Vice President Kamala Harris will visit St. Cloud on Thursday, part of a Biden administration series of events around the country promoting the president's economic agenda in the days after the State of the Union address.
Harris' visit to St. Cloud is meant to highlight the connection between investments in electric vehicles and good jobs, according to the White House. President Joe Biden and other cabinet members will be traveling to more than 20 states following Biden's scheduled address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, as they try to connect policies like the bipartisan infrastructure law to job growth and rising wages.
In an emailed statement, Michael Lonergan, spokesman for the Minnesota Republican Party, said he did not think the Biden administration's policies were improving economic conditions: "While the vice president takes a victory lap, inflation has outpaced wage growth for 21 straight months and everyday Minnesotans are still struggling to make ends meet."
The White House has yet to announce a time or location for Harris' visit but has said she will focus on electric vehicles.
St. Cloud hosted an electric vehicle expo last summer and has ambitious environmental goals as a city. Mayor Dave Kleis has said he wants the city to be carbon-neutral before 2030, after the city achieved carbon-neutrality for municipal buildings in 2020.
The city's wastewater treatment plant is using waste from local food and beer manufacturers to create energy and fertilizer, and last year the wastewater facility was set to become the first in the world to produce hydrogen fuel and oxygen on-site. The city is also home to the bus manufacturer New Flyer.
Minnesota has been trying to access money under the bipartisan infrastructure law that would pay for 85 electric-vehicle charging stations including 14 on Interstates 94 and 35, but in the last legislative session supporters struggled to come up with the required matching funds.
Harris last visited Minnesota in October to campaign for Democrats on abortion rights, and she spoke at a fundraiser for Gov. Tim Walz.
Biden will visit the Madison, Wis., area on Wednesday. Harris will be visiting Atlanta that day before heading to St. Cloud on Thursday.
Biden and Harris were in Philadelphia on Friday, visiting a water treatment plant and speaking to a meeting of the Democratic National Committee.
