The Resident Solution · Directive 11

Mining,
Agriculture
& Greater
Minnesota

The people who feed this state, mine this state, and build this state have been governed like an afterthought. That ends now.

Greater Minnesota is not a constituency. It is the engine. The Iron Range mines the materials that build American infrastructure. The farms feed millions. The forests and timber communities sustain entire towns. For decades, St. Paul has taken what Greater Minnesota produces and sent back empty promises — permits that never get approved, broadband that never gets built, resources that never arrive. This directive delivers what the people of Greater Minnesota were always owed: decisions, timelines, and accountability.
Read the directive
What It Is

Not Another Study.
A Decision.

This directive does not commission a task force. It does not authorize a working group. It does not produce a report that sits on a shelf. Greater Minnesota has had enough studies. What it has not had is a governor who makes decisions, sets timelines, and holds the bureaucracy accountable for delivering results. That is what this directive does. Eight specific reforms. Binding timelines. Real authority. No more 20-year limbo.

01
Permitting Decision Mandate
No permit application waits more than 3 years without a final decision. Applications that have exceeded that threshold — including PolyMet/NorthMet — are escalated to the Governor's desk for a binding yes or no within 90 days. Twenty years of limbo ends on Day One.
02
Greater Minnesota Development Office
A dedicated office within DEED focused exclusively on Greater Minnesota economic development — mining, agriculture, forestry, rural manufacturing. Staffed in Greater Minnesota, not St. Paul. Director reports directly to the Governor.
03
Broadband — Binding Timelines
County-by-county deployment timelines for every unserved and underserved address in Minnesota. Published within 90 days. These are legal commitments, not aspirational goals. A farmer who cannot get commodity prices is not waiting on a vision statement.
04
Agricultural Workforce Pipeline
DHS and DEED build a documented program connecting available workers — including legal immigrant workers — to documented shortages in agricultural communities. Housing assistance. Transportation support. Skills training. The workforce gap is real and it has a documented solution.
05
Iron Range Investment Fund
A defined allocation of natural resource royalties and severance taxes — currently flowing to the general fund with no return commitment — is redirected into a dedicated investment vehicle for Iron Range infrastructure, workforce, and economic development.
06
Regulatory Certainty Framework
Every state agency involved in natural resource regulation publishes clear, written standards. If you do not know what the rules are, you cannot comply with them. Regulatory uncertainty is itself a governance failure. This directive ends it.
07
Supply Chain Resilience Assessment
DEED identifies the top 10 supply chain vulnerabilities affecting Minnesota's agricultural and mining sectors and produces a specific mitigation plan for each — published, updated annually, and used as the baseline for state economic resilience planning. COVID exposed what Greater Minnesota already knew. This documents the fix.
08
Rural Infrastructure Equity Factor
State infrastructure investment formulas are required to include a Greater Minnesota equity calculation — documenting what each region contributes to state GDP versus what it receives back in infrastructure investment. Communities where that ratio shows a systematic disparity get priority. The math gets published. The imbalance gets corrected.
The Structure

Eight Reforms.
Zero Limbo.

Each reform targets a specific failure. Not a general philosophy about supporting rural Minnesota. Not a commitment to study the issues. A specific mechanism, a specific timeline, and a specific office that owns the result.

