Minnesota Legislative Report, the longestr running public affairs show in the region, now in its 55th season.

Former state lawmaker Tony Certage speaks with legislators from northern Minnesota and answers your questions on the air.

Minnesota Legislative Report starts now.

Hello and welcome to Minnesota Legislative Report.

I'm your host Greg Grell filling in for Tony Certich.

The 2026 legislative session is underway and lawmakers are beginning to shape the key issues that will define this year at the capital.

What are the top priorities and what can motans expect in the weeks ahead?

Joining us today is Senator Grant Hoschild, a DFLer from Hermantown representing districts district 3.

And also with us tonight is Representative Spencer Igel, a Republican from Abana Township representing District 7A.

Welcome Senator Hoschild and Representative Igel.

Happy to have you here today.

And we kind of have to start on a little bit of a somber note.

Uh uh before the session uh during the off season uh offseason so to speak, uh House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed and also Senator John Hoffman was was uh shot and managed to recover.

But those shootings really did shock the state.

Senator Hoschild, how what what kind of a a I don't want to say Paul, but how how has that affected the start of the legislative session as the session goes on?

Thanks, Greg, for having me.

You know, I think about it because John Hoffman is a good friend of mine.

Certainly, former Speaker Hortman was also a good friend and Senator Hoffman is an honorary member of our Iron Range delegation.

But it's really made things heavy at the legislature this year.

and more real, right?

I think we understand that the things we are doing have real world impacts and we have to look at what's happening in our country and in our state and try to really address the biggest challenges that we face.

And I think hopefully if there's a silver lining in what happened, it's that we can try to find some bipartisan agreement on the things we do agree on and kind of stay out of the side issues that distract far too many politicians from focusing on the real issues.

And Representative Igo, although uh the the public often sees, you know, Democrats, Republicans, and you're not always seeing eye to eye, you do get to know people in the legislature, it's not like these folks aren't friends of yours.

You work with them.

So, it obviously had an impact regardless of what uh party affiliation you have.

Oh, you know, absolutely.

I mean, speaking of of Speaker Merida Hortman, I mean, she was my speaker for four years down here before uh Speaker Damoth.

So, you get to know people regardless of party incredibly well.

And she was she was one of one.

Um, and everyone respected her because of what she was.

And she was tr she was truthful.

She was fair.

She was honest.

And she was incredibly committed to her district and this state.

Um, and I think especially in the House, there's a huge hole missing in all of us.

Again, regardless of party.

Um, and it definitely is hanging heavy on all of us.

But the best way we can do to remember her and remember her legacy is continue that that essence of collaboration, putting your districts first, putting the state of Minnesota first.

And that's something that I'm holding close uh to my heart in this session.

And you know, I echo what Senator House said about our good friend Senator Hoffman because he is an honorary ranger and a great man.

Um, and I'm so glad that him and his wife were able to recover.

Um, and you know, we need to heal, not only as a legislature, but as a state from this.

And that's why it's on us as legislators to do everything in our impossible to limit the amount of political vitrial and start lifting up what we agree on in showing collaboration and really diffusing the tension that exists in our state.

And Representative Igel, have there been any uh changes to how the legislature does business due to this, or do you foresee some changes?

Has have things changed at the capital since these shootings?

Yeah, you know, there's already been quite a few changes that were put into effect, right?

Um the offices for both the House and the Senate now you need key card access and you need to be vetted in um as visitors to be going through public safety.

I mean, even entering the capital now there metal detectors are now present.

There's secured entrance.

There's a lot larger presence of public safety.

Um and these are just the things that were that that came to us under this this tragedy.

Um, and I think things are going going to continue to grow and evolve.

But also, like as legislators, um, there's a lot more that we think about that we never had to think about.

I know personally for me, there's conversations I have with my wife that I thought I would never have to have uh about safety.

And I say that because those are the things that are that weigh on us that maybe the public doesn't always hear about and we don't always speak about, but that's the situation which we now exist.

And Senator Housechild, just following up with you.

Uh, I noticed that on the legislative website now, they no longer list those, uh, legislator and senators home addresses, and I'm sure that's part of the security measures that are taking place.

That's right.

Certainly, we have to make sure that, you know, addresses are available for verification purposes, but there's really no reason that that information needs to be so widely displayed.

I think given sort of that threshold, that terrible threshold that happened with Speaker Ammerida Hortman and Senator John Hoffman being gunned down in their own homes, um certainly any sort of shooting is is awful.

But when you no longer feel safe in your own home, uh things have really changed and I'm a father of young kids.

Uh similarly to what Representative Igo said, I've had to have conversations with my family.

Um, and let's not forget that in addition to the shootings that happened to Speaker Ammerita Horman and Senator John Hoffman, we had children gunned down in their schools uh shortly thereafter.

And so it's really been a heavy past year in Minnesota and we need serious legislators to step up in this moment and really again focus on the core issues that matter for our state.

All right, then moving on to uh some of the current legislative issues.

Uh the legislature is hitting its bill deadlines.

I believe the first and second deadlines have passed.

Senator Hoschild, what are you happy with that's going to see action this session?

And maybe also talk about some of your disappointments in bills that maybe aren't going to pass or move on during this session.

Well, we know that fraud has been a big issue in Minnesota.

And I'm really proud that in the Senate, we've been leading on this since last year.

We passed the independent office of inspector general off the Senate floor with 60 votes to seven nos.

An overwhelming bipartisan majority showing how critical this issue is in us addressing this issue and taking the politics out of it.

In addition to that, I think there's a lot of great proposals on how we can try to address family budgets and affordability in our state.

