Minnsights Blog

When Waste Wise visited Bellmont Partners during the summer of 2025, they found an employer encouraging sustainable practices. Their environmental initiatives have even been recognized by the City of Edina’s Green Business Recognition Program. The Bellmont Partners office features well-labeled trash, recycling and organic bins throughout the space. They have reusable plates, cups and utensils in the kitchen to cut down on single-use items. All of these are best practices for reuse and recycling.

Coming to you after another busy week at the Capitol as we approach important committee deadlines next week and beyond. Today, I want to spend some time discussing paid family and medical leave, because we have been hearing loud and clear from employers across the state about the challenges related to this new program in Minnesota.

One of the Chamber’s top priorities this session is reinstating Minnesota’s Pass-Through Entity tax, commonly known as the PTE tax at the Capitol. The proposal was heard in both the House and Senate this week. The PTE tax is a win-win policy that provides federal tax relief to more than 66,000 Minnesota businesses, primarily small to medium-sized companies, without costing the state any revenue. More than 30 states already offer a PTE tax, and without action, Minnesota risks falling further behind other states when competing for business investment.

A week ago, last Friday, the state’s budget forecast was updated with the February forecast. The Chamber put out a statement noting that when Minnesota’s economy grows, the state’s budget outlook improves and creates economic opportunity for all Minnesotans.

As I’ve been thinking about this week’s podcast, I initially expected we would be discussing the start of the legislative session, which kicked off last week, and the Chamber’s priorities for the session. I also thought we might reflect on our successful Session Priorities dinner. But instead, I felt the time was right to share my thoughts on Operation Metro Surge and the Chamber’s engagement throughout the immigration enforcement crisis in our state.