01
Permitting Decision Mandate
The Governor directs all state agencies involved in natural resource permitting to establish maximum review timelines and final decision deadlines. Any permit application that has been under active review for more than three years without a final decision is escalated directly to the Governor's office for resolution within 90 days. The Governor issues a binding decision — approval, denial, or conditional approval with documented requirements. No application loops back into the review process after escalation. The PolyMet/NorthMet copper-nickel mine has been in permitting since 2005. That is over 20 years. Whatever your position on the project, that is not a permitting process. That is a governance failure. This directive ends it.
Authority: Governor's direction over DNR and state environmental agencies under Minn. Stat. §§ 116C, 93.481, and the Governor's executive authority to direct agency priorities and timelines.
What the 3-year cap does not do: It does not force an approval. It forces a decision. Yes or no — with documented reasons, with appeal rights intact, with clear conditions if conditional approval is granted. Twenty years of nothing is the worst outcome for everyone — communities, industries, and the environment.
02
Greater Minnesota Economic Development Office
Established within DEED under Minn. Stat. § 116J.01, which authorizes the Governor to create unclassified Director positions and set departmental priorities. The Director is based in Greater Minnesota — not St. Paul — and reports directly to the Governor, not through the normal DEED chain of command. The office focuses exclusively on mining, agriculture, forestry, and rural manufacturing. No metro economic development. No shared mission that gets diluted by urban priorities. Greater Minnesota's economic engine gets a dedicated advocate at the cabinet level for the first time in this state's history.
Authority: Minn. Stat. § 116J.01 (DEED powers and Director appointments); Governor's constitutional executive authority over agency structure and priorities.
03
Rural Broadband Acceleration — Binding County Timelines
The Governor directs the Office of Broadband Development to publish, within 90 days of this order, a county-by-county deployment timeline showing when every unserved and underserved address in Minnesota will have access to broadband that meets the federal definition of high-speed service (100 Mbps download / 20 Mbps upload, moving to 25/3 baseline). These timelines are binding commitments, not aspirational goals. The Office publishes a quarterly progress report against those commitments. If a county falls behind schedule, the Director explains publicly why and what corrective action is being taken. A farmer who cannot access real-time commodity prices, a student who cannot complete online coursework, a small business owner who cannot serve remote customers — they have been waiting long enough. Fifteen years of broadband promises ends here.
Authority: Minn. Stat. § 116J.394 (Office of Broadband Development); existing state and federal broadband investment authority including NTIA BEAD program coordination.
04
Agricultural Workforce Pipeline & Farmer Economic Protections
DHS and DEED are directed to establish a documented agricultural workforce program under Minn. Stat. § 17.117 and applicable workforce development authority. The program connects available workers — including legal immigrant workers already authorized to work in the United States — to documented workforce shortages in agricultural communities across Minnesota. The program includes housing assistance, transportation support, and skills training. It is not a study of whether the gap exists. USDA data documents a national shortage exceeding 100,000 workers. Minnesota's share of that gap is documented and growing. The program is operational within 180 days of signing.
Authority: Minn. Stat. § 17.117 (agricultural assistance); Minn. Stat. § 116L (workforce development); DHS immigrant integration programs.
The squeeze nobody in St. Paul is naming: Minnesota farmers are getting hit from both ends simultaneously. Input costs — fuel, fertilizer, seed, equipment — have risen dramatically and are not coming back down. On the other side, corporate consolidation in the processing and distribution chain means farmers are price-takers with no leverage. The same consolidation argument that applies to the cannabis market and housing market applies here: when corporate buyers control the supply chain, the independent operator gets squeezed out. This administration names it directly and takes two specific actions:
1. State Procurement Preference for Minnesota-Grown. DEED is directed to establish a Minnesota-Grown procurement preference for all state institutional purchasing — correctional facilities, state universities, government cafeterias, and state-contracted food service. Minnesota-grown and Minnesota-processed agricultural products receive priority in state procurement where price-competitive. This keeps state dollars in Minnesota farms instead of routing them through out-of-state corporate processors. It is a market the state controls and currently does not use for this purpose.

2. Consolidation Monitoring. The Department of Agriculture is directed to establish an annual Agricultural Market Consolidation Report — documenting the ownership concentration in Minnesota's key agricultural processing and distribution sectors, flagging where consolidation has reduced the number of competitive buyers for Minnesota farm products, and recommending state-level intervention where documented consolidation has harmed independent farmer pricing power. Sunlight first. Action follows the data.
The mental health connection: Farmers have the highest suicide rate of any occupational group in the United States. Financial pressure — not weakness, not character — is the documented driver. When a farmer loses their operation to a bad year compounded by input cost spikes and a consolidated buyer offering below-cost prices, the consequences are not just economic. This directive addresses the financial root. Directive 12 — Men's Mental Health & Suicide Prevention — addresses the mental health crisis that follows. They are the same problem from different ends. ↗ Directive 12
05
Iron Range Investment Fund
A defined percentage of natural resource royalties and severance taxes — generated by Iron Range mining operations and currently deposited into the general fund without a legislatively mandated return commitment to the communities generating them — is redirected into a dedicated Iron Range Investment Fund. The fund is restricted to Iron Range economic development, infrastructure, and workforce training. Administered by the Greater Minnesota Economic Development Office. Annual disbursements are published publicly with documented outcomes. The Iron Range has been generating severance tax revenue for this state for over a century. The communities that have built their lives around that industry deserve a guaranteed, documented return on what they produce. This fund provides it.
Authority: Minn. Stat. § 298 (mining production taxes and distribution); Governor's executive direction over DEED and state economic development investment priorities. Legislative appropriation required for permanent fund — Governor proposes in first budget cycle.
06
Supply Chain Resilience Assessment
DEED is directed to conduct and publish within 180 days a Minnesota agricultural and mining supply chain vulnerability assessment. The assessment identifies the top 10 supply chain risks to Greater Minnesota industries and documents a specific mitigation plan for each. COVID exposed what anyone who has driven through the Iron Range or talked to a farm family already knew — Greater Minnesota's supply chains are vulnerable, and nobody in St. Paul had a documented plan when they broke. This assessment produces that plan. It is published. It is updated annually. It becomes the baseline for state economic resilience planning.
Authority: Minn. Stat. § 116J.035 (DEED research and assessment authority); Governor's executive direction over agency priorities.
07
Regulatory Certainty Framework
All state agencies involved in natural resource regulation — DNR, MPCA, MDH, and DEED — are directed to publish clear, written regulatory standards within 120 days. A business, a farmer, a mining company, or a timber operation that cannot determine what the rules are cannot comply with them. Regulatory uncertainty — the condition of operating without knowing what is required for compliance — is itself a governance failure. The standards are written in plain language. They specify exactly what is required, what evidence satisfies each requirement, and what the timeline for agency review is. Ambiguity that has been used to indefinitely delay decisions is replaced with clarity that enables them.
Authority: Minn. Stat. § 14.131 (regulatory impact analysis); Governor's executive authority over agency rulemaking priorities; APA compliance requirements.
08
Rural Infrastructure Priority — Equity Factor
State infrastructure investment formulas are directed to include a Greater Minnesota equity factor. Communities whose economic contribution to the state GDP exceeds their proportional share of state infrastructure investment receive priority consideration in funding cycles. This is not charity. This is correcting a documented disparity. The Iron Range and Greater Minnesota's agricultural regions have been generating state revenue and receiving less than proportional investment for decades. The equity factor makes the math visible and mandates that it be considered in every infrastructure funding decision. This directive requires the calculation to be published. Opacity on this question has protected the status quo long enough.
Authority: Governor's executive direction over MnDOT, MN Management and Budget, and DEED infrastructure investment priorities; Minn. Stat. § 174 (transportation planning).
Who It's For

