[Music] hello and welcome to wdse's Forum in the Northland with the candidates running for Minnesota State Senate District 7.

I'm Heidi Holton news director at kexe a National Public Radio affiliate in northern Minnesota this is our final night of live forums and I want to thank wdse for inviting me to be moderator Senate District 7 is a newly drawn District following the 2020 census and it's an open seat due to the death of Senator David tomasoni the district consists of a Southeastern portion of Itasca County a southern and western part of St Louis County including the cities of Hibbing and Virginia and the northern half of Aitkin County including McGregor the Seventh District includes the heart of the Mesabi Iron Range an area rich in mining lakes and recreational opportunities tonight we're going to find out more about the candidates in a one-hour Forum we welcome Republican candidate Rob Farnsworth school teacher from Hibbing and Democratic farmer labor Party candidate Ben dinucci he's a business owner and Itasca County Commissioner from nashwa welcome thank you both for being here tonight in tonight's form we're going to have a conversation not a strictly timed debate but I will make sure that each of the candidates have ample time to answer each question so we're going to begin by giving each of you the opportunity to introduce introduce yourself we'll start with Mr dinucci well thanks Heidi and thanks to everybody here at wdsc I'm Ben denucci I'm a fifth generation iron Ranger my family's lived in the city of Nashua for 115 years my grandfather's both worked at National steel as did my dad before he became a teacher I'm the son of retired Educators I am a volunteer firefighter a former mayor current Itasca County Commissioner and a small business owner I own two mom and pop Union Shop grocery stores and both of those stores were going to close I know how important these types of businesses are to our communities so I put together a team that kept the doors open lights on and we have about 30 people working between the two places in good paying union jobs I don't just talk about keeping communities thriving I know what it takes I've taken action I've done my part as a local business owner I know the challenges our businesses face and the resources they require have gained valuable experience the last eight years working in in local government first as the mayor of my hometown and now as a county commissioner I fought for good paying local jobs like those in the mining industry I've worked to pass a referendum to replace the oldest school in the state and for the fourth year in a row I got a zero percent Levy increase passed in Itasca County running for the state senate is a natural extension of of work I've already been doing but times are tough I talk to people every day who are struggling to put food on the table and put gas in their cars and it doesn't help when the corporations that our workers help to make Rich they don't come to the bargaining table I'm going to fight for a land swap to keep our minds open eliminate the Social Security taxes for our seniors and raise a taconite homestead credit we're losing a lot of institutional knowledge with the passing of David thomasoni now more than ever we need an experienced leader that can be a strong independent voice for us in Saint Paul I have the experience to hit the ground running as your next state senator Mr Farnsworth okay well thank you for the opportunity to come on the program today so a little bit about myself I uh I'm Rob Farnsworth and run for Minnesota State Senate in District Seven I grew up in Chisholm After High School I attended College in Hibbing for about a year before transferring to the University of St Thomas where I earned a double major in in history and social studies a little bit later I earned my master's degree from Minnesota state Mankato and special education I've been a teacher for a little over 20 years now with experience ranging from the suburban school district of Mounds View High School where I realized that I did not want to live in the Twin Cities so decided to move back up north got a job teaching with the Minnesota Department of Corrections at thistledoo Camp it's now called mcf toggle it was a juvenile correctional facility and then for the last 13 years I've been a teacher with the Hibbing School District a special education teacher I'm also a licensed real estate agent in Hibbing where I live with my wife Jamie and our four children and our Labrador Ginger um so so why am I running um when Jamie and I first got married we were living down in in Red Wing I transferred to the juvenile facility down there and uh when we decided to start a family we knew that we wanted to raise our family in the same area that we had grown up in uh so I transferred back up to thistle Jamie got a nursing job up north we packed up and and headed home and that was a little bit more than 15 years ago and now we're raising our children in the same area that we had grown up in and that's the reason I've been so active in politics and and why I'm running for state senate now I want to make sure that my four children have the same opportunity to live in the Northland and I want to make sure that the Northland is still the best place to raise a family how am I going to achieve that I'm going to start by fighting for our minds both taconite mines that have that have built America that built skylines across the country that helped us win two world wars and that that has caused us to thrive for the last 120 years and I'm also going to fight for that copper nickel mines the minds of the future that are going to help us to continue to thrive for the next hundred years uh in in Minnesota we're one of the highest Tech States so I'm going to work on reducing the cost of living in our state I'm going to start by attacking that tax on social security to make sure that our seniors are not paying taxes on their social security benefits and cutting taxes for middle and working class folks working on some property tax relief so that we can reduce the tax burden on our citizens and I and I also want to support our education system as you know that's probably not a surprise being a teacher but I want to make sure that our kids walk out of high school with a degree they can actually use and what I mean by that is that for the last 40 years our students have basically been told they need to prepare for for a four-year College in or university and we really have sort of abandoned the trades or work Readiness programs and I think we need to start doing a better job of preparing kids for what they're actually going to do because less than 40 percent of our kids will actually graduate from a four-year college and university so we're not doing a great job of preparing them for life I know we're going to talk about a