Progressive Think Tank Backed By Unions Launches In Minnesota

By Baylor Spears, Minnesota Reformer:

Minnesota labor unions are funding a new progressive think tank in Minnesota aimed at developing data-driven public policy recommendations that support high-paying jobs, quality education and the environment.

North Star Policy Action launched on Thursday and will focus on researching and communicating policies that address climate change, economic and racial equity, and education. It is co-founded by four regional labor organizations: Education Minnesota, IBEW Local 292, Minnesota AFL-CIO and LIUNA Minnesota & North Dakota.

“[There’s] a need for a progressive leaning think tank in Minnesota to do really high quality, data-driven research, policy proposals and communication to build support for better policies that support working people in Minnesota,” Executive Director Jake Schwitzer said in an interview.

Schwitzer, who spent 13 years researching and crafting policies for U.S. Sens. Al Franken and Tina Smith, will lead the direction of the institute.

“We know that there are threats to quality public education in Minnesota,” Schwitzer said . “We know that there is a real opportunity in accelerating shifts to a clean energy economy [and] that we need to make sure that that transition is beneficial to workers in Minnesota.”

The think tank, Schwitzer said, will fill a gap in policy research and communications by providing a left-leaning voice in conversations where one lacked in the state.

North Star Policy Action is a partial revival of a now defunct think tank of a similar name. He said previous attempts to develop these voices failed after losing funding or momentum. In comparison, the Center of the American Experiment, founded in 1990, has long served the role of representing right-leaning viewpoints in Minnesota policy debates.

Schwitzer said he hopes to build the groundwork for North Star Policy Action to be a sustainable, powerful player in Minnesota for years to come.

The think tank’s main focus will be to research policies that many left-leaning policymakers and advocates have supported for a long time.

North Star Policy Action plans to release several reports this fall. Schwitzer said some of the initial reports will seek to explore challenges in education and questions about labor such as what a good job in Minnesota looks like and what it means for workers to have benefits like pensions or high quality healthcare.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..