The People Who
Built This State.

Not for lobbyists. Not for think tanks. Not for anyone who has been comfortable with the way things are. This directive is for the people who have been doing the actual work while the capital decided their concerns were not urgent enough to address.

Iron Range Miners & Families
Your communities have been waiting 20 years for a decision on a project that employs your neighbors, supports your businesses, and funds your schools. You have been told to wait while the process runs its course. The process failed you. This directive delivers a decision.
Minnesota Farmers
You do not have a bad quarter. You have a bad year, and it costs everything. You need workers who show up, broadband that works, supply chains that hold, and a state government that understands the difference between a policy discussion and a harvest deadline. This directive treats your reality like it is real.
Rural Small Business Owners
You cannot grow a business without reliable internet. You cannot compete for contracts without supply chain certainty. You cannot plan for next year when the regulatory rules change without notice. This directive ends the three problems that have been strangling rural small business since before anyone in St. Paul noticed.
Timber & Forestry Workers
You work in an industry that sustains entire communities in northern Minnesota. You need infrastructure investment, supply chain stability, and a regulatory environment that knows what it wants and says so clearly. This directive gives you the certainty to plan and build.
Rural Students & Young Families
You should not have to choose between staying in the community you grew up in and having economic opportunity. Broadband makes remote work possible. The trades pipeline in Directive 03 builds the career paths. This directive makes staying an option — not a sacrifice.
Every Minnesota Resident
Greater Minnesota feeds you. It builds the infrastructure you use. It mines the materials in the technology you carry. When Greater Minnesota's economy is strangled by permitting delays, broadband gaps, and regulatory uncertainty, every Minnesota resident pays the price in higher costs and a weaker state economy.
Why It Has to Happen

Twenty Years
Is Long Enough.

Greater Minnesota feeds this state, powers this state, and builds this state. What it has received in return is decades of deferred decisions, broken broadband promises, and a state investment formula that does not reflect the economic contribution it makes.
20+
Years PolyMet/NorthMet copper-nickel project has been in permitting — still no final decision as of April 2026
4.1%
Minnesota unemployment rate as of February 2026 — Iron Range counties tracking significantly higher, among the state's worst
100K+
National agricultural workforce shortage projected by USDA — Minnesota farming communities bearing a documented share of that gap
15
Years rural broadband deployment has been promised in Minnesota — gap between metro and rural connectivity continues to widen
$1B+
Estimated economic impact of stalled Iron Range mining development — jobs, contracts, tax base, and downstream business activity
ZERO
Defined return commitment on severance taxes from Iron Range mining operations to the communities generating that revenue

The PolyMet/NorthMet situation is not a permitting process. It is a governance failure. This project has been under state and federal review since 2005. Permits have been issued and challenged. Litigation has cycled through the courts. As of 2026, there is still no final resolution. Whatever your position on copper-nickel mining in Minnesota — you should be able to agree that a decision-making process that takes 20 years without producing a final answer is broken. A governor's job is to make decisions. This governor will make them.

The agricultural workforce crisis is documented and growing. Federal immigration enforcement shifts have created uncertainty for the farm labor pipeline that Minnesota's agricultural communities depend on. Equipment infrastructure is aging. Supply chains that COVID exposed as vulnerable have not been systematically repaired. The people running these operations are not asking for handouts. They are asking for a government that functions.

Mining and agriculture are not in conflict with environmental responsibility. The choice is not between jobs and environment. The choice is between a process that eventually produces a clear decision — with documented conditions, real enforcement, and community input — and 20 more years of nothing that serves neither the environment nor the communities depending on that economy. Endless limbo is not environmental protection. It is governance abdication. This directive ends it.