lot of other issues so I look forward to getting into it all right and we'll take turns on who answers the questions so we're going to start first with you rob my first question both the Star Tribune and Min post have featured articles this week about elections on the Range this year and whether the range would finally turn red my question to you is what draws you to the party you're running under and under what circumstances would you stray from your party's platform well what what draws me to my party is that I agree with with probably 95 percent of of my party's platform you know whether it's support for mining whether it's reduced taxes whether it's reduced regulation all of the things that will help to support Folks up in the Northland I tend to agree with those things some of the areas that I don't necessarily agree with my party has unfortunately not been as supportive of unions as I would like and I didn't mention this in my introduction I've been in a union for almost 25 years starting when I was 17 years old pushing carts at Super One in the in the commercial food workers union and for a little over 20 years now in Education Minnesota I was also my local union president when I was teaching up at thistledoo and so that's something that I've been working on to try and sort of Open the Eyes of people within the Republican party to say hey we should be working with organized labor and in fact to that end I think it was in in 2018 in our local St Louis County rep Republican party we were able to get a plank in our local platform that was a plank that was supportive of organized labor so I'm working towards that um what would cause me to leave my party if they were to suddenly swap with Democrats and start wanting to defund the police and shut down our minds and raise taxes and and regulate everything from Saint Paul rather than allowing local control I guess that's probably what I would you know what would cause me to leave my party Ben for you you're the Democrat in this race why are you running as a Democrat and under what circumstances would you stray from your party's platform I'm running as a Democrat because I want to support working people I'm proud to have the endorsements of I think 22 different labor unions I come from a union household myself and you know I would not have the good life I am living today the ability to further my education if it if it weren't for the the good paying jobs that that my parents had as as Union Educators I'm proud to own a couple of Union grocery stores like I said and good paying union jobs keep our communities vibrant and and and make make really make them go um you know as far as I want to make be clear that I'm not running to um I'm running first and foremost to represent the people of the area I'm happy to work with the party that hasn't endorsed me but it's a big tent and there are issues that certainly we don't all disagree on or we don't all agree on and there are disagreements from time to time I'm a pro-mining candidate um I have the support of the United Steel Workers I've been a champion for Paulie met and I support the twin Metals project as as well I'm proud to say that I have the support of my local chief of chief of police I feel that we need to fund law enforcement I'm a I'm a first responder I see the the good work they do each time I put on my volunteer firefighter uniform and and I'm on scene working with them in that in that capacity we need to support our local law enforcement and and so there are there are things that um I do do not disagree that I do not agree with and certainly I've had the the experience working in a non-partisan office as a as a county commissioner to work with everybody and I've been able to build coalitions so I think I have the ability to reach across the aisle and and certainly work with Republicans in the state legislature we'll move on to the next question and then you get this one first the Associated Press reported today that act College admission test this year hit their lowest point in more than 30 years evidence of the learning disruption of the global pandemic how will you support education as the next senator for district seven I I believe that a zip code shouldn't determine the quality of education and I want to put our students first you know with the Surplus we have a once in a generation opportunity to fund education we need to be able to support our our teachers and make sure that we are giving our Learners all of the learning opportunities that that they so rightfully deserve we need to lower the teacher student ratio in our in our in our classrooms and be able to provide Mental Health Resources and and more counselors we have some of the oldest schools in the state in in northern Minnesota in the district so investing in the infrastructure of our of our classrooms is also very important we know that outcomes are greater when learning is taught in modern facilities we can do all of this without raising property taxes Rob for you in terms of how you would support education as the next senator for this District yeah so we have seen particularly since the shutdown that student performance has has has decreased um dramatically I was you know as I said I've been a special ed teacher in the Hibbing school district and I actually have been for the last 10 years the special education evaluator which means that I test kids to determine if they qualify for for special education services and and anecdotally of course this isn't based on any any hard data that I've received but anecdotally I can tell the difference in the kids that I tested in 2019 to the kids that I tested um you know in 2020 2021 you know last year um and so I think the important thing that we have to keep in mind is the number one indicator of Student Success we can talk about you know classroom size we can talk about modern buildings or technology the number one indicator according to all research of Student Success is attendance I know huge surprise the kids that actually shows up to school and they do well so we need to work to make sure that kids are actually in school and of course the government shutdown down and all of that didn't help but we have to have kids in school I agree that you know we have this Surplus and and kids really have suffered the most through this lockdown and so we need to use the Surplus to pay for things like mental health support uh intervention Specialists and what intervention Specialists are are people that provide additional instruction to students um beyond what they're what they're getting in the regular classroom and of course that that requires funding and and I think we need to get creative you know one example we always make fun of the state of Mississippi here in Minnesota and we're like well you know we might be getting worse but we're not as bad as Mississippi