We know that whether it's home prices, grocery prices, gas prices, now with what's happening in Iran, we know that motans are feeling the squeeze.

So, how can we look at opportunities for property tax relief, addressing some utility costs, rental assistance?

There's a lot of ways that I think we can use a little bit of the surplus in a fiscally responsible way to give back to motans.

And so, I'm hopeful that in the tide legislature that we have, we can try to find some ways to relieve motans.

Lastly, I would just say that a bonding bill is on the table.

We need a supermajority to support that bill and I'm really hopeful that it will address local infrastructure projects in the Northland.

And I think if the Iron Range delegation sticks together and demands that, hopefully we can get a bonding bill to support infrastructure in our communities.

And Representative Iel, same question to you.

What are your what are you hopeful about?

What are you disappointed that isn't going to make it this session?

Well, to start off on that comment, I mean, the OIG is something that should have happened last year, right?

The Senate sent us a bill that was 60 to7.

Um, House has been a little harder getting along on this one, but I'm hoping we're going to see that pass uh by the end of this session.

Um, some other things I'm excited about.

Um, again, being co-chair of housing, I work a lot on housing based issues.

um working on some some tax credit uh language that's going to extend expand the workforce housing tax credit to help build more workforce housing in greater Minnesota that's sitting in committee hopefully going to see across the finish line but also I want to mention too it hit committee deadline um is my nuclear study bill to take that first step on trying to bring nuclear energy back to the state of Minnesota u that bill I worked really closely on with the Prairie Island Indian community along with stakeholders this across this state so it's a bill that I'm really hoping is going now that it hit deadline, we're going to see being brought up here in the next couple days um in weeks here before we adjourn.

So, but again, working on that affordability stuff as well.

Um there's a lot of really good bills, bills that I've chief sponsored and are working there.

I should also mention too, uh there's a bill in both the House and the Senate.

uh in the House, it's House File 3900, a constitutional amendment for our school trust lands.

Um that's going to be reorganizing the structure of that in the constitution so that we can distribute more of those earnings that we've earned on our school trust lands, which would be a 40% increase to public education.

So, I'm really hopeful that that bill can get across the finish line and get to the voters this November because that's the shot in the arm that all of our schools need uh to help with their budgets, especially in our Northland.

All right.

Thank you, Representative Igel.

Uh we uh asked Representative Roger Scrabba, who you both know, what he his priorities for this legis legislative session were, and to give a question to the legislators here today.

Representative Scraba, what are your top priorities for this legislative session?

The main one for me is bonding.

I'd like to see us have a good bonding bill.

Over a billion would be nice.

Um and the rest I I really don't have.

I that's my priority.

And I and I sit on education, housing, you know, and legacy and legacy was done last year.

So, we don't have a lot some changes, but if if we get a bill, we're going to be happy and get any bills.

It's I don't know if we're going to that type, but just bonding.

Great.

My number one priority.

If you were to ask one of my legislative guests a question, what question would you have about this session?

What is your priority?

you know, same thing you asked, but more so what about your district?

What priority in your district is it that you want?

And you know, is it education?

Is it um healthcare?

Is it uh infrastructure bonding?

Wh which which one?

That would be a question.

Representative Iel, let's start with you.

Uh Representative Scraba is your colleague.

Uh what are some of your priorities?

I know you just mentioned some of them, but maybe there's some other ones you want to flesh out a little bit.

So, I think to be fair to Representative Scrab, I think I need to say yes, I do support bonding, too.

The range stands united in that.

Um, but no, I mean, I I talked about a lot of my major priorities.

You know, one of the other bills actually was passed in the first day of session.

Um, and this is district specific really for the most part.

Um, is extended unemployment from the most recent layoffs at HIPPAC.

Uh, so we have a bill that was passed out of the labor committee and it's sitting in Ways and Means.

Been working with the USW um with the Department of Labor and Industry um and with both sides of the aisle here down in the Minnesota House to kind of iron out that bill and I'm hoping we can get that passed here in the next few weeks.

That's another top priority of mine, making sure we get that done um before we adjourn.

And Senator Hoschild, uh we've been talking about bonding, so let's get into that a little bit as a followup uh to Representative Scraba's statement and question.

Uh what are the chances first of a bonding bill getting passed and then let's talk a little bit about what some of the northern Minnesota priorities are in that bonding bill?

I'm hopeful on a bonding bill.

I think you know probably more than a 50% chance.

However, with how tight the legislature is, there's 101 Democrats and there's 100 Republicans.

It's the tightest legislature in this country and we need a supermajority to come together to support the bonding bill.

And my fear is with all of the other conflicts on other legislation that some folks will use leverage to try to undermine the bonding bill or require certain things that will ultimately make it fall apart.

Um, if I had it my way, we would just vote on a bonding bill first thing in a bonding year, get the votes on the table, and see where things lie rather than having it leveraged against something else.

Um, our region is most impacted by bonding because we have small rural communities.

We don't have the same sales tax base.

We don't have the same property tax base that some of the suburban and urban places do.

And one of the fears I have with bonding is on both sides of the aisle, you have right-wing legislators in rural communities who don't believe in borrowing for bonding.

And on the left, you have a lot of suburban Democrats in very wealthy communities that frankly don't see the necessity for a bonding bill.

If those things continue, the Iron Range in northern Minnesota suffer.

So, we have to stick together across party lines to advance a bonding bill.

Representative I will follow up on that.

Senator Hoschild obviously is with you on laing a bonding bill to pass this session.

Yeah, you know, it's they're critically important and it's been said before, I'm not the first to ever say bonding bills are also jobs bills, especially on the Northland and on the range.

