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Jake Schwitzer

@jakeschwitzer.bsky.social
880 followers 356 following 565 posts

Executive Director @northstarpolicy.org Making Minnesota work for working people.

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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 8h
Today we presented to the St. Paul City Council about affordability and the growing challenges for working Minnesotans as we see increased prices and stagnant wages under the current administration and what local government can do about it. Read our full report: northstarpolicy.org/working-minn...
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 10h
One bright spot: unions. In 2025, Minnesota workers won more union elections than in any year since 2001, and union members saw their wages rise while non-union wages fell. Read the full report: northstarpolicy.org/working-minnesota-2026
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 10h
Between 2023 and 2025, about 116,000 Minnesotans lost their health insurance. Family premiums saw their biggest jump in at least 12 years.
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North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 10h
After inflation, wages fell 1.4% in the first seven months of 2026. Meanwhile, the highest earners’ wages have grown seven times faster than wages for the lowest-paid workers.
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North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 10h
Minnesota’s unemployment rate has risen 41% since 2024, the second-largest increase in the country. In January, it rose above the national rate for the first time since 2007.
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North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 10h
Operation Metro Surge hit Minnesota especially hard. In the three months after it began, the state’s leisure and hospitality industry lost 5,100 jobs, the steepest drop of any state.
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North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 10h
Minnesota added just 4,500 jobs in 2025, the slowest growth outside a pandemic year since the Great Recession.
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 10h
Minnesota workers are losing ground under the Trump administration. Our new report, The State of Working Minnesota: 2026, is our annual check-up on jobs, wages, inequality, health coverage and the labor movement. The findings aren’t good.
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Hello I am the president of a country whose economy depends on consumer spending. My two major initiatives so far have been a sales tax on everything and then a war that sent all prices skyrocketing
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 13h
This is great news. I’m still very confused why the district’s framing continues to be about a financial problem. This plan wouldn’t have saved much money! They said it wasn’t about the budget! So why come back to that now?
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 13/10/2026
Boom www.startribune.com/minneapolis-...
startribune.com
Minneapolis leaders decide not to move forward with controversial school closures
The school board was slated to vote Nov. 10 on redrawing attendance boundaries and closing up to 16 schools. But the plan met fierce opposition from parents and teachers.
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
MPR News @mprnews.org · 14/10/2026
District 191, which stretches across Burnsville, Eagan and Savage, has lost 200 students since last year, which leaders attribute to Operation Metro Surge as well as a drop in birth rates. While that district's leaders said the drop hasn't affected their budget, not every district will be so lucky.
mprnews.org
Minnesota school districts say enrollment has fallen due to federal immigration enforcement
Several districts throughout the Twin Cities say Operation Metro Surge drove students and their families away. Many are facing enrollment drops and million-dollar deficits.
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Jason Bailey @jasondashbailey.com · 12/10/2026
Oh does it raise serious questions, dude? Is that what it does? Are the questions both serious AND raised? Wow he really got out the baseball bat for this one
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Tina Smith @smith.senate.gov · 12/10/2026
I’m outraged by this attack on Representative Omar. Trump and his DOJ have a bizarre obsession with tearing down Minnesota, our leaders and our communities. This latest action, even as voting has already started in Minnesota, is a transparent attempt to interfere in our elections.
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David Brauer @dbrauer.net · 12/10/2026
Stephen Miller wants to de-naturalize Ilhan Omar based on paperwork her father filled out when she was a child … www.foxnews.com/politics/ilh...
foxnews.com
Immigration enforcement officials search Ilhan Omar's home in pre-dawn raid
Rep. Ilhan Omar's home was the subject of a pre-dawn HSI raid.
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David Brauer @dbrauer.net · 08/10/2026
I wonder how nice Lisa Demuth & Michele Tafoya feel about the president inciting a pogrom on my neighbors. Will the Strib political desk look up from its civility politics and push them, noting Demuth effectively invited ICE here before or will they just accept an email from Tafoya’s human shields?
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Steve Rattner @steverattner.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Corporate profits and tax revenues grew together until the Trump tax cuts. Now corporate profits are at an all-time high while tax receipts are at their lowest since 2021.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Really paints a picture.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Imagine how much larger that impact would be if we allowed them to collectively bargain, or classified them as employees rather than independent contractors. Instead, we’re at risk of losing much of this impact through AVs.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
As policy makers consider allowing autonomous vehicles to operate, one factor they need to consider is what would be lost to our economy. Rideshare drivers currently contribute AT LEAST $561M to Minnesota’s economy.
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Greg Greene (he/him/his) @greene.haus · 05/10/2026
It's what explains why Musk runs roughshod over environmental or consumer-safety laws, and Meta thumbs its nose at corporate-tax laws: experience has taught them to expect no punishment. It's elite impunity in practice: when you're a star, they let you do it.
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UC Berkeley Labor Center @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
“...there’s much more to be done to build out a robust set of worker technology rights for the 21st-century labor market, but California’s unions have put the first big stake in the ground.” --Annette Bernhardt, Senior Tech Policy Advisor at the UC Berkeley Labor Center
bloodinthemachine.com
California just passed the strongest AI labor laws in the US
Finally, some good news
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I joined WCCO Radio to discuss the latest round of unsustainable health insurance premium increases. 20% increases in premiums every year are gobbling up our paychecks, harming every corner of the economy. We can’t keep treating health care as a marketplace. www.audacy.com/wccoradio/ne...
audacy.com
Another year of rising healthcare premiums has policy experts calling for change
