Walz reflects on eventful tenure in last State of the State speech, pushes for action in final legislative session

In his final State of the State address Tuesday night, Gov. Tim Walz reflected on his achievements and challenges in the state's top office, saying he was "deeply proud" of Minnesota after a "complicated" seven years.

And with just weeks left in his final regular legislative session, he called on lawmakers to pass his remaining priorities, including new gun restrictions and measures on fraud.

As he opened his speech before a joint convention of the House and Senate at the state Capitol, Walz said the past year had been particularly difficult for Minnesota, with the assassination of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman, a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, and the Trump administration's winter immigration crackdown. He described the past year as "our season of grief."

"We gather tonight in the long shadow of all these tragic, transformative losses. And yet, the state of our state remains strong. Indeed, over the last several months, the world has seen our strength - a strength that comes not from our politics, but from our people," Walz said.

"Make no mistake," he continued. "Minnesota is at its best when everyday people show up for one another - with compassion, with courage, with resilience. History may have its eye on our state, but we are writing our own story."

The speech started with a moment of silence for Hortman and her husband Mark, who were killed at their home last June. Walz also acknowledged Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, and his wife Yvette, who were also shot at their home that night but lived, as well as the families of the two children killed at Annunciation who were in attendance.

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor governor touted his accomplishments since taking office in 2019, including the creation of a paid family and medical leave program, free school meals, expanded voting rights, free public college tuition for lower-income families, protections for transgender people and the legalization of recreational marijuana.

Eventful tenure

The last year hasn't been the only challenging time in Walz's tenure. He spent much of his first term in office dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Minnesota became the center of a national reckoning on race after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd.

Walz, who ended his campaign for a third term in January amid growing scrutiny on his handling of widespread fraud in state government programs, has eight months left in office and just weeks left of the 2026 legislative session.

With limited time left to make major changes to state spending and policy, the governor called on state lawmakers in the closely divided Legislature to pass several of his priorities, including new restrictions on guns, in the hopes of preventing future tragedies like the shooting at Annunciation.

Policies the governor called for included a ban on so-called assault weapons - semiautomatic rifles with features like pistol grips and detachable magazines - as well as limits on the capacity of magazines, higher taxes on ammunition and a firearms insurance requirement.

Fighting fraud

Fraud is another area the governor said he hopes lawmakers will enact his proposed changes. Walz has an anti-fraud package that would "strengthen detection and oversight" by introducing new analytics to detect suspicious activity. He also wants the state to shift Medicaid spending to a centralized system, rather than the current patchwork of county and care organizations.

"When I announced earlier this year that I wouldn't be running for a third term, I promised that I would devote my energies to fighting fraud in our state's human services programs," he said. "My ask for you tonight is simple: If you take fraud seriously, take your responsibility to help me stop it seriously. If you talk about oversight, vote for oversight. Act on these measures immediately."

Some of Walz's anti-fraud proposals have seen traction in the Legislature this session.

One significant piece of legislation Walz backed in his February anti-fraud package would create an independent government watchdog office with law enforcement capacity - a statewide office of inspector general.

Both Republicans and DFLers have been moving closer to passing a House version of the bill this session. A Senate version passed with bipartisan support last year.

Minnesota fraud has been described as "industrial scale" by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, who speculated total losses in Medicaid programs alone could top $9 billion since 2018. Walz and his agency heads have disputed that figure, calling it speculation, and proven fraud is in the hundreds of millions, much lower than Thompson's figure.

Federal agents carried out another round of search warrants on Tuesday morning at several Twin Cities businesses suspected of defrauding the government, this time at child care centers and autism services.

GOP response

Most of the major policies and programs Walz touted were passed when he and fellow DFLers controlled state government in 2023 and 2024 - something legislative Republicans pointed out when they spoke with reporters following the speech.

Legislative Republicans called Walz's speech "divisive" and pointed to increases in state spending, new taxes and slow action on significant fraud in government programs.

"Remember, we had $18 billion of surplus that was not returned to the taxpayers of Minnesota," said Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who is running for governor. "We've got mandates on our schools and on our businesses, making things harder to afford. When you hear the words free - as in lunch or college or other free things - just remember that is paid by the taxpayers of Minnesota."

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, a Republican from East Grand Forks whose district is in the northwest corner of the state, said his fears of an administration driven by mandates from St. Paul were "actualized" over Walz's two terms.

"You're seeing two different flags that are flying in cities not that far from each other," said Johnson, referencing recent local government decisions to reject the new state flag adopted under a bill passed by the DFL-controlled government in 2023.

"It just signifies the division that we're seeing in the state right now," he continued. "Quite frankly, only half of the state seems like they were represented over the last eight years."

Other priorities

Protecting Minnesota from economic disruptions from social media platforms and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence was another area where Walz said he hoped state lawmakers would act.

He called for a new tax on social media companies that sell user data - something his fellow DFLers proposed in last year's state budget - to pay for workforce development initiatives to prepare the state for potential future disruptions from AI.

Other priorities Walz listed included reducing the cost of child care, passing his proposed $900 million public infrastructure borrowing bill to pay for public safety and clean water projects, and backing the development of aviation fuel made from renewable sources.

Walz, a former Congressman for a district in southern Minnesota, said he saw an opportunity when he was elected governor in 2018 to do politics without the "discord and dysfunction" of the federal government.

The governor said he was hopeful his final months in office would be "as productive" as the last seven years.

"For now, I will just say that it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as Minnesota's 41st governor," he said. "And it's been a particular privilege to sit in this chair during such a pivotal moment in our history."

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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 11:13 PM.