How It Works

Day One.
Then 90 Days.

This directive activates on Day One of the administration. Here is the sequence.

1
Executive Order Signed — Day One
Executive Order 27-10 is signed January 4, 2027. DEED, DNR, MPCA, DHS, and the Office of Broadband Development receive their directives simultaneously. Agency heads have 30 days to submit implementation plans to the Governor's Office. No exceptions. No requests for extensions.
2
Permitting Audit — First 30 Days
DNR and all agencies involved in natural resource permitting conduct an immediate audit of every active application that has been under review for more than three years. That list is published publicly within 30 days. Every application on that list is already in violation of the timeline standard established by this order. Each one is assigned to the escalation track immediately.
3
Escalated Applications Decided — 90 Days
Every application on the escalation list receives a final decision within 90 days of the order's signing. The Governor's office coordinates across agencies, convenes required stakeholder input within the 90-day window, and issues a documented final decision for each. The PolyMet/NorthMet application — in limbo since 2005 — receives its decision in this window. Whatever the decision, it is made, it is documented, and it stands.
4
Greater MN Development Office — Operational Within 60 Days
The Greater Minnesota Economic Development Office is stood up within 60 days. A Director is appointed, an office is established in Greater Minnesota, and the office begins outreach to mining, agricultural, forestry, and rural manufacturing operations within its first week. Not six months from now. Not after a transition plan. Within 60 days, Greater Minnesota has a dedicated advocate at the cabinet level for the first time.
5
Broadband County Timelines Published — 90 Days
The Office of Broadband Development publishes county-by-county deployment timelines within 90 days. Every unserved and underserved address in Minnesota has a documented date by which it will receive qualifying broadband service. These are not projections. They are commitments. Quarterly progress reports are published against them starting at the 90-day mark.
6
Regulatory Standards Published — 120 Days
DNR, MPCA, MDH, and DEED publish their regulatory certainty documents within 120 days. Plain language. Specific requirements. Documented timelines. No more operating in conditions of regulatory ambiguity. If a business cannot determine what is required for compliance, that is an agency failure — not a business problem. These documents fix it.
7
Agricultural Workforce Program & Supply Chain Assessment — 180 Days
The agricultural workforce program run by DHS and DEED is operational within 180 days. The supply chain vulnerability assessment is published within 180 days. Both deliverables are real. Both are public. Both have named Directors who own the result. The assessment does not produce more recommendations — it produces a mitigation plan for each of the top 10 identified risks.
8
Iron Range Fund — First Budget Cycle
The Iron Range Investment Fund is proposed as a legislative appropriation in the Governor's first budget cycle. The executive order directs the framework, the allocation methodology, and the governance structure. The Governor advocates for its passage. If the legislature delays, the Governor makes the fight public and the delay becomes a political choice that Greater Minnesota voters can evaluate.
Precedents

Other States
Already Did This.

These reforms are not experimental. They are documented approaches that other states have implemented, studied, and built upon. The question is not whether they work. The question is why Minnesota has not done them.

Wyoming Red State
Natural Resource Permit Streamlining
Wyoming established defined maximum review timelines for natural resource permit applications and created a single-agency coordination structure for projects crossing jurisdictional lines. The result: faster decisions, documented outcomes, and a permitting environment that doesn't disappear applications into indefinite review. Wyoming's mining and extraction industries operate with regulatory certainty that Minnesota's Iron Range has never had.
The model: Timelines are law, not courtesy.
Iowa Red State
Rural Broadband Investment & Agricultural Workforce
Iowa's rural broadband investment programs tied state and federal funding to documented county-level coverage commitments with built-in accountability reporting. Iowa also established a state-level agricultural workforce coordination program connecting available labor to documented farm shortages — including housing and transportation support components. Both programs are operational and have documented coverage gains. Iowa treated rural broadband and farm labor as infrastructure problems. Minnesota treated them as aspirational goals.
The model: Commitments, not aspirations.
Michigan Purple State
Upper Peninsula Economic Development Model
Michigan's Upper Peninsula — a rural, mining-dependent, economically distressed region facing many of the same challenges as the Iron Range — became the target of a dedicated economic development office with its own director, its own budget, and direct reporting to the Governor's office. The UP Economic Development Authority connected mining, agriculture, and rural manufacturing into a coherent regional strategy rather than treating each sector as a separate policy problem. Minnesota's Iron Range and the Michigan UP face nearly identical economic dynamics. Michigan built the governance structure. Minnesota has not.
The model: Dedicated authority gets results.

Two red states and one purple state. This is not a partisan issue. Every state that has applied these reforms did so because they recognized that rural communities generating state wealth deserve state government that functions. Minnesota is overdue.

The Numbers

The Data
Is Not Ambiguous.

These are not campaign estimates. These are documented figures from state agencies, federal data, and independent economic analysis. The economic case for this directive does not need to be argued. It needs to be read.