they're test scores for students of color have actually surpassed those of students in Minnesota and I you know I think we could look at okay what are they doing to improve their test scores and one of the things that that they're doing is if students aren't meeting certain proficiency by third grade there's mandatory uh re-enrollment in third grade and I'm not suggesting that we definitely should do it but I think everything should be on the table for our kids you know every every possible solution should be on the table to help them you know make up the get you know lot increase their gains and and make up further losses well let's move on we've already mentioned it and I think it'll be a big part of our conversation throughout the night um is mining so I'm curious Rob for you first what's the future look like for mining on the Iron Range I think I think the future of mining on the Iron Range is extremely bright we have from from the possibility of twin Metals when um when a republican is elected president again and they can get their leases back or when the when their lawsuit gets their leases back from Twin metals to polymet down to tamarack I was just down at the Talon Meadows presentation yesterday they're looking at the possibility of creating 300 jobs and then you know hundreds more spin-off jobs uh those are all jobs that are going to bring bring money and bring people and bring income to our area we also we also have I mean we still have a hundred years of of taconite mining you know between the ore that uh that's locked up over with the masabi metallics lawsuit you know that should be you know we we have to for one thing we have to stop trusting these Bad actors who who aren't paying their bills um bankrupting our our contractors uh and get get that land to a company that's going to put into profitable use but once we're able to do that then we can also focus on some some more value-added products like a dri plant um and and but I think you know we have a lot of challenges for instance the regulatory burden so Cleveland Cliffs wanted to open a dri plant here in Minnesota over I think it was at the SR site in nashwauk and it's up and running now and and according to them they would still be in permitting in Minnesota so they were able to build it in Ohio in less time than they would have even got the permits in Minnesota and they're doing it you know just as cleanly as we would but they they have a much faster process so I think the future of mining is bright but we need to get the go government out of the way what's a dri plan what does that mean a direct I can't remember exactly it's a different type of pellet that they can use in an electric Arc furnace rather than the the old um the old Ben help me out here what are those old furnaces here I know my opponent's blasting Blast Furnace that's the word I'm drawing a blank here um so it's more environmentally friendly and that's just that's just the direction that it's going I mean we should we really should have have those electric Arts Arc furnaces right here on the Range we should have 10 years ago because it was you know 10 15 20 years ago my dad who worked at Menorca mine was talking about these amazing new electric Arc furnaces so we're a little bit behind the times so Ben for you what what do you think the future looks like for mining yeah I think mining has a bright future the industry is strong at the moment and um I think that we have a tremendous amount of Reserve out there we have a billion tons of Reserve or out there you know there's there's 90 to 100 more years of mining on to be done on the Iron Range it was great to see that the U.S steel expansion at Key tax was announced that will really help that plant with stability during down downturns in in the cycle and we also have the beleaguered Wasabi metallics project which is fully permitted to Steel making which is a huge Advantage for the area it's certainly time for a reliable operator to step into that role but having those permits in place allows us to be able to make steel here on the Iron Range which is a is a game changer for us and I I agree that you know when it comes to precious metals and and polymet and twin Metals um we we want those projects to follow the process but when the process takes 20 years it stops being a a process we need legislation that streamlines that permitting process the benefit to our local areas our our communities our local governments the spin-off jobs that are created are just just tremendous and I I would like to say that it was um I was pleased to see that the Biden Administration put millions of dollars towards research and development of the Talon Metals project that is an exciting aspect to the the bright future of mining we had a listener who wanted a question asked of you and we'll start with you Ben what are your position on water conservation water quality protection and water wildlife and rice management The Mining and water issues are intimately intertwined but she thinks that discussions often emphasize the importance of mining as if it supersedes the essential human requirement of Clean Water Well we have the the cleanest water in the state here on the on the Iron Range and we've been mining for 140 years just because your pro-mining doesn't make you anti-environment and I don't believe we have any irresponsible mining going on here in here in northern Minnesota so um I I believe that we have followed the rules the regulations uh for me personally I push for those regulations to be common sense based especially when it comes to the wild Ray sulfate standard that's a standard that was put together on very old science and I think you know knowing the need to expand mining we need to have common sense regulation um you know the the water that is discharged at keytac is technically cleaner than what you can go to the gas station and buy in a bottle of Aquafina we have to make sure that our regulations are protecting us but at the same time they're reasonable from that from that aspect so I guess with regards to the with regards to the question I think that the mining industry is following the the laws that are out there we have a beautiful outdoor you know opportunities clean Waters clean lakes that you know are some of the best in the state Rob for you in terms of water quality and wild rice and sulfates uh yeah so I um I wish I'd had this question first because he got all the good talking points on that one um you know I've learned a few things as I've looked into this process for instance at polymed so polymed is going to open at the at the side of the old LTV mine and currently at that site there is a tailings base and that's the tailing tailing spacing that was left on LTV went bankrupt and that tailings Basin is currently leeching sulfides and nobody's responsible for it so when Paulie met is