At Issue: March 21 — One-on-one with Gov. Walz, budget talks continue

Minnesota lawmakers have less than two months to pass a budget in the regular legislative session. Gov. Tim Walz revealed a budget plan this week that takes into account the latest forecast, which projects a $1.6 billion surplus.

Walz, along with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm are all in quarantine after they were exposed to a staff member who tested positive for COVID-19. Still, Walz joined "At Issue" for a remote one-on-one interview in which he outlines the next steps in Minnesota’s vaccine rollout and defends his proposed tax increases focused on corporations and top-earning individuals.

"These are folks that during the pandemic about 90% of all of the wealth that was gained went to a very small percentage," the DFL governor said. "I want to just be clear: 99.3% of Minnesotans are going to receive some sort of tax cut in this."

Meanwhile, the field for the GOP gubernatorial primary is slowly taking shape. Former state Sen. Scott Jensen — who gained notoriety for his outspoken and sometimes controversial views on the pandemic — is now the second Republican to announce his campaign.