$3B+
Annual Economic Contribution — Iron Range Mining
Minnesota Department of Revenue mining production tax data; Iron Mining Association of Minnesota economic impact estimates. Includes direct employment, vendor contracts, and downstream economic activity in Range communities.
6,000+
Direct Mining Jobs on the Iron Range
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Greater Minnesota labor market data. Each direct mining job supports an estimated 2–3 additional jobs in Range communities through economic multiplier effect.
$500M+
Estimated Direct Investment Stalled by PolyMet/NorthMet Permitting Delay
NewRange Copper Nickel (formerly PolyMet) project investment documentation; independent economic analysis of project development stage. Does not include downstream job creation and supply chain activity.
1 in 3
Minnesota Farm Operations Reporting Serious Workforce Shortage
Minnesota Farm Bureau survey data; USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Minnesota agricultural labor data. Shortage most acute in dairy, fruit, and vegetable operations requiring year-round or seasonal skilled labor.
47%
Rural Minnesota Addresses Without Access to Federally-Defined High-Speed Broadband
Minnesota Office of Broadband Development, annual broadband speed and coverage report. Federal definition: 100 Mbps download / 20 Mbps upload. Rural counties in northern and western Minnesota track significantly above state average for unserved addresses.
20 yrs
PolyMet/NorthMet in Permitting Without Final Decision
Minnesota DNR and Army Corps of Engineers permitting record. Application first submitted 2004–2005. As of April 2026, federal and state agency dashboards show planned review duration extending into late 2027 with no binding decision date committed.
Legal Authority

The Governor
Has the Power.

Every reform in this directive is grounded in existing statutory authority. The Governor does not need to wait for the legislature to fix what executive action can fix today. These statutes have existed for years. This administration will use them.

Minn. Stat.
§ 116J.01
DEED Powers
Authorizes the Commissioner of Employment and Economic Development to implement state economic development policy, create unclassified Director positions, and establish offices focused on specific economic sectors or regions. The Greater Minnesota Economic Development Office and its Director are created under this authority. Confirmed by Gemini legal review as supporting the Governor's appointment authority and the establishment of a Greater Minnesota-specific unit within DEED.
Minn. Stat.
§ 93.481
Mining Permits
Governs the state's authority over mining permit applications, including the DNR Commissioner's role in the permitting process. The Governor's direction over DNR priorities and the establishment of maximum review timelines derives from the Governor's executive authority over agency operations under this statutory framework. The Governor cannot override a statutory environmental review process, but can direct that processes be conducted with defined timelines and escalation procedures.
Minn. Stat.
§ 17.01 & § 17.117
Agriculture
Establishes the Department of Agriculture's authority and mandate, including agricultural workforce development programs. The agricultural workforce pipeline is implemented under existing authority in Chapter 17 in coordination with DEED workforce development programs under Chapter 116L. No new statutory authority required for program structure — the gaps are administrative, not legal.
Minn. Stat.
§ 116J.394
Broadband Development
Establishes the Office of Broadband Development within DEED and authorizes state broadband deployment programs and reporting requirements. The binding county timeline requirement is an executive direction to the Office of Broadband Development to publish and maintain documented deployment commitments against which state and federal investments are tracked. Existing reporting authority is expanded by executive direction to include binding commitments rather than aspirational targets.
Minn. Stat.
§ 298
Mining Production Taxes
Governs the distribution of mining production taxes and iron ore taxes generated by Iron Range operations. Current distribution flows to the general fund and school trust funds without a defined return commitment to Range communities. The Iron Range Investment Fund requires a legislative appropriation to establish permanently, but the Governor's executive order establishes the framework and directs DEED to administer interim investment programs through existing economic development authority while the appropriation is pursued.
Minn. Stat.
§ 14.131
Regulatory Analysis
Requires state agencies to conduct regulatory impact analyses for new rules. The regulatory certainty framework extends this existing principle — the Governor directs agencies to apply the same transparency standard to existing regulatory requirements, publishing clear written standards that document exactly what compliance requires and what the review timeline is for each determination.
Minn. Const.
Art. V, § 3
Executive Power
Vests the supreme executive power in the Governor and charges the Governor with faithful execution of the laws. The Governor's authority to direct agency priorities, establish coordination mechanisms, require reporting, and set operational timelines for executive branch agencies derives from this constitutional grant. Every reform in this directive operates within the scope of the Governor's constitutional and statutory executive authority.
The Opposition

They Will Say.
Here Is the Answer.

These are the arguments that will be made against this directive. Here are the responses — grounded in fact, state precedent, and plain logic.

