Payroll tax

Minnesota's 2026 governor race is sharpening into a referendum on laws Democrats passed during their 2023-2024 trifecta. Republican House leader Lisa Demuth wants to scale back paid family and medical leave's 20-week maximum, reinstate an income cap on universal school meals, drop automatic gas tax and car-tab increases, and fully eliminate state income tax on Social Security. She hasn't committed to repealing the state's abortion-rights law, calling it "settled law." Democrat Amy Klobuchar says she's open to "improvements" to leave and school-meal funding but supports current benefit levels, opposes tax hikes, and strongly backs the abortion law. Any actual changes would require legislative majorities, also on the ballot this November.