asked the right questions. If somebody said, ive got chest pain, i to be a fool to say, this is what we are going to do. We are here today together. We are asking the questions and saying, what matters to you . Through the process of asking those questions and having conversations, learning, listening, that is the way we are going to heal minnesota. I disagree with governor walz. His program of one minnesota has become far less of a reality and more of an antonym of what weve seen a. I am talking about a transparent process we go forth and feel lie minnesota is being unleashed to be once again that beacon of economic activity. That is what we will do over the next four months annexed for years after november. And the next four years after we win in november. [applause] brois governor walz, you did run four years ago on one minnesota. Some of the political tone in this state and country is not related to your theme of four years ago. What is your vision for making it happen . Gov. Walz thanks to your sponsors and for each of you for caring enough about our democracy for being here. I saw this when i represented southern minnesota in congress, my fear was division was the problem of the day. That is not how any of us grew up. We know the economy is diverse. The aggie economy is one of the biggest in the country. Rural communities need to thrive so urban communities can thrive, and vice versa. We not only have the lowest employment rate of any state in history, we have the second highest job participation rate. We have the fifthlargest job growth. We kept deaths from covid to some of the lowest in the country, and we are starting to bring in investments, things like global aid in minnesota, things like the largest bonding bill that rebuilds roads and bridges, and ways we can bring our politics. We can disagree without using profanities. We can disagree without believing our neighbors dont love this country as much as we do. I worked with the only divided state legislature in the country and emily first governor in minnesota to never issue a veto. Compromise is a virtue, not a vice. It doesnt mean we all agree. It means we work across differences to live the lives that are best for our families. If it is urban, so be it. If its rural, so be it. To divide us and say, they dont belong, that weakens us. We can do it. Brois the next question goes to governor walz. There is a growing tension between small and large farms. What can administer the administration do to ease the tensions and preserve the family farm . Gov. Walz youve got to understand the reality of farming today. If you ask somebody, what is a corporate farm, theyd say, anybody bigger than me. Diversity on the land, there is a place for larger operations that bring economy to scale. It is a hungry world and have the capacity. We are the place where the green revolution started, so we need to have that, but there is plenty of room, as we saw during the covid pandemic, we were able to foster local butchers. When we saw large plants not be able to prosper, we knew we needed more local folks. It is where my family came from. My dads parents were butchers. They owned a butcher shop in nebraska. Those types of opportunities, it doesnt have to be a competition. When we expand, whether it is into organics or hemp, it doesnt mean we have to take away from someplace else. The more that we innovate and the more that minnesota grows those opportunities and the more we create export opportunities, there are going to be places. This is a false argument that it is family farms versus larger operations. We are proving that there is room for everyone, and the market will drive where we go. We are leading in this. We are creating vibrant rural economies and producing enough food to feed the world. That is the Positive Side of it. [applause] brois dr. Jensen, how do you see managing the balance between large farming, and preserving the family farm . Dr. Jensen i rejected the comment that this is a false argument between family farms this is not a false argument. Over my dead body will minnesota ever sell farmland to foreign corporations. Come on. If i have a patient, such as one i attended two weeks ago, and i checked blood and his potassium is ok, and i say, you are fine, but in the meantime, hes bleeding out and unconscious and an hour later, hes dead, that potassium didnt matter. That is the same darn thing we are dealing with. If we have no gdp growth and are in the bottom half of the country when it comes to the growth of our economy, then the 1. 8 doesnt matter. If we do not have minnesota workers where we were in 2019, it it doesnt matter. If you are falling behind inflation is 9. 1 , the 1. 8 doesnt matter. That is a false metro. You folks see through that. [applause] brois we are going to go to the panel now. The first question will be from minnesota agrogrowth chair roddy hebron. The key to the profitability for agriculture is access to international markets. What specific steps would you take as governor to expand export opportunities for minnesota farmers and their production . Dr. Jensen what would we do to increase exports and make our farms more profitable . The first thing is right now i think governor walz has 34 or 35 key people and Department Heads and commissioners. Maybe we should try to not just have a token of those people come from greater minnesota. Instead of just having three people from their and the rest come from the seven county metro area, that would be a starting point. We need to do value added investment. Do you remember the biofuels in the mid1990s, biodiesel . The Agriculture Community has demonstrated that it is ready, willing, and able to bring new technologies to the market. That is how we get our exports up. Lets make sure that farms can be profitable. What are you paying for fertilizer . What are you paying for cd . Are you able to get Farm Equipment when you need it, or do you have to wait a year