Walz Visits Duluth to Push Child Care, Seaport Investment

Gov. Tim Walz landed in Duluth on Thursday with a pair of legislative asks that carry direct price tags for St. Louis County families and employers: up to $150 million a year in expanded child care tax credits, and a slice of a $907 million statewide infrastructure bond package that would finally address port equipment dating back to 1959.

Neither proposal is law yet. Both still require legislative authorization, and Duluth's tour stop was squarely aimed at building pressure on lawmakers before the session ends.

Walz opened the day at Piedmont Elementary School, reading to preschoolers before sitting down with parents and educators at a roundtable on child care costs. The pitch centers on an expanded dependent care tax credit worth up to $6,000 per family, available to households earning up to $120,000 annually. If passed, the program would benefit an estimated 105,000 Minnesota families, boosting the average refund they currently receive by about $2,100.

The governor framed the credit as a workforce solution as much as a family benefit, arguing that high child care costs are already pulling parents out of the labor market. Duluth's child care shortage stands at roughly 1,000 slots, a gap that forces working parents into waitlists stretching to neighboring communities and, in some cases, to Superior across the border. Stephanie Peterson, a Piedmont parent who attended the roundtable, captured the calculation many two-income households face: continuing to work, or having one partner stay home because quality care costs more than a second paycheck justifies.

"Child care and infrastructure might seem like two different issues, but they're both about whether Minnesota families can succeed," Walz said. "When parents can afford child care and workers have access to good-paying jobs, our communities grow stronger and our economy works for everyone."

From Piedmont, Walz moved to the Clure Public Marine Terminal, the second stop on what his office has billed as a statewide infrastructure tour. There, he made the case for port facility funding within the $907 million package alongside Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert and Matt Baumgartner, president of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce.

The specific asks from the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, detailed by Jeff Udd, the authority's director of governmental and environmental affairs, include removal of a decommissioned grain elevator to free dock space for breakbulk cargo, seawall repairs, and the refurbishment of two gantry cranes that have been operating since 1959. Walz called the broader infrastructure plan "nation-leading" and said the port's alignment between labor, business leadership, and local government made Duluth a model.

What the governor did not provide Thursday was a specific dollar figure earmarked for Duluth port projects within the $907 million package, nor a timeline tied to any individual line item. Whether the Legislature delivers either the child care credit or the bond package before adjournment will determine whether Thursday's tour translates into something more than advocacy.