# Minnesota State Planning Agency *Minnesota state agency for statewide strategic planning, created in 1965 and abolished in 2003.* The **Minnesota State Planning Agency** was a [[Minnesota]] state agency for statewide strategic planning. The project's companion study *The Instrument No One Will Name* (June 18, 2026) gives its chronology as follows:[^1] - It was created in 1965 under Governor Rolvaag. - It was rebranded in 1991 under Governor [[Arne Carlson]] as the [[Office of Strategic and Long Range Planning]].[^2] - It was abolished under Governor Pawlenty in 2003. - After a sixteen-year gap, the function was revived "before Walz rebuilt it in 2019."[^1] That chronology has not been raised to primary grade. The companion's own note calls it "Dossier-sourced; pull the 1965/1991 session laws and the 2003 abolition for documented-proof grade," and labels the passage a structural reading.[^2] The record assembled here contains no session law, executive order or Revisor page for the agency's creation, rebranding, abolition or rebuilding, so each date is stated at year precision and attributed. A *MinnPost* Cityscape column of September 2011 addressed Minnesota's lack of a state planning agency during the gap years.[^3] The companion uses the agency's history as a measure of bipartisan conduct. It describes statewide strategic planning as a function "one both parties spent four decades unable to live with."[^1] It sets that history beside [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]], the agency affirmative-action statute. Of that statute's thirteen recorded amendments, seven were signed by the two Republican governors who rebranded and abolished the planning agency: three by Carlson and four by Pawlenty. None of the thirteen was a repeal.[^4] That statute is now the subject of a pending federal suit, [[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]].[^5] ## History ### Creation and abolition attempts The companion dates the agency's creation to 1965 under Governor Rolvaag.[^1] It states that the agency "survived near-annual abolition attempts" in the decades that followed.[^1] The companion also records that the agency "was accused of being weaponized for intelligence on political opponents under Perpich." Rudy Perpich was a Democrat.[^1] [^4] The record reports this as an accusation. It does not identify who made it, when, or in what forum, and it does not establish the conduct alleged.[^2] ### Rebranding and abolition According to the companion, Governor Carlson, a Republican, rebranded the agency in 1991 as the Office of Strategic and Long Range Planning.[^2] [^4] Governor Pawlenty, also a Republican, abolished it outright in 2003.[^1] [^4] The record does not include the session laws or orders that carried out either action. It therefore does not establish:[^2] - the legal instrument used in each case; - the agency's budget or staffing at any point; - the vote on any abolition measure. ### Gap and 2019 rebuilding The companion counts sixteen years between the 2003 abolition and 2019, when "Walz rebuilt it."[^1] The September 2011 *MinnPost* column falls within that gap and addressed the absence of a state planning agency.[^3] The record does not establish the following for 2019:[^2] - the instrument by which the function was rebuilt; - the name of the rebuilt body; - whether that body rests on statute or on an executive order. ## Planning machinery and the affirmative-action statute The companion contrasts the planning function with the statute beneath the state's equity machinery. It describes the equity machinery as "the least legally entrenched," such that "a single successor's order could dissolve it." By contrast, §43A.191 "is the deeply entrenched one now in federal court."[^1] The companion offers two readings of that design and decides between neither:[^1] - For the defense, it is "prudent design after a history of abolition." - For the prosecution, it is accountability machinery built "where no statute, and no future legislature, can reach it." The statute's lineage, as the companion gives it, runs as follows:[^4] - The chapter-43A vessel, [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.19]], was enacted in 1981 under Governor Quie, a Republican. - The operative §43A.191 entered as a 1985 budget rider under Governor Perpich, a Democrat. - The statute's history line shows thirteen amendments and no repeal. - Seven of the amendments were signed by Republican governors and six by Democratic ones. The governors who rebranded and abolished the planning agency are therefore also among those who amended and kept the affirmative-action statute.[^4] ### The federal action On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] sued the State in the District of Minnesota. The case is *United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273, brought under [[Title VII]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].[^5] - **Statutory predicate.