finally permitted to start running and they get to start using their own tailings base and it's going to be connected to that tailing space and and so the water discharging from that site will actually be cleaner than it is now otherwise it's it's it's just going to continue to Leach and it's it's a low amount I don't dare to suggest that it's that it's a high amount of sulfides but it will be cleaner when they start mining um than it than it is now and the reality is this we have to in a modern society we have to have those those elements we have to have copper nickel you know all of all of those metals the question shouldn't be how should we stop or prevent doing it in the United States the question should be how can we do this and how can we make sure that we're doing it right uh and and I think that the science is proving that we're able to do it right another example the twin Metals project it's going to be an underground mine at least 400 feet below the water tables you know it's going to be as low as 5 000 feet underground and that mine will actually not discharge any water um and you know they're concentrate when you know when they're all done mining it's going to be dry stacked and again it's going to be in a tailing space and that's going to be protected from leaking so so the question should be how can we do this and how can we do it right not you know let's just put up a roadblock and not allow it to happen because we absolutely have to have these minerals so if a company that owns any of the mines say the new copper nickel mines that are owned outside of Minnesota if they don't meet the requirements a regulatory requirements say they're up and running what is your role in terms of making sure that the water quality is there well they I mean they're not going to be able to start running unless they can demonstrate that they can that they can do it correctly and part of the process also includes a fund that they have to put put money into you know with every ton that they produce money goes into this fund to make sure that they can keep the water clean forever and so you know they're going to have I can't remember I have it I have it written down at home polymet has hundreds of water testing stations all around the area and so they've been doing all this Baseline testing and they're going to compare all of that they're going to continue to compare all of that when they start mining it's going to be the same thing at Twin Metals gonna you know be the same thing at Tech when Tech opens going to be the same thing at Talon and you know the role of the legislator is going to be clean up your act you know you promise to do this cleanly you have the technology to do it cleanly so you need to make sure that you get it done same question for you on regulation and if the companies don't meet those regulations yeah if they don't meet the regulations they they can't move forward and the regulations everyone agrees to the process they have to follow the have to follow the process I think the the biggest point of contention is them not being able to get into the process if you look at the twin Metals project you know that kind of being cut off at the knees before it even gets a chance to move forward is is extremely frustrating um you know there's a process in place it should be followed the science should be followed and many of these companies spend years in our communities spending thousands and thousands of dollars as they move towards determining if they have a project and if they want to do that that that's just fine at the end of the day they've got to follow the process and and we need to use use the science and if if they are able to do that we should get behind it and move it forward it and if if not if it's unsafe nobody wants that it should not be allowed to move forward if if any any piece doesn't follow the process or is determined to be unsafe so let's talk a little bit about the legislature there's no incumbent in this race so both of you would be new in Saint Paul everyday citizens don't often understand what the process is always like what's your knowledge of of how the whole thing works down in St Paul and and how you get up to speed yeah so during my time as in local government I've I've worked I did work with the late David Tom and Sony on on writing legislation and making sure it got into a jacket and then it's getting into the community you wanna you wanna be able to have your legislation heard um in in a Committee hearing and be able to move it move it forward from there so I've I've spent many trips many hours testifying to support legislation from um you know funding for Education funding for high-speed internet Broadband or Transportation projects that I testified in front of the executive Council in support of gold mining so um that's the experience I've I've had with with that process same question for you Rob about what how the legislative process works and how you'll get up to speed if you're elected yeah I think you know I think it's going to be a steep learning curve and I'll be on the phone with people like Senator Tom Bach um quite often you know asking questions or or Dale lewick from down representative Dale lewick from down in in Aitkin County um you know again I was down at the Talon meeting yesterday and and Dale was down there and it amazes me how much he knows about so many different things and so I'm going to rely I'm going to rely on people like that people like Spencer iGo Justin icorn that have been there but I think you know one of the things that I would like to see and and it's a concern that I have with the way the legislature runs is that you know we get into this situation where we basically have three people that are negotiating all of these bills all of the state budget the bonding bill whatever we have you know the governor the Senate Majority Leader and the speaker of the house and we really need to return to I think what the legislature was designed to do where we take these individual bills on their Merit we vigorously debate them and then we vote on them we vote them up or down and and then move on to the next thing rather than trying to lump everything in and you know vote on everything at one time and have these three people negotiate a deal and then come back to their members and say you have to vote on this I think I think we really need to look at each thing each each bill um by their merits you know and and I think we'd be able to get a little bit more done like that well let's um stick with the legislature it was a bonding year but it did not get passed um talk a little bit about your understanding of what a bonding bill is and what you would want to include from Senate District Seven if you're able to do that well of course the bonding Bill constitutionally the state is not allowed to you know like the