# GroundBreak Coalition *Regional coalition of more than 40 partners, convened by McKnight, described as assembling a regional credit policy.* The **GroundBreak Coalition** is a regional coalition that the project's validated master, *[[How Minnesota Got Here]]*, describes as convened by McKnight and made up of "over 40 partners mobilizing $5.4 billion".[^1] The master says the coalition "assembles a regional credit policy outside any legislature, rate commission, or election".[^1] The coalition publishes its own description of itself on its website.[^2] The master discusses the coalition in the same passage as the [[Minneapolis Foundation]]. That passage records the Foundation's co-administration of the [[Main Street Economic Revitalization appropriation]] with LISC, Meda, and [[Propel Nonprofits]]. It also records the Foundation's December 2023 role as an EPA [[Environmental justice]] grantmaker for Region 5.[^1] According to the master, the EPA terminated those funds in early 2025. The Foundation and two co-grantmakers sued in April 2025. On June 17, 2025, a federal judge in Maryland found the termination arbitrary and capricious and ordered $180 million restored.[^1] The record in the pack does not establish the coalition's membership beyond its partner count. It also does not establish the coalition's governance, its funding sources, its date of formation, or whether any public body has reviewed its credit policy.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - The master identifies McKnight as the convener of the coalition.[^1] ### What - The master describes the coalition's work as the assembly of a regional credit policy.[^1] - The pack lists the coalition's *About* page as the coalition's own self-description, but it does not carry that page's text. The record therefore does not allow the stated purpose to be set beside documented outputs.[^2] ### How - According to the master, the coalition assembles this policy outside any [[Legislature]], rate commission, or election.[^1] ### How much - The master describes the coalition as mobilizing $5.4 billion. It does not state over what period or from which sources.[^1] ### How many - The master gives the coalition's size as more than 40 partners.[^1] ## Federal actions against the State On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued Office of Public Affairs release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. The release records that Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^3] The complaint is [[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]] (D. Minn., filed Jan. 14, 2026). It is brought under [[Title VII]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. It cites [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]] eight times, including the requirement in subdivision 3(c) that an agency explain the reason for hiring a non-affirmative candidate.[^4] The pack does not connect the GroundBreak Coalition to the case. The [[Iraq Liberation Act]] of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-338) states a policy of supporting efforts to remove "the regime headed by Saddam Hussein."[^5] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages (*How Minnesota Got Here*, note 40) finds [[Minnesota]] the only U.S. state so described.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: How Minnesota Got Here project, *How Minnesota Got Here* (merged master, footnoted; validated) — establishes McKnight as convener of the GroundBreak Coalition, "over 40 partners mobilizing $5.4 billion", and the coalition's assembly of a regional credit policy outside any legislature, rate commission, or election. It also covers the Minneapolis Foundation's Main Street co-administration, its EPA Region 5 grantmaker role, and the June 17, 2025 order restoring $180 million, along with the project's catalogue finding on "regime" usages (note 40). No URL is carried in the pack. [^2]: GroundBreak Coalition, *About* (undated; self-published) — the coalition's own self-description, listed in the pack as a self-published source. https://groundbreakcoalition.org/about/ [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — establishes the title of the release and the Attorney General's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Complaint, United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn. filed Jan. 14, 2026) — establishes the Title VII basis and the complaint's eight citations of Minn. Stat. § 43A.191, including subd. 3(c). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^5]: U.S. Congress, *Iraq Liberation Act of 1998*, Pub. L. 105-338 (1998) — establishes the statutory phrase "the regime headed by Saddam Hussein." https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-105publ338/pdf/PLAW-105publ338.pdf