After learning that the legislature had appropriated only $10,000 to Governor-elect Tim Pawlenty’s transition office in 2003, Hatch voluntarily transferred $250,000 of his budget to help fund the transition. In his inaugural address in 2002, Hatch called for the state not to forget that "there are children who don’t always have enough to eat and too many families without health insurance." An editorial noted of his inaugural remarks that "Since Sen. Paul Wellstone’s death, Hatch is one of the few voices speaking out on behalf of those who have not shared in the nation’s prosperity."