Minnesota is home to some of the most innovative and competitive companies in the world, drawn by one of the best public education system and skilled workforce in our nation. Minnesota has historically been at the center of the nation’s innovation economy, but our state is not doing enough to give small businesses the tools to succeed and grow.

I will prioritize making state government work better for Minnesotans by modernizing state agencies and cutting through bureaucracy to save families and businesses time and money, lower costs to taxpayers, and drive our economy forward. I want to cut business and professional license wait times, eliminate business registration fees, reduce delays in the permitting process, and strengthen the Small Business Administration and Department of Employment and Economic Development agencies to drive small business success. I will prioritize customer service and hold agencies accountable to transparent, timely, and efficient processes and deadlines. 

I am committed to making our state the leader in advanced technology research, development, and application once again. New technologies — such as artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and quantum computing — will determine the landscape of the 21st-century global economy, driving economic growth and job creation. In Minnesota, we need to make sure our state takes advantage of this opportunity. We can modernize and streamline how our state agencies engage with these sectors, and adopt a whole-of-government strategy to support entrepreneurs, develop our startup community, and build out clean energy generation and transmission to boost new technology development and drive affordability for ratepayers.

We also need to protect communities and families from bad actors who seek to exploit new technologies, like AI and deepfakes, to harass school-aged children or scam seniors. Keeping kids safe online is one of my top priorities, and I will fight against the use of deepfakes to bully kids in school. I will work with legislatures to ensure that Minnesota’s data privacy, harassment, and fraud laws are modernized to crack down on these bad actors and deter them from targeting Minnesotans.