IN THE NEWS
OCTOBER 1, 2024 - MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE
In Twin Cities suburbs, voters’ focus is on local issues
While national politicians are centering their campaigns around immigration and abortion rights, local candidates say voters are more concerned about less-abstract issues.
DFL Rep. Brad Tabke, running for re-election in Shakopee’s District 54A against Aaron Paul, a Republican and Bloomington police officer, said the top issue he hears about is education — specifically, the need for smaller class sizes and better pay for teachers and paraprofessionals.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 - WCCO RADIO
National Democrats put money into Minnesota state legislative races
The National Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is planning to invest in 13 competitive Minnesota Legislature races, a move that is somewhat unusual. The Committee is putting money behind 180 candidates nationwide.
WCCO Radio Political analyst Blois Olson says Democrats want to protect their trifecta in Minnesota. Over the last year, the state had a Democratic Governor in Tim Walz, along with Democrat control of both the state senate and state house.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 - AXIOS
Park Tavern crash raises questions about Minnesota DWI laws
State Rep. Brad Tabke (DFL-Shakopee) posted on social media that if re-elected in November, he will introduce bills “strengthening policies, consequences, and keeping dangerous drivers off our roads,” though he didn't have specific proposals yet.
"I don't think we treat [drunken driving] with a level of accountability that it needs right now," Tabke told Axios in an interview.
JUNE 28, 2024 - MINNESOTA REFORMER
The key 2024 races that will determine control of the Minnesota Legislature
Minnesota Democrats showed the nation last year just how powerful a trifecta can be — even when their majorities in both chambers are as small as the eye of a needle. They passed paid family leave, universal free school meals, a steeply progressive child tax credit, increased sales taxes for housing and gas taxes for transportation, codified abortion rights and ended public university tuition for families earning less than $85,000 per year.
It was the most consequential Legislature in half a century.
JUNE 26, 2024 - MINNPOST
MinnPost’s 2024 Minnesota House Races to Watch
The one thing that can be said for this race, this year, is that it is finally a straight, GOP vs. DFL, election. Former Shakopee Mayor Brad Tabke was the incumbent in 2018 who lost a three-person race in 2020 when a legal marijuana candidate — who may or may not have been someone meant to skim votes from the DFL — turned the seat over to Erik Mortensen. While there were three candidates in 2022 as well, Tabke prevailed.
APRIL 6, 2024 - SOUTHWEST NEWS MEDIA
Lawmakers present scholarship bill to help workforce shortages in Shakopee
In a bid to address critical workforce needs and foster economic growth in Shakopee, state Sen. Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake, along with Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, introduced legislation establishing a Shakopee Area Workforce Development Scholarships pilot program.
The initiative, if enacted, aims to establish a partnership between local employers, educational institutions, and the Shakopee Chamber Foundation to provide scholarships and incentives for students pursuing careers in high-demand fields across Scott County.
MAY 24, 2024 - MINNPOST
Nearly untying the sports betting political knot was a rare example of Minnesota bipartisanship
The key to the deal might have been the funding for horse racing as well as tribes that don’t benefit greatly from sports betting.
Finding a solution to that problem fell heavily on Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, who represents both Canterbury Park and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Mystic Lake Casino. The final agreement satisfied both tracks and tribes via new funds to distribute shares of the state’s sport betting tax revenue. Tabke called the tribal equalization fund “a very elegant” solution.
FEBRUARY 22, 2024 - STAR TRIBUNE
Metro Transit's first TRIP agents boarding light-rail trains Friday
With TRIP agents patrolling the rails, community service officers will transition to conducting fare inspections on rapid bus lines, Metro Transit said.
TRIP agents won't be a cure-all, said Rep. Brad Tabke, D-Shakopee, who pushed for transit funding included in a bill passed by the Legislature last year. But the agents are another step in making trains safer and bringing riders back.
JANUARY 24, 2024 - SOUTHWEST NEWS MEDIA
Tabke announces reelection campaign for House 54A seat
The DFL state representative said he is a proven bridge builder who passed 13 bipartisan bills into law in the previous legislative session.
“It would be an understatement to say that the work we have done in 2023 was historic,” said Tabke. “We have made generational investments for Shakopee and our state, which will have an immediate and profound impact on all of us.”
MARCH 15, 2023 - SOUTHWEST NEWS MEDIA
Tabke proposes minimum wage for non licensed school employees
Tabke said the intent of the legislation isn’t to force districts to make cuts in order to pay for the increases. He said the state would provide funding to school districts — standalone funding, separate from standard general education funding — to make sure there is enough to pay employees $25 an hour, or the minimum wage decided on by the state. If a district has leftover funds, Tabke said the district could decide how the funds are used, as long as it’s spent on support staff.
MARCH 13, 2024 - Minnesota Reformer
The gentleman from Scott County takes public transit to the Capitol
With TRIP agents patrolling the rails, community service officers will transition to conducting fare inspections on rapid bus lines, Metro Transit said.
TRIP agents won't be a cure-all, said Rep. Brad Tabke, D-Shakopee, who pushed for transit funding included in a bill passed by the Legislature last year. But the agents are another step in making trains safer and bringing riders back.
SEPTEMBER 10 2023 - KSTP-TV
State lawmaker plans to change $340M SWLRT budget deficit agreement
The Metropolitan Council has agreed to split that budget deficit cost 55-45 with Hennepin County. If the Met Council approves the deal Wednesday, it will pay $150 million and Hennepin County will kick in another $190 million.
But Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS he is not in favor of that negotiated deal. If the Met Council approves the agreement, he plans to introduce legislation that would change the 55-45 split so Hennepin County pays a higher share.
MARCH 2, 2023 - STAR TRIBUNE
Lawmakers call for cultural 'reset' on light-rail
"We have been struggling in the metro with transit safety for some time now," Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, said Thursday at a hearing of the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee.
Tabke, who co-authored the House bill, said "intensive intervention will reset the culture of the transit ride."
FEBRUARY 10, 2023 - MINNESOTA REFORMER
Lawmakers drafting bill that would put social workers on light-rail trains
Tabke is working to quickly pass legislation that would put social workers — or “ambassadors” — on the trains to help enforce rules and assist homeless people or people with mental health or addiction issues.
“The transit system is a magnet for folks in need,” Tabke said.