This week's news of another year of rising healthcare premiums for has policy experts calling for change. Executive Director of the nonprofit Northstar Policy Action, Jake Schwitzer, says the country'...
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
Sarah Lazare @sarahlazare.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
In Minnesota right now, there is a sweeping push to close public schools in Minneapolis, enforce "budget cuts" on the University of Minnesota, and consolidate hospitals, leading to reduced services. It's daunting, but workers are fighting back.
workdaymagazine.org
“A Failure in Vision”: Minneapolis Educators Rally Against Proposed School Closures - Workday Magazine
The Minneapolis Public Schools district has proposed closing more than a dozen schools next year to increase enrollment. Union educators and community members are demanding schools stay open.
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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
They're holding up a major escalation in Iran and a crackdown on abortion until after the midterms to limit political damage. To the extent that the last two years have been a right-wing smash-and-grab operation, the next two will be worse.
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 01/10/2026
The state has real tools to bring down costs: tougher rate review, universal primary care, and cracking down on consolidation and private equity in health care, but it requires the political will to do so. Read more: northstarpolicy.org/soaring-premiums
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North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 01/10/2026
And it's about to get worse. Historic Medicaid cuts, passed to pay for tax breaks for billionaires, start taking effect at the end of this year. Up to 180,000 Minnesotans could lose coverage, driving $1 billion in uncompensated care.
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North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 01/10/2026
This comes after 116,000 Minnesotans lost coverage in 2025, and some saw premiums jump by up to 250% after President Trump and congressional Republicans let enhanced federal subsidies expire.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Year after year, these cost increases are totally unsustainable. How many workers got a 20% raise this year? And the Medicaid cuts that kick in soon are just fuel to this fire.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Is that a lot?
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
KARE 11 @kare11.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Mesabi East Schools is reporting spending an extra $54,000 on fuel if prices stay this high.
kare11.com
Diesel prices hit rural Minnesota school district budgets hard
Mesabi East Schools is reporting spending an extra $54,000 on fuel if prices stay this high.
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Congressman Greg Casar @repcasar.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
ICE has a bigger budget than the Marine Corps & still conned Congress out of $20M more for bodycams. Swore every agent would wear one by August. It’s September and ICE shot an Austinite in the back. They say there was no camera. They’re liars with masks and a blank check from Trump.
theatlantic.com
The ICE Officer in Austin Wasn’t Wearing a Body Cam
The officer who shot a Venezuelan man was hired last year from another federal law-enforcement agency.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Yesterday’s conference was equal parts heavy and inspiring. Our federal government harmed every angle of daily life in Minnesota. We’re going to continue our work alongside all these researchers to document those harms and advocate for justice and repair.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
One reason why this hits particularly hard is that after everything we've been through this year, I've never been prouder to be a Minnesotan. Love it or leave it Michele.
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
North Star Policy Action @northstarpolicy.org · 22/09/2026
Our RD on how Operation Metro surge impacted the Minnesota economy and hurt working Minnesotans. You can read our latest report here: northstarpolicy.org/leisure-and-...
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I’m bouncing around between the break out groups at our conference on federal attacks on Minnesota. Every time I enter a room there’s a new, astounding research finding. Here, data showing HUGE drops in health care visits among Hispanic children. My rage boils anew.
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 22/09/2026
After lunch from Burrito Mercado... What Do Frontline Organizations Need From Researchers Now? Community Perspectives on Research & Partnership Ryan Perez of Monarca Movement May yer Thao of Hmong American Partnership Osman Ahmed of Talo Table Chair Asha Warsame of Met Council
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Important tempering of enthusiasm from report author Yusra Murad: this was a $20M wealth transfer from communities to landlords, many of whom turned around and opposed eviction moratoriums and other policies to protect community.
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 22/09/2026
Tight match pre-Surge Estimates suggest surge caused crime to rise (p=0.063)
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Direct quotes from clients of Center of Victims of Torture. This is what our federal government did to us.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Turns out treating our schools as community hubs has ENORMOUS benefits during crisis. Seems relevant to current MPS debates.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This is absolute hero stuff and I love my neighbors so much for it.
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Reposted by Jake Schwitzer
Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 22/09/2026
City of Minneapolis presenting an impact assessment. Our responsibility as emergency managers is to understand the impact of emergencies on our community.
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 22/09/2026
These were attempts by the federal government to impose docility on the people. But Minnesotans overcame their fear and stood up.
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 22/09/2026
Steve Miller said protestors need to be vanquished with any force necessary. This is important evidence. We conclude some actions of DHS constituted crimes against humanity that will have intergenerational consequences here. It is essential to make clear that this was systematic and intentional
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 22/09/2026
Karima Bennoune of the UMinnesota Human Rights Law Center and UMichigan Law School. Did federal agents commit crimes against humanity against Minnesotans?
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daviss @daviss.org · 22/09/2026
I think quite often about how chaotic this time was in Minneapolis to be in a vehicle, regardless of who you were or where you were going. Between seeing ICE do stuff like this and the absolutely insane driving through our neighborhoods with no regard for safety or traffic laws was insane.
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Dave Kamper @dskamper.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Huge finding. ICE activity was NOT correlated with immigrant density. It WAS correlated with Black and brown neighborhoods. Shocked, shocked.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Great thread here to follow along on today’s conference.
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Jake Schwitzer @jakeschwitzer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Ivory tower type rage
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