Um, one of the things we also need to be protective of, and I'm sure Senator House Child agrees with me on this, is that we don't see um, agency initiatives and projects start getting marked against because that's the other part of bonding that gets really kind of messy is that you'll have um, Republicans and Democrats coming up with priorities and working on things.

But then some of the agency stuff we need to do, like for a prime example in my district is the core library in Hibbing.

Well, when that project doesn't count it as a DNR project and is counted against either party, whether it's Republican or Democrat, then that means other districts pay for it and that means it destabilizes the whole bill.

So, we really got to focus on making sure that we keep priorities straight and there isn't that kind of, you know, vitrial that exists when you start doing that horse trading.

So, it's something that I'm very protective of that we keep priority separate so that the million-dollar water project in a small rural community gets paid for and we can also take care of state infrastructure at the same time.

And Senator Hoschild, what are some of the specific U measures in the bonding bill that would benefit your district in northern Minnesota?

Oh, there's so many.

You know, I think about the water infrastructure funding and the public facilities authority funding.

Those go to core water projects.

We also have the local road improvement program which goes to local roads particularly in rural and small communities.

But even more important to me are the direct local projects that our communities are asking for.

Um, I don't want to list all of them because I have tens of millions of requests from all sorts of small communities across the Northland, but they're everything from water projects to road projects, trails, utility expansions, uh, expansions that could result in more housing in the Northland.

Those are the things that we should focus most on are the things that are going to make a substantial difference in opportunities across the Northland.

So, again, uh, it's critical for our region that we pass a bonding bill.

and I'm I'm cautiously optimistic.

Now, uh earlier in this discussion, uh we touched on the issue of fraud, which has been a very big issue in Minnesota.

It's also been a big issue at the legislature this week.

I heard uh more from the Department of Housing and Human Services, uh I should say the DHS about uh Medicaid fraud.

If we want to start there, Representative Iel, just talk a little bit about the issue of fraud and what the legislature is dealing with or trying to do in the area of fraud.

Well, you know, it's a very enlarged and comprehensive issue and um I can say the House Republicans in the House have really been pushing on a lot of these measures before they got to this point because we we actually initiated our fraud committee um that's led by the Republicans last year and a lot of the stuff was starting to come to light before really kind of broke the major news that it did towards the end of last year.

You know, the big thing that we need to do is just have accountability measures, right?

there were so many measures inside especially DHS where there wasn't the vetting there wasn't the going out to the sites to make sure they're they were real and right or some of the reports that we see is that you know you had agency staff that would run this up the chain if you will that they thought there was concerns to be told to ignore them.

So, it's it's kind of it's on us as the legislature now to put those teeth and accountability measures into these programs and to make sure that these things don't ever happen again.

Because I think the biggest frustration of it all is that besides the fact that the taxpayers of Minnesota were ripped off, which is enough to be angry about in itself, the programs that are being ripped off are to take care of the most vulnerable motans that we have.

And those are the people that lost because of this fraud.

And that's why we need to make sure to prosecute those that were that were doing this fraud, but also make sure we clean up state government so that it indeed never happens again and we prosecute and are tough on this crime of fraud so that we don't see it perpetuate.

And uh Senator Hoschild, from your perspective as a from the Senate and as a DFL, what uh what is the Senate and the DFL doing about uh fraud?

Well, I think about this because I am a Democrat and I believe in government's ability to make a difference in people's lives if we're thoughtful, if we do things right.

So, I'm really mad about this situation because it undermines the very things that I believe in.

But my al other fear is that those that want to undermine these programs in the first place will use this as a political opportunity to highlight things so that they can cut these programs like we've seen at the federal level with the big beautiful bill cutting Medicaid which is going to gut our rural hospitals, gut SNAP benefits for the most vulnerable, which is disproportionately in our greater Minnesota communities.

Um, we have led on this in the Senate.

We have taken the politics out of it.

We've advanced an independent office separate from any party or governor who might be elected to have oversight, to have investigative authority, to be able to prosecute fraud.

The other fear I have and why we need that independent office at a state level is that we've seen the US attorney office in the state of Minnesota at the federal level gutted.

A bunch of US attorneys have left that office because of some undermining on the political fronts.

And that means we don't have the prosecutors going after this fraud and it's a real shame.

So I think across the board whether it's at the federal level or the state level we need to not make this partisan.

We need to address it headon and we need to move forward with ensuring that our government programs are providing the benefits that those most vulnerable need.

And if we can do that I think we'll do right by motans.

and Representative Iggo as a uh also a rural lawmaker.

Of course, these Medicaid cuts at the federal level are impacting your region as well.

Uh just uh continue on with what uh Senator Hosfeld had to say and what your opinion is on what's happening with Medicaid.

Yeah, you know, I mean, I think it's it's kind of an everchanging and growing conversation, right?

Um, unfortunately we are in the tightest legislature in the country here in the state of Minnesota, but we're also in a very dynamic time in DC.

And as much as I try to follow and see how things are growing and changing out there, the the narrative continues to change.

But I am very confident that we as rural legislators uh with different parties especially are making a known that no, we you got to think twice and act once how you manage things.

And I I I give grace where it's due and always try to put myself in other people's shoes when you talk about these cuts and say, you know, are the cuts there out of malicious intent?

And probably not.

They're probably there to try and stop fraudsters are probably try try trying to be there so they don't hurt more people.

But unfortunately, some people don't know how to look past the steps two and three of what it's really going to mean for our communities.

And that's where we as advocates, as representatives, as senators, mayors, we come together and we tell our story so that we can get the fixes done.

