Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz reviews his notes before speaking about the state’s budget on Dec. 6, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP, file

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is now the second name on Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential ticket.

A schoolteacher turned politician, Walz was first elected to public office in 2006, when he flipped Minnesota’s rural 1st Congressional District. He won reelection five times before becoming Minnesota governor in 2019.

Here’s a brief overview of some policies he has supported during his nearly two decades in public office.

CLIMATE

Minnesota must move to 100% clean energy by 2040, as required by a bill the Democratic governor signed in February 2023. He campaigned on the issue twice.

In July, the Environmental Protection Agency awarded Minnesota a $200 million grant to reduce emissions by restoring peatland, supporting electric-powered vehicles and reducing food waste. The EPA in its announcement thanked Walz “for his leadership and innovative plans.”

Walz has long advocated for climate reform and is often praised for being well spoken on the issue.

Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous wrote Tuesday that he was glad to see Walz join the Democratic ticket: “He has worked to protect clean air and water, grow our clean energy economy, and see to it that we do all we can to avoid the very worst of the climate crisis.”

PUBLIC SAFETY

Walz helped pass police reform legislation two months after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing wave of global protests over racial inequality. Walz signed the Minnesota Police Accountability Act, which bans police chokeholds and neck restraints along with warrior-style training for officers, while also increasing data collection of fatal police incidents.

During the height of the COVID pandemic, Walz quickly created a mask mandate and a hotline to report people who weren’t social distancing. That infuriated critics and prompted lawsuits claiming he was overstepping.

The issue of whether Walz had the authority to institute a mask mandate and other pandemic protections has been batted around in the state’s appeals court and the Minnesota Supreme Court.

GUN CONTROL

Walz, who once carried an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, now supports calls for stricter gun control.

Walz has said that the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, changed his stance on guns after his daughter urged him to take action. When he ran for governor that year, Walz said he donated all the NRA money he had ever received to charity and publicly supported background checks, The Washington Post reported.

In May 2023, he signed a bill that included universal background checks and a red flag law – two gun control measures opposed by the NRA.

EDUCATION

The former teacher and high school football coach signed a bill in March 2023 that provides free school breakfast and lunch for all Minnesota children in participating schools. Minnesota was the fourth state to offer universal free school meals, the Associated Press reported.

Walz also signed a bill creating a program called North Star Promise that covers the state college tuition of eligible families making less than $80,000 of adjusted gross income.

IMMIGRATION

Walz has said he supports a pathway to citizenship for “Dreamers,” or undocumented immigrants who are brought to the United States as children.

In March 2023, Walz signed a bill that allows any eligible person, regardless of immigration status, to receive a Minnesota driver’s license. Critics lambasted the law, but proponents told the Star Tribune newspaper that it greatly helped the state’s estimated 80,000 undocumented immigrants, who struggled to access public resources without a license. Minneapolis is home to one of the largest communities of Somali immigrants in the world.

MARIJUANA

In May 2023, Walz signed a bill that legalized recreational marijuana for adults, taxing it at 10%, and pushed for the expungement or resentencing of cannabis crimes.

ABORTION AND GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Walz signed a bill protecting abortion as a state law in January 2023, making the state a hub for the procedure in the Midwest. Harris visited a Planned Parenthood health center that provides abortions in March.

In April 2023, Walz signed a “trans refuge” bill that shields people seeking and providing gender-affirming care in the state. That same day, Walz also approved a bill banning conversion therapy.

“We’re putting up a firewall to ensure Minnesotans have the freedom to make their own health care decisions,” Walz said.