Senator Steve Drazkowski announces he will not seek re-election in 2026

ST. PAUL, MN – Senator Steve Drazkowski (R–Mazeppa) today announced he will not seek re-election to the Minnesota Senate. The 2026 session will mark the end of his nearly two-decade legislative career in the Minnesota House of Representatives and Senate. Senator Drazkowski represents Senate District 20, which includes Wabasha and Goodhue Counties and parts of Olmsted, Winona, and Dakota Counties. He served in the Minnesota House from 2007 to 2023.

“Serving the people of southeastern Minnesota in the House of Representatives and Senate has been a great honor,” said Senator Drazkowski. "I have fought to secure our constitutional freedoms, promote fiscal responsibility, improve economic opportunity for families and small businesses, strengthen Minnesota’s agricultural and rural economies, and advance policies that increase transparency and accountability in state government. Rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in government has been a central issue for me. It is gratifying to end my service when awareness of Minnesota’s fraud problem is high, and leaders are focused on finding solutions to stop it.”

“I am thankful for the trust placed in me by my constituents, for the collaboration of many colleagues and staff over the years, and for the opportunity to help better our state,” he concluded.

First elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in a special election in 2007, Drazkowski was re-elected eight times before winning election to the Minnesota Senate for District 20 in 2022. He served on many key committees dealing with taxes, transportation, agriculture, education, natural resources, and state and local government operations, including the subcommittee overseeing state workers' labor contracts. He has a 100% record defending life and the right to keep and bear arms and has been recognized for leadership in budget discipline and public accountability.

Senator Drazkowski’s current term will end in January 2027, and he will continue to serve his constituents through the remainder of the 2025–2026 biennium.

Paid Family Leave starts January 1

On January 1, 2026, Minnesota’s new statewide Paid Family and Medical Leave program and updated earned sick and safe time rules begin reshaping the employer–employee relationship. It’s a sweeping new mandate with serious economic and administrative costs. I didn’t support the bill, but as it is now the law, employers, large and small, and employees need to understand the effects it will have. You may have already heard the program's benefits from the employee side, such as new parents getting more time to bond with their babies or someone taking paid time off to care for a sick relative. But there is always a cost to a program like this, and in this case, the costs are borne by the employer, the employee, and the taxpayer.

What Starts January 1, 2026?

Beginning in 2026, most Minnesota workers will be entitled to up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave and 12 weeks of paid family leave, capped at 20 weeks per benefit year, funded through a new state-run insurance-style program. Newly enacted payroll taxes will finance the system, with employers either buying into the state plan or securing an approved “equivalent” private plan, and employees can start applying for benefits. At the same time, the state’s Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) statute adds new opportunities to accrue sick time, while preserving broad coverage and ongoing accrual mandates that apply to most employers.

Putting a large, new public benefits program on top of existing leave policies amounts to a de facto payroll tax increase, hitting smaller employers and local governments that operate on thin margins. Many organizations already provide some mix of PTO, parental leave, and short-term disability. They will now have to redesign those programs, coordinate with the state system, and pay more for roughly the same or even reduced flexibility.

Our office has already begun to hear from employees who are learning that their employers will no longer be able to offer them the same customized leave options because those options are incompatible with the new laws.

Employers also worry about staffing and scheduling when employees can be out for up to 20 weeks with job protection, especially in public safety, health care, and other 24/7 businesses and critical public services.

In addition to premium costs, the law imposes strict notice, recordkeeping, documentation, and coordination obligations that will increase bookkeeping and legal services overhead. The controls written into this program are very weak, and I expect that this program will become fraught with fraud as people race to get paid not to work.

I expect there will be many complaints about the unintended negative consequences of this law, and changes will be proposed in the next session. I will support changes that give flexibility back to employers and employees to make their own arrangements in challenging circumstances and that deny the opportunity for abuse of this program. I also have concerns about whether the program will remain solvent, as a similar program in Washington State was not self-sustaining and required increased funding. We can’t afford a program that will require higher levels of funding when we already have a forecasted deficit.

To learn more about how this program will work and what your rights and responsibilities are as an employer or employee, you can go to the website. https://pl.mn.gov/

Senator Steve Drazkowski announces he will not seek re-election in 2026

Paid Family Leave starts January 1

Beginning Farmer Tax Credit applications open January 1