So, I'm I'm hoping that that conversation can continue to be had so that we can iron things out in the future.

All right, moving on.

Senator Hoschild, a data center proposed for Hermantown has gotten a lot of attention over the last year, created quite a bit of controversy and concern about things like spiking electric rates and possible environmental degradation.

Is the legislature currently considering any measures concerning data centers statewide?

This has been one of those issues where I feel like we need to explain a lot of what we've done at the legislature.

The sausage making and the processes that play out don't always get to the average motan um with what we've done.

So last year we passed a historic data center package.

This package protected utility rate payers through regulations with the PUC to ensure that residential rates cannot increase.

We put a tariff on data centers so they're paying for the higher energy costs with the usage that they're using.

We made it so that it has prevailing wage so that our local workforce is working on these jobs and keeping that that money in our local communities.

and we made sure that there were strong environmental standards on these projects with the DNR oversight on water usage.

So, there's a lot of things that we've done.

That's not to say there's not more that needs to happen and more discussion around data centers.

Um, and I think we will continue those conversations.

The biggest of which is something that I've led on, which is a bill that would ban NDAs for local officials.

Um, I think ultimately if you want projects to happen in your region and in your communities, you have to show why they're important and you have to be transparent about that process.

And I think if we can make it so that no local community feels the pressure to sign those NDAs and make it a statewide policy, that's going to help us ensure that no local community is left behind and that we're being transparent and for on the forefront with our local constituents about the projects that we're considering.

I'm a former city councelor.

I know how important that is.

So hopefully we can have bipartisan agreement on that this session.

And Representative Igel, your opinion on the data center issue, uh, which is really a statewide issue because data centers have been proposed in different parts of the state.

Yeah, so I mean, when it comes to data centers, this is actually one of the reasons that I've served on the energy committee for six years.

Um, that's why I'm hearing bills, like I said, trying to get nuclear energy brought back to Minnesota, working on bills like carbon capture, working on bills like biomass energy.

Um because we need more juice, for lack of a better term, to make sure we can keep residential rates low while also supporting this development in data centers.

Because if you look at the pros of what data centers have to offer, one, they offer construction opportunities for the entire state.

Two, they offer jobs.

Three, probably most importantly, because it's a top three issue that I hear about in my email, my phone when I'm going into Super One back home is rising property taxes.

Well, data centers are a prime way for us to help build that commercial tax base and that industrial tax base in our communities that's going to lower taxes for every single one of our our constituents and our people across northern Minnesota.

So, I'm a huge advocate for that.

Now, again, advocate, not an activist.

I don't want to see data centers are going to ruin the environment or harm water, but I'm going to be an advocate that we do it the right way.

And we did pass bills to make sure we do it the right way.

So again, what my my goal in us getting there is advocate for more diverse energy policy so we can have more energy to power these things and bring them to reality across northeastern Minnesota because we are a prime place to put data centers because of our climate, because of our ge uh geology.

And representative Iel following up with your measure to bring nuclear power plants back to Minnesota.

I think right now Monaceel is one of the only ones in the state near St.

Cloud.

Uh one of the things is of course the fear of what you know happened in Russia, what happened uh in Japan.

Uh and I don't think the public understands that modern power plants, modern nuclear plants have a lot of safeguards that would uh per pre prevent these types of accidents to happen.

But it's really a political issue, right?

There just hasn't been the political will to bring uh nuclear power back.

Talk a little bit about how much safer a new plant would be and why you think this would be a good thing for the state.

Well, absolutely.

So, I mean, this is the way I kind of talk about why we're in the situation we're in.

We had some nuclear hiccups and crisises a long time ago.

And then the idea of nuclear energy kind of got put in that black box and put on a shelf.

You know, the two nuclear facilities we have in the state of Minnesota uh in Prairie Island and in Monaceel have been in operation for 50 years and we haven't done anything more on them.

And those facilities have been safe, running well and providing power for hundreds of thousands of motans for decades.

what the study bill that I'm carrying is aiming to do and again I wrote this with the Prairie Island Indian community who hosts a nuclear power plant we're hoping to tell the story of what nuclear looks like now why right what small reactors look like what modular reactors look like the safety measures that go into them right I mean the best way to explain this is if you buy a 2026 pickup versus your 2000 pickup which one's going to be better in a crash and which one's going to be safer well probably the 2026 with all the new safety measures and electronics it's the same way for a nuclear reactor.

Um, and it's this study is going to tell that story.

It's also going to tell the impacts of again goes back to that property act tax stuff.

It's going to talk about what it means for communities, for jobs, for construction, um, for industrial tax base and what it's going to mean for lowering power rates.

Um, so again, it's telling that story because we as a country kind of again put it in that black box.

really most of the world did and now we're seeing Europe starting to bring them back in full force and really if we're going to hit 2040 um energy goals the only way we're going to get there is with base load energy and that is nuclear power Senator Hchild I want to get back for a minute to the NDAs the non-disclosure agreements that have been part of the controversy over the data centers and the whole idea that local uh counselors St.

Louis County board members signed NDAs so that the public didn't know exactly what they were dealing with till late in the process.

What uh legislation you mentioned what would that do?

Would it outlaw NDAs or how does it work?

That's right.

It would outlaw NDAs for elected officials as it relates to data center projects.

Um we heard it in the Senate State and Local Government Committee and in that committee it was amended to include local officials as well and so that bill is moving forward.

I think it's also a version, not my version, but a similar version is moving in the House side as well.