federal government just borrows money willy-nilly to spend it on whatever the heck they want to spend it on the state isn't allowed to do that they're allowed to to have bonding money for um for capital projects and um and so of course I understand that those are things that that are paid for by Generations because they're things that are used by generations and in our in our region we have an aging infrastructure in our cities we have aging you know water treatment plants public utility plants sewage treatment plants and so those I think are the sort of things that are a good fit for bonding because they help communities to REM you know to remain viable and because you know those those I think I think the city of Babbitt recently which has less than two or less than a thousand people I think they recently had a new plant uh that was multi-million dollars that that those residents wouldn't have been able to afford without bonding um so I think I think those are the sort of things you know that that we should look at with bonding Ben for you what is bonding what kind of things do you think your District would need to go into a bonding bill yeah the bonding bill is very important for our district we we rely on bonding bill to pay for all types of different Public Works projects and yeah it spreads the costs out over over Generations because we are all using these things over time um certainly Louis water treatment plants up and down the district are all at their end of life from Aurora to to Gilbert to Nashua kiwaden taconite and Beyond I was I was able to put together a joint powers that brought together the cities of nashwauk and kiwan and hopefully Swan Lake Lone Pine Township on a joint wastewater treatment project and we were able to get bonding funds for that very important project I would add to the list Fire Halls you know we have a number of aged Fire Halls that were designed to be used by horse-drawn water tankers and and fire fire apparatus certainly those are are great candidates for upgrade now with apparatus becoming larger and the equipment outgrowing the size of Fire Halls they're they're they're great projects for for a bonding bill as well let's move on to the our climate our changing climate and how it affects the future of the region in terms of jobs and the land and environmental concerns tell us about some Innovation that you might see that's going to be in the future both Greener ways to mine or new industries that you know of yeah I think the mining industry really has an opportunity in in moving from producing a pellet that goes to a blast furnace that isn't as environment environmentally friendly to a value-added product that goes to an electric art Arc furnace I think like I said before we have an opportunity with permits that are in place to to do that right here on the Iron Range our mining companies are are very cognizant of reducing their carbon footprint if you look at the company the mining companies that no longer operate they are all companies that fed blast furnaces the future is in in a value-added product that that feeds an electric Arc furnace and and also the production of of green steel which is much more environmental environmentally friendly Rob for you in terms of the climate and maybe some things in the future some changing some change in jobs and Industry yeah so I when I think of when I think of climate Innovation I think of I actually think back in history to the Advent of the automobile and there were people that said that's just a fad you know that's not going to last where always people are always going to use horses and here we are you know 100 and some years later and now they're saying we want these electric cars and while I would love to say especially living in in northern Minnesota I never want to get stuck on a freeway trying to run on an electric battery but I think that's the direction that it's going you know whether whether we like it or not and so I think if that's the direction that you know climate Innovation and technology is going then we need to play a part in that and we need to mine the materials that are going to go into those electric cars right here at home and we need to because we can do it cleaner than anywhere else in the world I mean I have this this is tap water that they gave me in the back there's more sulfate in this water then there will be discharged from our non-ferrous mines so so we can do that cleanly and I think we need to do it cleanly and and then I think the other thing as far as doing it environmental you know environmentally appropriate um you know the the electric Arc Mills I think are a good idea but why not have those Mills right here in the Northland because what we have now is we're digging it out of the ground and we're turning it into pellets which is you know using an enormous amount of energy and then we're putting it on trains and sending it to Pittsburgh or sending it to Ohio and then they're putting it in their Mills well why don't we send it you know a thousand feet down the road from from the mintak mine to an electric Arc furnished you know outside of the city of Virginia or something and create those jobs there so that we're not using all of that energy to transport it so far we make you know we make the steel right here and then we send it on to Detroit to make cars or send it to I guess to Texas now where they're going to be making the Teslas or whatever I think that's a that's a way that we can play a part I mean historically the the Iron Range has played one of the biggest Parts in the history of our nation I mean we're responsible for providing the steel that built the skylines of America we provided the steel that built the boats and the and the tanks and and everything that won two world wars and I think we can be responsible for providing the materials for a modern economy whether it's you know way up in in Hoyt Lakes at polymeter down to tamarack we can do that we'll move on to elections one of the most contentious races in our state right now is the Secretary of State race between secretary Simon and Kim Crockett they have differing ideas on past elections and how elections should be run in the future so you're a candidate for office you have to rely on that system that may or may not elect you to office what is your take on the current state of the Minnesota election system well I can say that I wouldn't be sitting here if I if I thought the elections were rigged I mean what would what would be the point I could be at home I have four kids I could be at home with my kids if I thought elections were rigged although I can also talk about my own experience so I ran for house district 6A two years ago against Julie sandstead on Election night it appeared that I have before it had a 47 vote lead a day and a half later they discovered an error in in the county