They Say "Mining and agriculture harm the environment. You are choosing industry over conservation."
My Answer
I am not choosing industry over conservation. I am choosing decisions over paralysis. The current permitting system has not produced environmental protection — it has produced 20 years of no decision, no enforceable conditions, and no documented environmental outcome. A final decision — whether yes, no, or conditional approval with monitored requirements — is more protective than indefinite limbo. The communities living alongside these projects deserve to know what the rules are. The environment deserves enforceable conditions, not an open-ended review that never closes. This directive produces decisions. Decisions can be enforced. Limbo cannot.
They Say "Broadband is already being built — this directive is redundant. The state is already working on it."
My Answer
If broadband is being built, show me the county-by-county timeline with a date for every unserved address. Show me the quarterly accountability report. Show me the binding commitment. Aspirational goals are not the same as binding commitments. Minnesota has been "working on" rural broadband for 15 years. The gap between metro and rural connectivity has not closed — it has widened. Iowa and Wyoming tied their broadband investments to documented delivery commitments. This directive requires Minnesota to do the same thing. If the state is already working on it, making that work accountable should not be controversial.
They Say "The permitting process exists to protect residents. Capping timelines is dangerous."
My Answer
The permitting process also exists to produce decisions. A process that takes 20 years without a final answer is not protecting residents — it is protecting the status quo and avoiding accountability. The 3-year cap does not eliminate environmental review. It forces the review to conclude. Every environmental and community concern gets considered within the process. What it does not get is indefinite continuation past the deadline. If an agency cannot complete a review in three years, the Governor's office steps in — not to override the process, but to ensure it produces a result. Residents in Range communities are not protected by endless limbo. They are harmed by it.
They Say "Using immigrant workers for farm labor is taking jobs from Minnesotans."
My Answer
The agricultural workforce program connects documented shortages with available workers. If Minnesotans want these jobs, they are the first referral. The program documents workforce availability and connects all available workers — starting with local Minnesotans — to the documented gaps. The reality documented by USDA, the Minnesota Farm Bureau, and farm operators themselves is that the shortages are real and positions go unfilled when only domestic workers are available. The workers in this program are legally authorized to work in the United States. These are not positions being taken from Minnesotans. They are positions that have been empty, that farms need filled, and that this program connects to workers who want to do them.
The Resident Solution Fund · Directive 11

Greater
Minnesota
Pays In.
Greater
Minnesota
Gets Back.

The Iron Range has been generating state revenue for over a century. Minnesota's agricultural regions produce economic output that feeds this state and contributes billions to the state's GDP. The return on that contribution, in state investment, has never been proportional. This directive starts fixing that.

The Resident Solution Fund connection to this directive flows through three channels — and this directive creates a fourth, dedicated to the communities that have been building this state since before St. Paul remembered they existed.