Um, I'm not exactly sure what the status of that is, but again, we're trying to create a statewide policy because what I've heard from local government officials is that they're not necessarily trying to hide information, but there is this pressure, right, when projects are looking at where they can compete for opportunities to open.

They um, you know, that these local government officials feel the pressure to sign these to stay competitive.

But if we had a statewide uh standard that would make it so that these local governments, particularly in rural communities and abuing uh growing communities, don't feel this pressure to sign them and can be transparent with their constituents.

I've talked to plenty of local elected officials who have either signed NDAs or been pressured to sign NDAs and they all have told me they think this is not something that should continue in Minnesota because they know uh that they deserve to be transparent with their constituents and they don't want to feel that pressure.

Representative Iel agree on the NDAs.

Do you think that's a good idea?

So I have a little different opinion on NDAs.

Um it's also my background.

My I have degree in public administration.

So my knowledge is on city management and economic development.

Um whereas we've seen you know some of the the frustrations with NDAs and again I'm I'm listening and learning what what Senator Al just said.

I'm hearing what he's saying.

I'm talking to constituents.

I'm talking to other local electeds about this.

The concern I have is that it's going to hurt our smallest communities the most.

So, think about your cities in communities under 5,000 where the staff for that city is going to be a city clerk and a city manager and then the council and the mayor and there isn't going to be bandwidth I don't think um to have those to without those NDAs to have those counselors involved in working on those processes.

I also worry what it means for just future of economic development in this state.

Um the reason you have NDAs is so when you're having and again this isn't just for data centers, right?

When you talk about NDAs, you could be signing one because McDonald's wants to come to count and so does Burger King and they're going to be competing about what they're going to pay for prices and what they're going to be for competing for market.

But if there's not a way to have those discussions and talk about your business, you know, in interest in a way that's not going to be on the front page of the news, that's also not fair to business in some way.

So, I think we just have to think twice and act once.

Again, I'm listening to the conversation and the bill that Senator House Shell is bringing forward, but as of right now with my background and experience on this side of things, I I'm worried that it could also destabilize economic development for the state of Minnesota, especially in our most rural communities.

Right.

Thank you, Representative Iel, you also uh co-chair the the housing committee.

Are there any measures there that uh will help tackle what's a very important issue in our region?

Oh, yeah.

I I will try not to be too long-winded on this, but ever since becoming co-chair of housing, I've been working on a lot of different policy initiatives to try and bring down that cost of housing.

Um, and I have to say some of the biggest facts of why this is such a big issue.

The median age of buying your first home in the state of Minnesota is now 40 years old.

The average mortgage is over $2,600 and we are 100,000 housing units short.

So, we have to do things.

One of the things I've been working on very closely with my co-chair on is land use and zoning policy.

And it's a really unique issue because it pits local control against private property rights.

And it's a very hard one to educate members on.

But what we're trying to accomplish is returning private property rights to the people of Minnesota so that we can build the homes that people want.

This is getting at I mean the pipe dream of this of this legislation we're working on is to return starter homes.

starter homes of like that 12,300 square foot Rambler that were on the small lot that we built for the greatest generation when they returned for World War II.

Our state, our country as a whole, stopped building those homes and now we're in the situation that the next generation can't afford housing.

You see, especially across the Northland, that even the quote unquote flippers that used to exist are disappearing andor gone.

and we talk about uh retaining our youth and attracting our youth back into our communities.

If they don't have places to live, they're not going to be able to.

And then everything we do economic development wise, everything we do to build in our communities, everything we do for bonding doesn't mean anything if we can't keep our communities growing and stable.

And that's why housing is so critically important.

So, been working on that sort of policy around it.

Also working on that tax credit that I mentioned earlier.

Um also looking at um outside other rules and regulations on policy for energy code u so that that also increase the cost of building new homes because the fact of the matter is we just need to build more and clear the barriers that are in the way of that.

Senator Hoschild, anything you'd like to add on housing in the state?

Obviously a critical issue in your district as well.

Yeah, that's right.

I I this is an area where I think representative Igo and I differ a little bit.

Um I'm a former city councelor.

Um, I firmly believe and I think if you talk to any elected local officials in northern Minnesota, they'll tell you zoning is not the issue with housing in greater Minnesota.

Um, we have plenty of opportunity for growth in our communities.

Um, but our local communities want to be able to decide how we grow, where we grow, and what that might look like.

Um, plenty of rural communities want housing and are looking at ways to incentivize it, but ultimately I think this is a little bit more of a Twin Cities issue or a suburban communities issue.

And personally, as a former city councelor, I just don't agree that the state should top down decide the zoning laws of our local communities, particularly our rural and greater Minnesota cities.

We should let them grow and incentivize housing the way that they know how best to do.

And we should let our local citizens interact with officials and decide on their comprehensive community plans for how they want their community to grow.

This is particularly important in a community like Hermantown.

Uh we want to make sure that our community is growing in the way that makes sense for us.

And if we just have this top- down mandate from the state on zoning, I think that's a real disservice to greater Minnesota.

And I think, you know, we'll see where that bill goes.

Um, it does have some weird bipartisan support and bipartisan option, but I think if you talk to legislators that are former city councilors, former mayors, county commissioners, um, a lot of them are in agreement that we shouldn't have these mandates at the state level on zoning.

Okay.

Senator Hoschel, you are the vice chair of the Senate Tax Committee.

Let's move on to that a little bit and talk about what measures might be of benefit to our region that the tax committee is considering.

Absolutely.

The one that I have been really promoting for a while now is this idea of ensuring that seasonal properties, you think cabin, second homes, um lake homes in northern Minnesota, allowing those property taxes to go towards local school operating levies in their districts where they reside.

