No Gov. Walz, Minnesota is not banning anti-union meetings

Gov. Tim Walz doesn’t seem to understand the definition of the word “ban.” Earlier this year, Walz repeatedly claimed the state of Florida was banning books. This was easily debunked by American Experiment’s Education Policy Fellow Catrin Wigfall.

This week Walz published a tweet congratulating himself and the legislature for “banning anti-union meetings.”

This new ban left us scratching our heads. A lot of bad legislation was passed and signed into law in the 2023 session (it’s the topic of our Off the Cliff tour). But banning meetings is not on the list. After a little research, I think I found the source of Walz’s tweet. It was language in the omnibus Labor/Jobs bill (SF 3035).

The bill does not ban any meetings. It simply says meetings sponsored by employers dealing with politics or religion can’t be mandatory. And an employer can’t fire someone for skipping their political or religious meeting at work.

Walz conflates the clear words of the new law with “banning anti-union meetings” in order to ingratiate himself with union audiences, who supported him with millions of dollars in campaign donations in each of his elections.

Minnesota is not banning meetings any more than Florida is banning books. Both actions would be at odds with the U.S. Constitution.

Someone should tell the governor it’s unnecessary to exaggerate his accomplishments when it comes to using government to protect and promote his political allies — he’s the GOAT.