** The complaint cites §43A.191 eight times. Among the citations is subdivision 3(c)'s requirement that an agency explain the reason for hiring a non-affirmative candidate.[^5] - **Policy predicate.** The complaint alleges that the Minnesota DHS Hiring/[[Pre-Hire Justification policy]] violates §§703(a)(1) and (a)(2). The signed agency policy is filed as the operative Exhibit B.[^6] - **Federal context.** The suit was filed after [[Executive Order 11246]] was revoked by EO 14173 on January 21, 2025.[^6] The Department's announcement was release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. In it, Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^7] The case is before a three-judge district court:[^6] - Circuit Judge [[Raymond W. Gruender]]; - Chief Judge [[Patrick J. Schiltz]]; - Judge [[D. Price Marshall Jr.]] The State's response was due February 27, 2026. As of June 18, 2026, the case was ongoing.[^6] The complaint's allegations have not been adjudicated. The United States has used "regime" in statute for governments it opposes. The [[Iraq Liberation Act]] of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-338) states a policy of supporting efforts to remove "the regime headed by Saddam Hussein."[^8] 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. That finding is the project's own and has not been independently established.[^8] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Governor Rolvaag is named in connection with the 1965 creation.[^1] - Governor Perpich is named in connection with the accusation of intelligence-gathering on political opponents.[^1] - Governor Carlson is named as the governor who rebranded the agency in 1991.[^2] - Governor Pawlenty is named as the governor who abolished it in 2003.[^1] - Governor Walz is named as the governor who rebuilt the function in 2019.[^1] ### What - The record gives the agency's function as statewide strategic planning.[^1] ### When - Created in 1965.[^1] - Rebranded as the Office of Strategic and Long Range Planning in 1991.[^2] - Abolished in 2003.[^1] - Function rebuilt in 2019.[^1] ### Why - The companion describes statewide strategic planning as a function both parties "spent four decades unable to live with."[^1] ### How - The companion states that the agency survived near-annual attempts to abolish it before its 2003 abolition.[^1] ### How many - The companion counts a sixteen-year gap between the 2003 abolition and the 2019 rebuilding.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: How Minnesota Got Here project, *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, June 18, 2026), passage on the planning function — states the 1965 creation under Rolvaag, the near-annual abolition attempts, the accusation under Perpich, the 1991 rebranding, the 2003 abolition, the sixteen-year gap to 2019, and the contrast with §43A.191. Validated corpus document; no URL in the record. [^2]: How Minnesota Got Here project, *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, June 18, 2026), note 31, "The 58-year planning spine" — names the rebranded Office of Strategic and Long Range Planning (Carlson, 1991); marks the chronology as dossier-sourced and as a structural reading pending the 1965/1991 session laws and the 2003 abolition. No URL in the record. [^3]: *MinnPost*, *Tough economic times and no state planning agency* (Cityscape, September 2011) — contemporaneous news piece on Minnesota's lack of a state planning agency. https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2011/09/tough-economic-times-and-no-state-planning-agency/ [^4]: How Minnesota Got Here project, *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, June 18, 2026), §3 — §43A.19 enacted 1981 under Quie (R); §43A.191 entered as a 1985 budget rider under Perpich (D); thirteen amendments, no repeal; seven signed by Republican governors (three Carlson, four Pawlenty). No URL in the record. [^5]: United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Complaint, United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn., filed Jan. 14, 2026) — Title VII action; cites Minn. Stat. § 43A.191 eight times, including subd. 3(c). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^6]: How Minnesota Got Here project, *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, June 18, 2026), note 53 — §§703(a)(1), (a)(2) claims against the DHS Hiring/Pre-Hire Justification policy (Exhibit B); EO 11246 revoked by EO 14173 (Jan. 21, 2025); three-judge district court; State's response due Feb. 27, 2026; case ongoing as of June 18, 2026. No URL in the record. [^7]: United States 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) — announces the suit; Attorney General Bondi's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^8]: United States Congress, *Iraq Liberation Act of 1998*, Pub. L. 105-338 (Oct. 31, 1998) — states the policy of supporting efforts to remove "the regime headed by Saddam Hussein"; cited with the project's catalogue finding (*How Minnesota Got Here*, note 40). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-105publ338/pdf/PLAW-105publ338.pdf