This was a change that was made in 2001 under the Ventura and later the Palente administration that is directing those property taxes away from their local school district and to the general fund.

Um a black hole in the general fund that just gets spent on any other priorities that the legislature has.

So this has really been a disservice to our rural school districts in northern Minnesota.

Particularly in Representative Igo and I's district were both carrying this bill.

We had it in the Senate Tax Committee to provide an aid back to these local school districts to try to provide some more equitable funding for their schools.

Um, unfortunately, it didn't progress in the House.

So, I'm really hopeful that this year, I know we'll have it in the Senate, and I think if we can go to pass, it would be a real lifesaver for our rural schools.

The other thing that I'm working on is property tax relief.

Um, we've seen levies increasing at historic rates, particularly because of the big, beautiful bill at the federal level that has passed mandates onto our local counties.

And so, I'm looking at uh passing a bill that would provide some real property tax relief to 80% of of resident homeowners in Minnesota.

That would have a huge impact in providing just some relief to the average family across northern Minnesota.

So, those are two of the bills that I'm really focused on.

Certainly, there's plenty more where that comes from, but um I think those two areas of property taxes and schools could have a huge impact for our region.

And Representative I following up with you, uh you are carrying a similar measure according to Senator Hostel, this is a good example of a community or of you know working across aisles on an issue that you both agree on.

Talk a little bit about that.

Yeah.

No, absolutely.

So, yeah, the seasonal wreck issue, Senator House job did a great job explaining it, so I won't rehash it.

Uh, but him and I have both been pushing in our respective chambers on it.

Um, I'm super thankful to him that he was able to get it in the tax bill.

Um, politics are a little different on my side in the House and it it has nothing actually to do with Republican versus Democrat.

It's just philosophy by those who have gavvels.

Um, so I've really been trying to work with members of the tax committee um, on both sides here in the House telling the story so that it can be included um, and we can get it done this year if there's a tax bill.

Um, I also want to mention just another tax bill that's also kind of in this bipartisan realm.

um that state housing tax credit that's going to help build out more workforce housing.

And why it's so critically important uh for districts like both Senator House Childs and Eyes is that it allows for businesses in our communities to give uh tax credit donations that are going to go to build the workforce housing that they need.

So it creates these public private partnerships that that flourish into more housing to build out economic development opportunities in our region.

Um, and that bill is laid over in taxes and I'm hoping we can get it in the same place over uh in the Senate.

And that's another great tax provision uh for our Northland.

And speaking of bipartisan cooperation, Senator Hoschild, it is an election year and all members of the legislature are up for reelection.

Also, some members are running for governor and other higher office.

How is that making it uh more difficult or is it making it more difficult to find bipartisan solutions to some of these issues we've been talking about?

I think it is.

We have a speaker of the house who is running for governor.

We have the fraud committee chair running for governor.

Um I think that sometimes contained the debate in the legislature when you're trying to work across the aisle, when you're trying to advance sort of the core issues that matter.

There's some disincentives for those folks that are running for higher office to work together.

there's a disincentive for them to try to help the other side advance legislation because they feel like they may eventually hold control of the government in the state.

Um so my hope is that we can sort of push those folks aside and say those of us that really do want to work together, those of us that want to get something done, can we work together and get a bipartisan majority to advance a bonding bill, to advance some property tax relief for residents?

Can we work together to stop some of the bad bills on both sides that are advancing and perhaps make this session, you know, something that we can be proud of?

Um, my hope is that politics doesn't get in the way, but you're pointing out that folks running for statewide office uh certainly have a different perspective.

And Representative Iel, your point of view on this issue.

So, I mean, I'll just speak to Speaker Damoth especially on this.

Um, I've been incredibly impressed with Yes.

I mean, when you're running for a higher office while also having the highest job in the Minnesota House, it's got to be hard to keep those things separate.

I think she's done a fantastic job of keeping her commitment to this chamber and and to respecting both sides of the debate and not letting the the other opportunities she's seeking inter impede on that.

So, I think that is highlighting that we could still have a very successful session with bipartisan initiatives moving and each side getting a little of what they wanted regardless of what's happening in the November election.

uh you know I think the coalitions that have formed again and I'm going to be biased towards the house because we are tied but I look at just some of the relationships I've been able to form with members of the oppos opposite side of the aisle from me like those are the issues that we're trying to lift up and really carry and explain to everyone that listen you have people that probably don't agree together on much but they found this bill and they worked together for weeks and months and we're proud of the fact that we did that together and I've created a lot of friendships out of this.

Um, and I'm hoping those are the things that once we get through third deadline next week, you're going to start seeing elevated on the House floor, especially, and you're going to see Republicans and Democrats standing up to speak in support of the bills they wrote together.

Senator Hoschild, uh, Duth and St.

Louis County days were held recently down at the state capital.

This is an annual event that's been going on for years and years.

I think the public would like to know a little bit about how what what actual impact does that kind of thing have on legislators and other communities do it as well.

Is it an effective lobbying technique and does it really help uh the legislators kind of get a grip on what is important to different regions?

Well, it wasn't that long ago that I was one of those folks.

When I was a Hermantown city councelor, I remember coming to the capital, meeting with legislators, advancing our city priorities, advocating to legislators from different parts of the state about why northern Minnesota is special.

And that's what I always tell the group.

First of all, it's my favorite week of session because I get to see all my friends down at the capital advocating for our region.

But secondly, because we have to show people why northern Minnesota is important.

If you think about it, if it wasn't for our region, if it wasn't for the mining and the timber industry that we have, if it wasn't for the Northshore and the Boundary Waters and Duth and the tourism that we have in our region, um Minnesota would basically be Kansas in my mind.