office and it was a legitimate error nobody ever suggested that there was you know fraud or anything they had they had accidentally double entered one of the Hibbing precincts that I won and so then that flipped the vote so that you know so it was hundreds of votes that were misreported and then they decided to audit the whole St Louis County and they found 40 votes in one Township for me that didn't get reported 20 votes for me and nine votes for Julian another Township and they kept finding votes here and there so there literally were about 400 votes that either were not reported or were misreported and nobody's suggesting again I don't want anybody to say Farnsworth is claiming fraud nobody suggests that is fraud but obviously when you have that level of mistakes we need to do a better job of making sure that everybody's votes are counted so and that's you know that's my personal experience Ben for you in terms of the election process here in Minnesota do you trust it yes I do and I think there's nothing more important in a democracy than the ability for people to vote and their votes being counted Minnesota has the highest voter turnout in the in the nation because we value our elections I believe they're well run and fair and keeping that and keeping it that way is is very important to us there's there's nothing patriotic about making it harder keeping people from from voting and I don't believe we have an issue with widespread voter fraud I think certainly you know I think in the last presidential election there were 25 bad ballots in in the entire state if I recall the report from Secretary of State Simon you know what our local election officials our friends and neighbors they're well trained they they do a good job they they want to they want a good job and and I think you know voting is the the Bedrock of our democracy and and we believe strongly in the in the fairness and the quality of our elections let's talk more about jobs and kind of move away from mining but kind of all jobs some employers are trying to entice workers but there are some issues that they can't control and that's a high cost or lack of daycare and affordable housing what could you do as the state senator to help employers who need employees yeah we need to increase the the access to Affordable daycare it's a it's a Workforce issue so certainly we need to increase business incentives to daycare providers both existing and looking to get into that that area we also need to make sure that we are keeping the reimbursement rates high for them as as well you know as of three years ago I believe Minnesota had the highest number of working mothers in in the in the nation so if we want to be able to compete in the state in business in Industry we need to make sure that that families have access to child care uh Rob for you in terms of daycare as well as affordable housing for employers to attract employees well I I'm going to look at it of course separately but they're sort of connected in regards to the red tape so I've talked to a number of people over the last couple of years that have done daycare in the past in-home daycare and they finally just said I'm done I can go get a job you know working at a big box store have less stress you know take home more money have more time with their family and so I think we really need to look at the red tape now that's not to say that we need to make it less safe because the last thing we want is to make any situation for our children less safe but I think we need to you know get rid of and I don't know specifically what the red tape is they just said it was so hard to work with the government and I think part of that had to do with the reimbursement had to do with billing you know Medicaid or or Minnesota care but we have to make it easier for people to open their own in-home businesses and that's what a daycare is it's an in-home business and we just make it so difficult to do business in this state um and that and that includes daycare so we need to make it easier for for folks to do that and then as far as Home Building again there's a lot of red tape now there are costs in Minnesota I mean you know people often compare us to Texas well how do they have a 3 000 square foot home in Texas and we you know for 200 000 and it costs 350 000 in Minnesota well uh different climate you know we have to have six foot you know footings in our homes and we have to have better Windows and better insulation um but we still have a lot of red tape and a lot of Permitting that makes it very expensive to build homes in Minnesota and I think we could eliminate some of that uh and then I think we just you know we have a ton of land you know our cities have a ton of land we need to use that land to encourage developers to come I mean Ben and I were at a real estate Forum today and we learned at that Forum that there's a shortage of of single-family homes in Minnesota of about 60 000 and so we've got to do something to encourage the building another problem I'm just going to keep going on and on another problem with that is the workers to build the homes and so one of the things that I would say that we could do and I've talked about education in my introduction a little bit but start preparing kids in high school that aren't have that have no desire to go to college to become Carpenters or you know framers or you know Concrete Masons or something like that so that there's a ready supply of workers for these good paying jobs so that contractors have people that they can hire and I mean that's the biggest you know that's the biggest problem I've got a friend her building burned down a few months ago and they're having a heck of a time getting the workers to rebuild the building before the snow flies and so we also I think have to address worker shortages in regards to Home Building uh we'll move on to Roe versus Wade it was overturned by the Supreme Court this year this leaves it up to the states and Minnesota abortion is still legal how will you approach a woman's Reproductive Rights if you are elected to Senate District 3.

