Minnesota’s State Competitiveness Fund was established this legislative session, unlocking billions of dollars in federal funding and providing resources for local and tribal governments, electric utilities, schools, businesses, and other entities to pursue federal grants for energy and infrastructure investments through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). We have an opportunity before the session ends to increase state investment into this fund, resulting in a 5x return on investment for Minnesotans–a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help the state reach our climate and energy goals.
The State Competitiveness Fund helps ensure Minnesota reaps as many benefits as possible from federal funding streams, increasing the ROI of state investments exponentially and giving our local governments, businesses, and workers an advantage when competing against other states for resources and funding. It ensures that benefits are seen equitably throughout all of Minnesota, including small towns and under-resourced communities.
Minnesota has historically paid more money to the federal government than we receive, but the State Competitiveness Fund helps ensure we secure a more favorable return on our investment and are being thoughtful stewards of taxpayer money. According to an analysis by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, for every $1 the state invests in the fund, we will see an estimated average return of $5 from the federal government.
The State Competitiveness Fund is a bipartisan, once-in-a-generation opportunity that is critical to helping Minnesota meet our climate and energy goals, including 100% Clean Electricity by 2040. The result is cleaner air, preservation of natural resources, well-paying jobs, improved and secure energy grids and transmission lines, and the pursuit of new and innovative technologies to provide safe, affordable, and reliable energy across the state. By allocating additional resources from Minnesota’s historic budget surplus to this fund, we can do all this – and more.