And so we have to show people that our region is important and tell those stories because if we don't do that, we're the only ones that we can rely on to advocate for ourselves.

And having that backup at the capital helping us advance the things that people like Representative Igel and I are trying to advance at the legislature, um, I think really helps us tell the story and it's incredibly impactful.

I can't tell you the number of conversations I have with legislators who talk about how impressed they are by the Duth and St.

Louis County Days um advocate advocacy that occurs.

I'll just add one small piece.

It is Duth and St.

Louis County days, but we do have other northern Minnesota advocates that come as well from Lake County and Cook County and all across the Arrowhead.

So, it really is a northeastern day at the capital and it's just really really an incredible feat.

And Representative Igo, you agree these uh efforts are definitely worthwhile and helpful to the legislature.

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, something I've been saying for a while now is we live in something I call the era of partnerships.

We either come together as communities, as counties, as people and advocate for things that are going to help and make a difference in our in our respective communities and world or we're all going to lose alone.

And I think we've really seen Duth and St.

those county days grow to have even larger impact, but we're also seeing it grow just across our communities, right?

Um you see how the range um a lot of the silos of people not working together is really starting to change and we're working together as one region, one voice.

And you see other groups coming down now and advocating like Duth and St.

Louis County is to carry and elevate that message of our communities.

And that is always what's made the range so strong.

And I think we need to continue doing it and continue to turn up the temperature on it because that's how we continue to be successful and that's how we bring everyone in northern Minnesota the highest quality of life.

And Senator Hostchild, Representative Igel just brought up cooperation planning and the cities of Duth, Hermantown, Proctor and L and Rice Lake have been working on regional planning for a while sharing resources maybe building facilities instead of for individual communities that one facility could serve all those communities in a region.

this is the kind of thing that might help you know the budgets deficits and the rising costs.

Where do you stand on that?

What can the legislature do to help you know promote this regionalism?

Yeah, it's a great point and you know I always tell people I'm in a unique position because I'm both a member of the Iron Range delegation and a member of the Duth delegation.

I represent a few neighborhoods in West Duth and so I get this unique perspective where I really have to bridge that divide in our region and figure out how can we advance the Northland together and that's always what I try to have the perspective of whenever I'm considering policy to your point about thinking together regionally locally in the Duth area um this is something that's critical um we see places like Rochester and the surrounding townships and communities working together on a lot of their proposals We see St.

Cloud coming forward with big requests for a new medical school, for a regional tax uh credit uh plan that they have for their region.

We need to do that in the Duth area and the Iron Range area as well.

If we can think together, throw aside the parochial fights that might have existed in the past, I think you will see our op our region benefit from from that opportunity.

And as a resident and former leader in Hermantown, I see the benefits of us working together, Rice Lake, Proctor, Hermantown, and Duth to really advance our growth and opportunities together because frankly we are reliant on each other.

Many residents work in Duth but maybe live in Proctor.

Um maybe kids from Duth go to Proctor schools.

We are one region and we need to start thinking that way if we want to be successful in the future.

and representative Igo, one of the critical issues, especially for rural Minnesota, has been ambulance service.

That there's not enough ambulance service.

Ambulances are a long ways away.

It's critical.

Uh rural hospitals, ambulances, all of these issues also could become part of regional planning.

Any solutions out there for the ambulance situation?

I know both you and Senator Hostel have been working on this issue.

Yeah, you know, it's definitely an issue that's been I've had meetings on, been trying to be up to speed on.

As of right now, I'm not as familiar with the things that are moving right now.

But I do know when we talk about this collaboration, it's sharing those service areas together.

Also, there's talks about how we can share costs with communities that have these ambulance services so we can collaborate.

Again, that's how you lower that threshold, the lower that cost to the taxpayer to the community so we can have that essential ambulance service.

And I do know that many of those conversations are happening, especially across the range about bringing those things forward so we can continue to have those because they are critically important.

Um, you know, last year the legislature was able to pass some dollars to really help with that, but I think there's going to be a more comprehensive policy coming in the future that is still being worked on.

And Senator Hoschel, anything you'd like to add on that rural hospital issue, rural ambulance issue?

Yeah, this is something that I've made my top priority since being elected.

When I was first running, I would hear from community leaders who were just at their wit's end because nothing had been done to address the rural ambulance crisis in our region.

So I got to work very quickly calling for a statewide bipartisan task force.

We formed that task force, did roundts all across the state.

We went to Washington DC and advocated with our federal delegation to fix the Medicare Medicaid gap in funding for rural ambulance, which is really the key issue.

But then at the state level, we advanced bipartisan legislation that did a couple of things.

One, it advanced an innovative approach to how we can think regionally about ambulance, which is this sprint medic model.

This is where we have a patrolling ALS service on the Iron Range, which is one of the pilot regions to help overlap with the local services to provide that life-saving care.

This is going exceedingly well.

We're hearing very positive things from all of the local folks involved in ambulance care.

And my hope is that we can continue to advance those programs in other regions of our state, perhaps in places like Coochin County, which are also struggling.

We also provided a direct aid to our local services to keep them afloat, and that's going to continue into the future into 2028 and beyond.

And lastly, I'm looking at tax incentives.

So, we have the ability in the state of Minnesota to pass a taxing district for rural fire and ambulance services, but oftentimes communities are riskaverse to doing that because they're afraid of maybe losing some control or losing local government aid to help fund those services.

And so, I'd like to create a state aid and I'm working with Senator Raric across the aisle on this to provide an aid to ambulance and fire districts to help incentivize them to form them.