7 excuse me I will not be elected to Senate District three um I'm pro-life and I'm not going to apologize for that I've been a I've been a special ed teacher in Hibbing for the last 13 years before that I was with the Department of Corrections for six years so I've worked with the most vulnerable people in Minnesota for for most of my career and I I view The Unborn as as some of the most or the most vulnerable human beings um that that are worthy of protection now and I do want to say there should be some exemptions you know for instance to save the life of the mother and uh but I don't think that that makes me extreme and my opponent has has been using the word extremely so extreme on reproductive care um 71 percent of the people in Minnesota believe that there should be some limits on abortion about half of those think it should be somewhere around the first trimester so I'm so extreme that I agree with the 71 and I think there should be some limits uh versus the other people who think that if a baby is at you know 40 weeks developed that's okay to have an abortion and so so that's how extreme I am on on that um I think allowing an abortion at 40 weeks that is truly the extreme position for a yeah I'm the I'm the pro-choice candidate and in this election I believe women's reproductive Health Care decisions should be made by women and I think you know really what's at stake in this election is is that freedom going away the freedom for people to make their own um Private health care decisions so I don't want to legislate women's bodies I don't want to make those decisions for them as my opponent has stated you know he has a different position on this but I I would support women's rights in this area and and the freedom of choice choice on this issue we'll move on to outdoor recreation what do you think the role of it is in terms of the economy of your District but also there's some debate over people who want silent Sports people who want ATVs how will you how do you look at that issue it plays a very important role you know our local economies really benefit from outdoor activities and you know our snowmobile trails our ATV trails lakes and parks and campgrounds I know being a business owner that in the summertime I I don't know the people that are coming into my store where you know I grew up in that town and I know everybody so I know know for a fact it it plays a huge impact on on our local economy and nowadays everybody has a side by side or a four-wheeler it's a quality of life issue for us here we like to work hard and and play it hard but the economic impact to this area is is substantial as as far as silent Sports I I think there's room for um you know trails and of all for all modalities um you know take a look after redhead uh and Tioga those have been some of the most successful mountain bike areas and anywhere and I've worked to to be able to get planning funds for a proposed seven mile bike trail in my hometown of of Nash walk so certainly those are becoming more popular they are very popular they they have a place and they should continue to re receive support and be developed Rob same question for you about outdoor recreation and economic impact yeah I mean I I agree with with with that you know we have uh mining is the the backbone of our economy and so I I look at I look at um outdoor recreation like like the trails you know like snowmobile trails ATV trails the redhead bike trail and I look at that as sort of like the the the the the the dressing or the the dessert with your meal um you know it's not going to fill you up you know mining is going to pay the bills but all of that Outdoor Rec uh is going to make life worth living in a in a very cold and inhospitable area and what we're finding with the redhead particularly particularly and I don't know if you're familiar with the redhead it's the it's the world-class mountain bike trail in Chisholm and so they took this old mining pit that people down in the Twin Cities would say look you ruined your land and we're like what are you talking about it's amazing and they they turned it into this really great world-class mountain bike trail and I mean it's bringing in tens and thousands of tourists uh tens of thousands of tourists every year that are bringing you know spending money in our communities and it's also there to use you know I go I go running there every once in a while um and so so it provides a quality of life that other areas don't have it provides some economic stability uh but it certainly is isn't going to replace mining in our region we will one so one of the things is there are jobs available but not always people to take those jobs right now and I know communities are trying to entice people to move here for those jobs is your district is it welcoming to new people coming in both of you are grew up there and have decided to stay there but are new people welcome I think I think new people are welcome and as I said earlier I'm also a licensed real estate agent and so in the last couple of years I've had a number of people from the Twin Cities or from Southern Minnesota that you know particularly retired people that have said we want to find a house housing is cheaper it's safer you have good health care and then when I follow up with them after they've purchased their house and after they've moved in they're like it's great people are so nice people are so people are so kind and so I think I think that we are welcoming but I think we have to address we've talked a little bit about about housing we have a lack of housing so I mean I think we could have thousands of people that would want to move to the Northland you know from from from the arrowhead all the way over you know we'll go as far as you know Bemidji if we had the housing people who work from home would love to come up here enjoy our outdoor activities enjoy a safer quieter way of life but we have to encourage that sort of building so that people can come here and I you know like I say I've had a few people um that work from home that moved up here there's like do we have fast internet okay great we're going to come here we can buy an affordable house and and that adds to our economy Ben same question for you or is your District Welcome welcoming to new people that we may need to fill the jobs yeah absolutely the district is welcome welcoming to new new people that want to come here and enjoy the Fantastic quality of life we enjoy um you know and and we can we we D we do need people to move here and live here and um be employed here we certainly have a shortage of of workers and you know in order to be able to attract them we we do need to continue to make the investment in in Broadband in high-speed internet that's a a major factor when people are determining which host they're going to buy if they're if they're able to telecommute you know if they can relocate here um that's that's something we need to continue to invest in and along with that education folks that want to relocate uh to Northern Minnesota to the Iron Range one of the first things they they look at is are the schools so we need to continue to make the investment in our schools that that's important to attract new people to this area and we we've been talking about housing you know I think the way we're approaching housing isn't isn't quite working we need to scale up the amount of available Parcels that we can proposed to a developer we're really struggling to build houses on individual Parcels or even housing developments that have 10 or 12 Parcels that are are ready to go I I think there's a way to