01
Iron Range Investment Fund
A defined allocation of natural resource royalties and severance taxes redirected into a dedicated investment vehicle for Iron Range infrastructure, workforce training, and economic development. The communities that generate this revenue get a documented return on it.
02
Greater MN Rural Infrastructure
State infrastructure investment formulas include a Greater Minnesota equity factor. Communities contributing disproportionately to state GDP and receiving less than proportional infrastructure investment move to the front of the funding queue — not charity, just math made visible and acted on.
03
Cross-Directive Connections
Cannabis tax revenue from Directive 07 includes a Greater Minnesota economic development allocation. The Greater Minnesota Housing Initiative from Directive 08 directly targets these communities. The trades workforce pipeline from Directive 03 feeds directly into mining and agricultural workforce needs.
D·03
Education & Workforce Pipeline
The trades education pipeline in Directive 03 connects directly to mining, agricultural, and rural manufacturing workforce needs. Welders, electricians, mechanics, and equipment operators trained in Minnesota for Minnesota industries.
D·07
Cannabis Market & Economic Fairness
Cannabis tax revenue under Directive 07 includes a defined allocation for Greater Minnesota economic development. Rural communities that have faced economic contraction receive a share of the new revenue the state is generating from legalization.
D·08
Housing & Cost of Living
The Greater Minnesota Housing Initiative in Directive 08 is specifically designed for these communities — workforce housing in mining towns, farm communities, and rural manufacturing centers. You cannot fill jobs if workers have nowhere to live.
The Iron Range Investment Fund requires a legislative appropriation for permanent establishment. The Governor proposes this in the first budget cycle and will advocate publicly for its passage. Interim investment programs through DEED's existing economic development authority begin on Day One under this executive order and do not require legislative action.
Executive Order 27-10 — Mining, Agriculture & Greater Minnesota Ready for Signature · Day One
STATE OF MINNESOTA Executive Department
Executive Order on Mining, Agriculture, Rural Broadband, and Greater Minnesota Economic Development
Executive Order 27-10
GovernorTom Berhane
DateJanuary 4, 2027
StatusDraft — Legal Review Pending
Directive10 of 13
Whereas
The Iron Range region of northeastern Minnesota is home to some of the world's most significant deposits of iron ore, copper, and nickel, and the mining industry operating in that region has historically generated billions of dollars in annual economic activity, employed thousands of Minnesotans, and funded critical public services including schools, local governments, and state general fund operations through mining production taxes under Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 298;
Whereas
The PolyMet/NorthMet copper-nickel mining project, first submitted for state and federal environmental review in 2004–2005, remains unresolved as of January 2027, representing over 20 years of permitting limbo that has prevented a final decision — whether approval, denial, or conditional approval — on a project that would directly affect Iron Range employment, state revenue, and the communities surrounding the proposed site; and that regardless of the merits of any specific project, a permitting process that fails to produce a final decision after more than 20 years constitutes a governance failure that this administration is obligated to resolve;
Whereas
Minnesota's agricultural sector contributes significantly to the state's GDP, employs tens of thousands of Minnesotans in farming, processing, and supply chain operations, and faces a documented and growing workforce shortage that the USDA projects as part of a national gap exceeding 100,000 workers, with Minnesota farm operations disproportionately affected by labor availability uncertainty resulting from federal immigration enforcement changes and documented aging of the agricultural workforce;
Whereas
Rural Minnesota communities, including those in the Iron Range and agricultural regions, have been underserved by state broadband deployment efforts for over 15 years, with the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development's own reporting documenting that nearly half of rural Minnesota addresses lack access to federally-defined high-speed broadband service, and that the gap between metro and rural connectivity has not materially closed despite repeated state and federal investment programs lacking binding, address-specific deployment commitments;
Whereas
Regulatory uncertainty — the condition under which businesses, farmers, and mining operations cannot determine with specificity what is required for compliance with state environmental, land use, and operational regulations — constitutes a governance failure that imposes costs on legitimate economic actors without producing corresponding environmental or public safety benefit, and that the Governor is constitutionally charged with the faithful execution of the laws, which requires that those laws be administered with sufficient clarity that compliance is possible;
Whereas
Greater Minnesota communities — including Iron Range cities and towns, agricultural communities in the southern and western regions, and timber and forestry communities in the north — contribute economic output, resource wealth, and workforce capability to the State of Minnesota that is not reflected in the proportional share of state investment, infrastructure funding, and economic development resources those communities receive, and that correcting this documented disparity is both an economic and a governance obligation of this administration;
Now Therefore, I, Tom Berhane, Governor of the State of Minnesota, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Minnesota Constitution, Article V, Section 3, and pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapters 17, 93, 116J, 116L, 298, and the Governor's inherent executive authority over the operation of executive branch agencies, do hereby order:
Permitting Decision Mandate — Three-Year Maximum

All state executive branch agencies with authority over natural resource permit applications — including but not limited to the Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Department of Health — are hereby directed to immediately audit all active permit applications that have been under agency review for more than three years without a final decision. The results of that audit are published publicly within 30 days of this order.

Each application identified in that audit is immediately assigned to the Governor's Office Permitting Coordination Unit, which is hereby established within the Governor's Office, and which shall:

  • Convene all relevant state agency representatives within 14 days of identification
  • Conduct a documented review of all outstanding issues, public comments, and unresolved agency questions
  • Issue a final decision — approval, denial, or conditional approval with specific documented conditions — on each escalated application within 90 days of this order's effective date
  • Publish a public notice for each decision documenting the basis for the decision, the conditions attached if any, and the appeal rights available to all parties

Following publication of this order, no new permit application for a natural resource project of any scale shall remain in active agency review for more than three calendar years without escalation to the Governor's Office Permitting Coordination Unit. This standard applies to all agencies and cannot be waived by agency policy or internal procedure.

Establishment of the Greater Minnesota Economic Development Office

There is hereby established within the Department of Employment and Economic Development the Greater Minnesota Economic Development Office, pursuant to the Governor's authority under Minnesota Statutes, Section 116J.01. The Office shall:

  • Be led by a Director, who shall be an unclassified position appointed by and reporting directly to the Governor, not subject to normal DEED chain of command for matters involving Greater Minnesota economic development strategy
  • Be physically located in a Greater Minnesota community, not in St. Paul — the Director and primary staff work from Greater Minnesota
  • Have exclusive focus on economic development in mining, agriculture, forestry, and rural manufacturing sectors; the Office does not work on metro economic development matters
  • Be operational within 60 days of this order's effective date, with a Director appointed and an office established
  • Publish a Greater Minnesota Economic Development Plan within 180 days documenting specific goals, timelines, and accountabilities for each sector
Rural Broadband — Binding County-by-County Deployment Timelines

The Office of Broadband Development within DEED is hereby directed to publish, within 90 days of this order's effective date, a county-by-county broadband deployment timeline that specifies, for every unserved and underserved address in the State of Minnesota, the projected date by which that address will have access to broadband service meeting the federal definition of high-speed service.