and a half to get a trailer bed . What are the Interest Rates doing to you . Weve got to give you the ingredients so you can succeed, and as you do that, you will drive yourselves and your industry to make it more profitable, and we will see new profit products brought to market. I talked to a farmer who said, i dont know why i am buying a tree farm, but i am always looking for opportunities. That is what agribusiness and greater minnesota do. [applause] brois theres probably gov. Walz theres probably not a place in the world that understands this more. I will note that my opponents ticket is from the seven county metro area. These are global issues. Weve increased agricultural outputs by 15 during my term. Its the highest of any state in the nation. Weve created new trade deals. The folks in this room went on a trade mission and set that up. Weve invested in infrastructure to make the port of duluth the western terminus of the atlantic trade route to open up to the british markets everything and everything postbrags it. When it comes to ethanol and value add, its one of the reasons why i was elected to be the chair of the National Biofuels commission. Its the reason we were able to make and continue to work with our innovators in the biofuels sector and make them the champions of the world. Weve got the plant going up and kristin, the campus up there on bio innovation. Weve seen the largest investments, and i want to thank the corn growers. We are competing globally. We are creating trade deals together, and the folks in this room made that happen. It is not a theory about global economics. [applause] brois minnesota now has over one million seniors. Care centers and Nursing Homes are stressed by covid. Theyve had a staffing issue from before the pandemic, and that situation continues. Families in greater minnesota want to keep their aging seniors close to home. What can we do to make sure that seniors can stay close to home . Gov. Walz when you hear some of these statistics, if you are rooting against minnesota being at the top, having the strongest state finances, the second safest highways, things like that, if you are rooting to see failure, that is what you are going to get. We are looking at the data and how it impacts minnesotans. There were times that the state of minnesota had strike teams where we were getting calls at 2 00 a. M. In the morning where there were no workers for longterm care facilities. We were providing workers. We were supplementing them with our National Guard troops. Simultaneously, we were streamlining the process to license nursing assistants. Its been held up by the National Governors association. We streamlined the process and trained 1500 cnas. We made the process simpler and have them out there. What we are hearing from our longterm care facilities, its always difficult to try to hire into these jobs because we need to pay these people to take care of our parents and the value they need. Right now, the state of minnesota has a pipeline to train these people and get them out there. We have a budget that would Fund Everything that is there, and it is simply waiting to be signed. Walking away from the fixes for political reasons is hurting these Nursing Homes. We need to get back and have the legislature fix it and get it done so minnesota can move forward. [applause] what would you do to help Nursing Homes that can help enough workers . There is nothing about our response to covid in response to seniors there is not one. I have been medical director of Nursing Homes and what we did after we did this copycat of california and new york and watch them die alone, is our legacy with what we deal with covid. Never again. Healthcare workers feel like they have been driven away. You went from being a hero to 2020 to being a zero and these people are angry. When you talk about a legislative Program Going down, rather than blame someone else or boasting i have never done any deals it will have to do a deal when they you have other people not doing your you are other people doing your dirty work. You know what is going on. We can do so much better with our Nursing Homes. When you look at what happened with them being locked in, that is not different from businesses being locked down. This concept of locking down minnesota just because you think you can is absolutely an abomination of government overreach. [applause] our next question is from laurie. Summit is frequently ranked in the top top 10 in the country for taxes. The most recent legislative session, both which would benefit farmers throughout minnesota. How would your Administration Work to make minnesota a more competitive tax environment in a way that promotes programs but not a very to growth for forms . If you have some little golden nuggets with a huge spending bill and that goes down because people feel like an overpayment should be returned to the people who pay it then someone is playing games and that is what is happening . We got some broadband support for the greater minnesota but that is because the Senate Republicans worked there tailed off in the House Republicans worked to get over the goal line. We need to work on the succession of the family farms and reduce the state taxes so we allow the family farm to stay in it. This governor opposed we are one of 13 states that has a separate state tax. When our land was going for 2000 in third and an acre when you are at 16,000 an acre and you have a 500 acre farm, you are forcing those families to fracture their farm. That is when they are most susceptible to have it broke down in pieces and we see owned agencies doing rounds to buy the company property. We have seen this over and over and he has to stop it has to stop. [applause] the question is about tax environment and competitiveness. Where you are in this job, you work together. It is starting to me that Senate Republicans in the minority who, when something good something is, they have