Statement on Governor Walz' Budget Proposal Eliminating Nonpublic Pupil Aid

Governor Walz' budget proposal, which shapes legislator discussion of the state budget, completely eliminates nonpublic student pupil aid and transportation as designated under Minnesota law for the past 50+ years. 

This nonpublic student pupil aid goes to services such as busing, textbooks, school nursing, guidance counseling, and educational technology, among other services. 

If state funding to nonpublic schooling options is cut, tuition costs will be raised for all students in these nonpublic schools. The lowest income students and families attending these schools will bear the burden of the raised costs, removing education options for the most vulnerable members of our community.

Minnesota families already fund public education through our state taxpayer dollars. Cutting nonpublic pupil aid now, especially when some estimates of Minnesota's waste, fraud, and abuse in our state government administration is tallying about $500 million (and increasing), is a serious mistake by the Walz administration, placing the burden on Minnesota's lowest income families who are seeking education alternatives.

Watch the hearing in Senate Education Finance Committee on February 5, 2025, in which leaders from various nonpublic Minnesota schools testified on how the elimination of nonpublic pupil aid would affect their schools.

See Governor Walz' budget proposal, pages 75-79.

Democrats Return to House, Demuth to be Elected Speaker

Update from Jeff Evans, CEO of Minnesota Family Council & Institute

By now, you’ve probably heard the news: after weeks of not showing up at the Capitol, Democrats in the Minnesota House have agreed to a deal from House Republicans that should make Leader Lisa Demuth the Speaker of the House. 

Democrats have been striving to avoid this outcome ever since one of their candidates was deemed to have lied about his residency and been ineligible to hold his seat, breaking the theoretical 67-67 tie yielded by the November elections. Democrats even took the unprecedented step of refusing to show up for work for more than three weeks, but ultimately yielded yesterday after weeks of growing public pressure. 

Join with us as we congratulate Speaker-designate Lisa Demuth, a good friend of Minnesota Family Council and a faithful believer, on this news! 

Rep. Demuth is an impressive pick for a number of reasons, but she would tell you that the most important things about her are her faith and values and what she plans to get done in St. Paul: rooting out government fraud and waste, and standing up for Minnesota’s most vulnerable residents, including children in the womb.

While the balance of power in the Minnesota House is still extremely close, this is a huge win for life, family, and religious freedom in Minnesota. 

Please thank God with us for the election of Speaker Demuth. Please pray for all our leaders of both parties, and finally, pray that God’s will would be done here in Minnesota!