(The Center Square) – Minnesota ranked 38th nationally in a new report from the American Legislative Exchange Council.
The fourth annual “States That Work: A Labor Policy Roadmap Across America” ranked all 50 states on recommended policy reforms related to “worker freedom and economic mobility.”
“When states get labor policy right, the American Dream becomes an American reality,” the report said. “Using this information, workers, businesses, and lawmakers can identify if a state’s policies are hindering or protecting workers’ freedom and flexibility.”
Minnesota received only 1.5 stars of the 10 stars available.
The stars were awarded for each law passed, symbolizing “consequential reforms that promote worker and workplace freedom.” These include everything from right-to-work legislation to licensing review laws and more.
A half-star indicates that significant exemptions or non-recommended standards may be included in the state’s legislation while empty stars indicate that the reform is not active in a state.
Each law was evaluated and selected by ALEC’s Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development Task Force.
The council is a nonpartisan organization of state legislators that promotes policies centered on limited government, free markets, and federalism.
Minnesota received one star for its Collateral Consequences Reduction Act, which seeks to reduce barriers to employment and other opportunities for people with criminal records. The state received its other half-star for its Occupational Licensing Review Act, which reviews licensing requirements that can create barriers to entering certain professions.
The report’s author and ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Director Alan Jernigan spoke with The Center Square regarding the report’s results.
“The state has created a strong process for ex-offenders to pursue occupational licenses, creating opportunities for them to reintegrate into society and positively contribute to their communities,” Jernigan said.
The report also looked at jobs in the state and union membership.
On the job front, Minnesota ranked 19th on government sector job prevalence, 25th on state minimum wage, and 32nd on average 10-year private sector employment growth.
On union membership, the North Star state ranked 39th and 45th on private and public union membership respectively.
“Minnesota, ranked 38th overall, has not passed any of the private- or public-sector union reforms recommended in this report,” Jernigan said. “Minnesota has seen below-average growth in the private sector despite a below-average reliance on the government for job creation.”
Arizona, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas, and West Virginia. At number one nationally, Arizona still reported just 5.5 stars.
On the flip side, the bottom five states from the last report remained the same this year. Those states are Connecticut, New York, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Alaska.
“States that have created barriers limiting worker freedom and flexibility have taken no steps to change course, which creates a dull outlook for opportunity and progress,” Jernigan said.
This doesn’t mean improvement is impossible, though, as Jernigan pointed to the states that improved from the previous report as notable examples of progress.
“Two states, Mississippi and West Virginia, made leaps into the top five due to their policy developments since the last report,” Jernigan said. “The states that are making good labor policy a priority are not only seeing improvements in their rankings but are also opening the doors of opportunity.”
