Minnesota renames community solar program after slain Speaker Melissa Hortman
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Photo: Glen Stubbe/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images
Minnesota's Community Solar Garden Program is now named for slain former House Speaker Melissa Hortman.
The big picture: Hortman, who was shot and killed along with her husband in what authorities have called a politically motivated attack in June, has been hailed as one of the most consequential speakers in modern history.
- Under her leadership, DFL majorities in both chambers passed a long list of progressive policy priorities, ranging from paid family leave to universal school meals.
But she considered the 2013 creation of the solar program, which she carried as an energy committee chair, one of her top personal political achievements: It was the only accomplishment beyond her title listed in her X profile.
Catch up fast: The program allows Minnesotans who can't install solar panels on their homes to tap into renewable energy and receive a credit on their electricity bills.
Zoom in: Gov. Tim Walz signed the bill Tuesday morning, telling reporters that he was "incredibly grateful" that lawmakers at the divided Legislature could come together to quickly pass the legislation with broad bipartisan support.
Zoom out: The law is one of several proposals to honor Hortman under consideration at the Capitol this year.
- Others would rename Highway 610 and the State Office Building and create a memorial garden and statue near the Capitol in her honor.
Another bill would earmark state funds for the Hortman Heroes Fund, which the service dog training nonprofit Helping Paws established in the wake of the attack.
- The Hortmans' golden retriever, Gilbert, who was also killed in the attack, first joined the family as a service dog in training.
The bottom line: The couple's daughter Sophie Hortman recently told the Star Tribune that the policies and places at the center of the tributes "really reflect what was important to my parents and how they moved through the world."