Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders in Minnesota have agreed to a two-year state budget deal that significantly reduces a looming $6 billion deficit, raises taxes only on marijuana, and is several billion dollars smaller than the state’s record $72 billion budget from 2023.
The deal also brings a big change to MinnesotaCare, a state-run health care program for low income individuals. Under a compromise reached by Gov. Walz, DFL legislative leaders, and House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, adult illegal aliens will no longer be allowed to enroll in MinnesotaCare.
However, illegal alien children will still be allowed on the program.
Back in 2023, Democrats extended MinnesotaCare coverage to illegal aliens over the fierce protestations of Republicans. The GOP has consistently lambasted the idea and worked to write it out of state law. Earlier this year, the Minnesota Department of Human Services announced that enrollment for illegal aliens had exploded past initial projections.
When the compromise on MinnesotaCare was unveiled, DFL legislators from both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature lashed out. First, they staged a protest outside the governor’s office that threatened to disrupt a press conference about the budget deal. Afterward, they held their own press conference denouncing the change to MinnesotaCare.
Incidentally, every Democrat in the Minnesota Senate had just opposed a similar change to MinnesotaCare the day before the budget deal was announced.
On Wednesday, all 34 Senate DFLers voted down a Republican amendment that would have repealed state law that gives illegal aliens access to MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance.
Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls, offered the amendment during debate over the omnibus health and human services bill. Rasmusson’s amendment would have redirected associated savings to school-linked behavioral health grants, mobile crisis grants, and an increase to mental health provider rates.
One of the Democrats who spoke against Rasmusson’s amendment on the Senate floor was Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina, who said the amendment was “punishing people for being vulnerable, for being poor, for being dark, for being sick.” The senator also said it “is turning a basic human right into a luxury for political points.”
Mann would later lead the DFL press conference that condemned the planned change to MinnesotaCare. At that event, the Edina legislator vowed to “fight this till the very end.”
WATCH: Minnesota Democrat Rep. Cedrick Frazier says Republicans lack "care and human decency" because they don't want illegal immigrants to be eligible for the state's health care program. pic.twitter.com/bDclrqLx8n
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) May 16, 2025
Conversely, Rasmusson called the budget deal’s changes to MinnesotaCare a “benefit for Minnesota taxpayers.”
“With our state facing a $6 billion deficit, we need to set priorities and put Minnesotans first. We should not be incentivizing illegal immigration to Minnesota,” he said.
On Friday, Democrats held another event protesting the changes to MinnesotaCare.
Does the budget deal have the votes?
Major questions have yet to be answered about whether the budget deal will be passed.
The Minnesota House of Representatives is evenly split with 67 Republicans and 67 DFLers. Speaker Demuth and House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park have agreed to the state budget deal as it exists now and could, between their two caucuses, likely summon the requisite 68 votes necessary for passage.
However, the Minnesota Senate is a trickier situation.
At present, the Senate has 34 Democrats and 33 Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, has agreed to the budget deal, but Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, announced he did not sign it.
If enough DFL senators revolt against the budget deal, and the Senate Republicans oppose it as well, then the agreement may not be able to pass. Should this occur, the budget deal may be indefinitely halted until state leaders find a different way to garner the necessary votes.
On top of this, the 2025 legislative session will end on May 19. If a budget is not passed before then, a special session will be needed for legislators to complete their work. Failure to pass a budget before July 1 will result in a state government shutdown.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