scale up and and attract a developer to that that you know we can build out 100 or 150 new homes to improve our housing stocks so all of these things are what we need to work on to continue to attract new people to to the district we are getting close to time in our conversation tonight um so we'll ask just one more question and then give you the chance to talk to voters talk a little bit about the the budget surplus what you think it should be used for in the state of Minnesota yeah so so the budget surplus is is a fantastic opportunity to make real tax relief for minnesotans along with that I think the budget targets that were identified what was a good blueprint for us to to move forward certainly dedicating a billion dollars towards education it is would be a a fantastic investment along with providing funds that can be matching funds for federal dollars for transportation so we can rebuild our roads and bridges and then you know monies for good paying good paying jobs and certainly that that you know in the budget Target it's that were identified it leaves money left over in in reserve so uh you know I I think the issue is we just need to have legislators down in St Paul that are willing to get the work done so that we can have local government aid for our communities County program aid for our for our communities that we we sold very much rely on here Rob for you in terms of the budget surplus well um start by getting rid of the tax on our senior social security benefits and then provide permanent tax cuts to to middle and and working class folks you know with the inflation in this Biden walls economy people are suffering you know people are spending a lot more at the grocery store and at the gas pump and so they need permanent tax cuts so that they have more money to survive um every single month and not just one-time gimmicks you know walls bucks or whatever Tim Walls tried to do but people need permanent permanent relief um I also you know have stated that um the the impact of the pandemic has been particularly hard on children and so I would support increasing funding for things like you know mental health of the kids as as uh has has struggled dramatically since the pandemic and so more mental health workers more interventionists um to try and make up the gains that kids have lost I mean you know I'm talking to people in kindergarten teachers in kindergarten first second grade and it's unbelievable the skills that kids don't have because they've been out of school so we need to use some of that Surplus for for Education uh but but I think most of it needs to be returned to the to the taxpayers it needs to be returned to to middle and Working Class People to our senior citizens to help pay their bills well we're almost at the end here so we'll give each of you time to talk directly to the voters and ask them for their vote and Rob we can start with you all right well um again I want to thank you for the opportunity to come on the program and uh you know it's it's uh an interesting time of year where people are inundated with with uh with Flyers but I believe that we have a great future in in Minnesota and a lot of the Flyers you know are saying saying negative things a lot of the radio ads are saying negative things but I think we have a great future and we need to choose a candidate that's going to be on the right side of the issues it's going to support Mining and whose party is going to support mining the dfl no longer supports mining so even though my opponent supports mining there will if if the dfl controls the Senate there will never be a pro-mining piece of legislation we won't get tax cuts he's talked about getting rid of the tax on social security the dfl has had a number of times since 2015 to get rid of the tax on social security and they voted to keep it including our local Representatives up up on the Irish have voted to keep taxing that uh but they have found time to defund the police and they have you know they didn't have time to help our senior citizens with uh the Social Security tax but they had time to discuss changing the Minnesota state flag and I think the priorities are misguided uh the Twin Cities metro has taken over the dfl and and we really need a representative that is going to say the Northland comes first my district comes first and when I am elected as I as I believe I will be um I will put the North Line first I will put Senate District 7 first and uh and and fight even if I have to fight my own parties to do what's right for my district Ben for you you get last words here thank you it's been great to be here to talk tonight about these important issues you know when lawmakers choose politics over people we suffer I'm not interested in extreme politics that leads to the good luck we're experiencing but elections have consequences and what's at stake in this election is a freedom to to choose what private Health Care decisions people make I believe women's reproductive Health Care decisions should be made by women I want to keep the government out of your doctor's office my opponent wants to make that decision for you my whole career has been based on serving the community I've been effective in local government and I know I can be effective at the state level I know the value of getting things done and now more than ever we need people in St Paul that can get the work done for us here at home access to high quality Health Care safe nursing and assisted living homes and not having to worry about increased cost of living are the foundations to grow our communities I'll sponsor legislation to eliminate the Social Security tax raise the taconite homestead credit and set payment limits on prescription drugs as a first responder I see the courageous work law enforcement does every day I'll make sure our departments have enough funding to fight gun crime and never choose between providing the best training or equipment I want to use my experience to make sure the Iron Range continues to be the best place to live work raise a family and retire comfortably but I need your support to do that I'm Ben denuch you I'm asking for your vote on November 8th thank you and that is our time for tonight's Forum in the Northland I want to thank candidates Rob Farnsworth and Ben denucci for sharing their time with us tonight and for viewers now that you've heard from the candidates it's time to do your part get out and vote either November 8th at the polls in person at your local clerk's office or by mail-in ballot if you do vote by mail be sure you have a witness sign your ballot and that you mail it in time to arrive by Election Day November 8th or it won't be counted if you missed any part of this program or other forums you can watch them on our website wdse.org for our guests and the team here at wdsc I'm Heidi Holton good night foreign [Music]