Just one day after dropping his bid for reelection, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said the state's paid family leave program is one of the most transformational bills the state has ever passed.

"Paid family leave was launched on time, under budget, and with full functionality," Walz said.

Roughly 3,500 Minnesotans have already taken advantage of the program, which allows most employees partial pay for medical reasons, to bond with a newborn, or take time to care for a loved one. It's capped at 20 weeks a year, and is funded by a payroll tax increase split between employers and employees.

"That means thousands of Minnesotans — whether it's to care for children, take care of medical issues, care for a loved one — aren't going to have to make heartbreaking choices," Walz said.

Kevin Brown, a small business owner who runs Smart Set, Inc., said one of the things the program does well is "level the playing field between small businesses and large businesses." He said he's tried to hire employees who instead go to bigger corporations because of the benefits they offer.

Fraud has been a concern for many, even before it was in the national spotlight.

"It is our strong hope that the internal controls of this program are robust and followed because we don't want to be back here a year from now having a fraud hearing," said state Rep. Kristin Robbins, who is running for governor in 2026.

Walz on Tuesday said he's confident that won't happen.

"There's a lot of safeguards in place and we'll continue to deliver that," he said.

Since the state opened applications, almost 18,000 Minnesotans have applied. Out of those reviewed so far, nearly 1,500 have been denied.