The timelines published under this order are binding commitments, not aspirational goals. The Office of Broadband Development shall:

  • Publish quarterly progress reports measuring actual deployment against committed timelines, beginning no later than 90 days after the initial timeline publication
  • Where a county or service area is falling behind committed timeline, publish a documented corrective action plan within 30 days of identifying the shortfall
  • Coordinate with federal NTIA BEAD program administrators to align federal broadband funding with the binding timeline commitments established by this order

Aspirational language in prior state broadband planning documents is superseded by the binding timeline commitments required by this order.

Agricultural Workforce Pipeline — Documented Program

The Department of Human Services and the Department of Employment and Economic Development are jointly directed to establish an Agricultural Workforce Pipeline Program pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Sections 17.117 and 116L, to be operational within 180 days of this order. The program shall:

  • Maintain a documented registry of agricultural workforce shortages reported by Minnesota farm operations, updated quarterly
  • Connect available workers — including Minnesota residents, domestic workers from other states, and legal immigrant workers authorized to work in the United States under applicable federal law — to documented shortage positions
  • Provide housing assistance, transportation support, and skills training components as part of the program, with specific support levels documented in the program's operational guidelines
  • Designate a single point of contact for employers and a single point of contact for workers seeking agricultural employment, with documented response time standards
  • Publish quarterly reports on positions filled, workers placed, and program operational costs
Iron Range Investment Fund — Framework and Legislative Proposal

DEED is hereby directed to develop, within 90 days, a proposed framework for an Iron Range Investment Fund that:

  • Defines a specific allocation methodology for directing a percentage of natural resource royalties and severance taxes generated by Iron Range mining operations into a dedicated Iron Range investment vehicle
  • Restricts fund disbursements to Iron Range economic development, infrastructure investment, and workforce training
  • Establishes governance, reporting, and accountability structures ensuring fund disbursements are published publicly and tied to documented economic outcomes

The Governor shall propose this framework as a legislative appropriation in the first budget cycle of this administration. DEED is directed to activate interim investment programs through existing economic development authority immediately upon this order's effective date, pending the legislative establishment of the permanent fund.

Minnesota Supply Chain Resilience Assessment

DEED is hereby directed to conduct and publish within 180 days a Minnesota Agricultural and Mining Supply Chain Vulnerability Assessment under the authority of Minnesota Statutes, Section 116J.035. The assessment shall:

  • Identify the ten most significant supply chain vulnerabilities affecting Minnesota's agricultural and mining sectors
  • For each identified vulnerability, document a specific mitigation plan including responsible agency, timeline, and accountability measure
  • Be updated annually and used as a baseline for state economic resilience planning
  • Be published in full and made publicly available without restriction
Regulatory Certainty Framework — Plain Language Standards

The Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Department of Health, and the Department of Employment and Economic Development are each hereby directed to publish, within 120 days, a Regulatory Certainty Document for each major regulatory area affecting natural resource industries. Each document shall:

  • State in plain language exactly what a business, farmer, or mining operation must do to be in compliance with each applicable regulation
  • Specify what evidence the agency accepts as demonstrating compliance with each requirement
  • Document the agency's review timeline for each type of compliance determination
  • Be updated within 60 days of any regulatory change that affects the compliance requirements it documents

Regulatory ambiguity that cannot be resolved by reference to a published Regulatory Certainty Document shall be treated as an agency obligation to clarify, not a business obligation to guess. Enforcement actions based on regulatory requirements not documented in a published Regulatory Certainty Document shall be subject to automatic administrative review prior to enforcement.

Greater Minnesota Infrastructure Equity Factor

The Department of Transportation, Minnesota Management and Budget, and DEED are hereby directed to incorporate a Greater Minnesota Equity Factor into state infrastructure investment evaluation criteria. Within 90 days, these agencies shall publish a methodology that:

  • Calculates, for each region and community, the ratio of economic contribution to state GDP versus proportional receipt of state infrastructure investment over the prior decade
  • Applies a documented priority adjustment for infrastructure funding requests from communities where that ratio demonstrates a systematic disparity unfavorable to the community
  • Publishes the calculation and adjustment methodology publicly so communities can understand how it is applied

The calculation shall be published annually. Infrastructure funding decisions made without documented consideration of this factor are subject to Governor's Office review.

Effective Date and Compliance

This Executive Order is effective immediately upon signing and shall remain in force for the duration of this administration unless superseded by statute establishing equivalent or greater authority. Agency heads shall submit implementation plans to the Governor's Office within 30 days of signing. Non-compliance with the timelines established in this order shall be treated as a performance failure subject to the Governor's review authority over executive branch agency leadership.

A determination that any provision of this Executive Order is invalid will not affect the enforceability of any other provision of this Executive Order. Rather, the invalid provision will be modified to the extent necessary so that it is enforceable.
______________________________
Tom Berhane
Governor, State of Minnesota
Signed January 4, 2027
______________________________
[Secretary of State]
Secretary of State, State of Minnesota
Filed According to Law
This Is
Directive 11

Greater Minnesota built this state. It is past time this state built something back. Twenty years of nothing ends on Day One. This is how.

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