credit and when something bad happens, its not how it works. We cut taxes more than any time that the past 25 years and there has not been a single increase. We oppose this year and agreed to the largest tax cut in state history. These are realities stop with that scene realities. When i came in, it was 40 and now it is 70 and we propose it to 85 percent. The elimination of the Social Security tax is in there and the largest tax cut since 1858. Scott asked republicans to step away so it looks like it does not get done. Senate republicans signed and went in front of the and went in front of the press and agreed to this. There are solutions here. The state of minnesota is sitting on a surplus that i asked to get back to you. It was generated by spending during the covid pandemic. It should go back to the people who spend it who can make an impact on the things that cost them more by using them their own money. [applause] next question is for governor walz. Inflation is a major concern for families. This audience has a shared interest in making sure people are fed. How will you make sure that minnesotans can keep food on the table . Gov. Walz we are asking for the direct relief. Those are going to take supply chains to work out and fed policy. But minnesota can do is what we talked about earlier. We can grow exports and we can also use the surplus to bring down the cost for all minnesotans stop that is one of the most effective ways and every economist should say we should do. This we have done more to make sure our students can eat and make sure the food programs we work in conjunction with usda and partners, are able to get that out there but the biggest thing we could do is put money back in the pockets of his sons and making sure that one of the things we are seeing is that the partners in the nonprofit whether they be that mgos or others, they need to be efficient. Any child going to bed hungry in this state, that is on all of us and our administration focused on those issues and focus on making sure, they said that safest and best place for any student desktop is the state any child is the state of minnesota. How do you make sure that every minnesota family has put on their 10 table . Dr. Jensen all four weeks ago, i had a patient in my office and she cried and she said dr. Jensen, i have 100 in my checkbook and i dont know if i should belong my gas tank or buy food for my family. If we want to get minnesotans secure, we need to get the jobs and get our workforce restarted and stop fracturing supply chains. We need to do things different. When you incentivize people not to work and scare people from working, when you do all these things and you get them to sit on the couch and watch tv and you dont tell them how they can affect in their own immune system and would you take away options in terms of their treatment, cap when you give them a binary choice instead, you have the disease and go home again over or get worse and come to the hospital and you dont have options. When you do that to people, you scare them and that is the worst think we can do. We need to rise up and recognize we play a part in building the bridges that allowed minnesota to the that economic part of the northwest and we are not. The midwest is looking for leadership. Feeding minnesotans is important but until we lower the cost of energy, we are not going to do it. [applause] we have we have an hour left so i want to thank our sponsors. The next question is from dan placing plessing. What steps will you take to support and encourage development in Rural Communities . Dr. Jensen the question is near and dear to my heart. What steps will i take . I traveled the state and there is no question we need to do a better job letting young people in smaller towns and rule and greater is on that note that there is tremendous opportunity. We need to start with aggressive broadband cap connectivity that rivals the seven county metro. There are opportunities in sailors and research and finance and so many opportunities. We need to be so well connected that a Business Owner can compete with downtown minneapolis. We need to do something else. The waiter minnesota greater minnesota doesnt feel like they have a seat at the table. Arguably, greater minnesota has the most public to pick Small Business prototypical small Business Owners. You know that the buck stops at your desk. You on it. If it goes down, you own it and we have to stand up bold. What makes is great is not our 10,000 lakes, it is our people and we are not going to get common sense from the capital. We will get it from you and thank god for that. [applause] how do you ensure the vitality of freedom . Gov. Walz what you will never hear from your governor is that minnesotans are lazy. Hearing that minnesotans are lazy while we watched 13,000 neighbors die and hundreds of thousands putting hospital put in hospitals. Be part of the solution. When you are the executive of the state, you stand up and say i take responsibility for this. The way we talk to our children as a teacher to call ourselves schools, they are the best in the country. Call our schools black holes and disrespect teachers and parents, that is not the key. Not having a plan to legalize school and to say and divide us on the issue on block broadband when we have done more investments than any other state and you have heard it, it has to be better than the city. The city doesnt have broadband for the children. Trying to tell them we are doing it to create those jobs but if we come together to find a solution and recognize that we have invested 300 million bipartisan we parsingl bipartisan we bipartisanly. Invest in students and teachers but dont call us lady lazy. [applause] governor minnesota has been a great protector of biofuels. What do you see in the future of gov. Walz this is my 17th farmfest and we have been talking about this. I believe in what we have done. I was in janesville talking abo