I think if we do that, we would really start to see these regions think uh collaboratively more about how they can provide these services because the state would be uh providing an incentive and having buyin um with those services.

So, we're really looking at a multiaceted approach and we're on our way to really helping solve this crisis, I think.

All right, and we're wind winding down here.

We're under 10 minutes to go, so I want to get a few more questions and Senator Hoschild, uh you serve on the education policy committee.

We haven't talked about education at all in this hour so far.

What uh significant issues or uh topics uh has the education policy committee been considering this session?

One of them is cell phones.

Um you know, I'm a young parent of a six-year-old and a four-year-old.

I'm thinking about screens and technology and the impact that that's going to have on our kids' educational experiences.

I mean, even myself, I find myself being addicted to my phone and and we have to try to figure this out.

We're seeing test scores really suffer.

across the country.

And I think a lot of that is because of technology getting in the way of direct learning in our schools.

So, we're considering a policy that would ban cell phone uses um in our schools with obvious safety precautions and flexibility for our local schools to consider opportunities for kids to communicate with their parents, with their coaches, uh and certainly with their with their friends when appropriate.

So, my hope is that we take a look at that and and consider that.

So that's that's one of the things that I think has bipartisan agreement and bipartisan opposition.

So we'll see where it goes.

And Representative Igo, I've even seen some schools considering removing laptops from schools.

You know, laptops have been a big thing now for schools education, but the screen time thing is becoming an issue.

Any comments you have on uh what Senator Hoschild commented on and maybe your thoughts on screen time in school?

Yeah, you know, I'll I'll agree with my colleague and friend Senator Housechild on that.

My So, here's my little story on the screen time thing in schools.

My my younger brother is a public school teacher in North Dakota.

North Dakota passed this policy and it he's seen great success in his school of kids being uh paying more attention uh and not being distracted uh by, you know, the little 6-in device that flashes colors and tells you all the things that's going on in the world.

Now, you could be focused on what's going on in front of you with your teachers and learning about things.

So, no, I think it's a really good policy that the state should be looking into.

Um, and you know, again, make sure we do it right so that we can make sure that parents can get in touch with their children, you can talk to coaches, etc.

and so forth.

But not having those distractions in the classroom, I think would be really, really strong.

And represent, are there any other education issues that have come up in your uh district that uh you'd like to talk about?

Well, again, I I really want to hit on House File 3900, which is this the school trust fund constitutional amendment because the biggest thing I've been hearing across the range in my district is the shortfalls in um budgets in our school district budgets.

This bill, which we passed that education finance um a few weeks ago and is now sitting ready to be calendared hopefully for the floor here soon, would increase that school trust fund amount by 40% to over $90 per pupil aid funding that we would see for every single school district in the state of Minnesota.

So that that is a bill I've been shephering since I got down here uh in February.

And it could be the difference maker for so many of our school districts, not just in northern Minnesota, but all across this state.

And as we're getting ready to wind down here, uh Senator Hoschild, let's talk a little bit about what your priorities now going forward here till the end of the session.

What are you really hoping uh between now and uh and end the session date?

We have to address fraud headon and get that independent office of inspector general passed bipartisanly in both bodies so it can be signed by the governor.

The senate is going to be demanding that moving forward.

We have to look at reducing costs for motans whether it's property taxes looking at utility prices trying to make sure that we are uh you know providing a little bit of relief for renters.

If we can do that, I think it would really go a long way in supporting both direct residents but also our local governments who are feeling those mandates coming at the federal level.

Um, and then lastly, if we can do some key things for northern Minnesota with regards to the seasonal properties, with regards to bonding and infrastructure investments, you know, maybe not a whole lot will get done this year, but we should address costs, we should address fraud, and we should make infrastructure investments so that jobs can be created in our region.

That would be a heck of a successful session in my mind and a bipartisan one at that.

And Representative Iel, your thoughts, uh, final words here on what you hope to see happen before session ends.

We have to take those first steps of fixing fraud.

We have to return affordability and we have to do it in a way that actually makes a difference.

So, a lot of the bills that both Senator House and I talked about are in that realm and we need to elevate those things.

This goes back to what we talked about with partnerships.

This is where we need those who are watching this broadcast to get involved and help us carry the water.

The more energy we put behind these issues, the more they become a reality into passage.

So, going into next week now and as we talk about what's going to be looking forward to a third deadline, it's finding those ways that we can find u dollars inside the budget to not raise taxes, but hopefully return those taxes, return affordability to the state of Minnesota.

And that's going to be my top priority before we adjourn here, which I think is uh just under a few short weeks here now.

So, and Senator Hashell, before we go, uh what are the likelihoods that everything gets completed on time?

I know the legislature has been kind of notorious in recent years of having to have overtime work going to a special session.

Do you think that's likely this time?

I don't think that's likely this time.

Um because we're not in a budget year.

So last year we had to pass a budget in order to fund the government and that's really what required a couple of extra weeks of negotiations given the real split in the legislature.

this year unfortunately or fortunately depending on the circumstances we'll just see uh the session end without a deal if that ultimately is what happened and I think that would be a real shame because there are real things that we could do to address issues for motans uh which we've already talked about uh this hourlong interview but um I do hope that those of us that want to get stuff done come together and really demand it because ultimately session will just end without anything happening if we don't do that and representative Iel 30 seconds.

Your opinion on that?

No special session this time.

This time around, there will be no special session.

It just will not happen.

So, it is important now that the priorities and issues that have the legs to move, we get them moving now and remove the politics around them, get them passed because once we get to our end of session, that's it.

All right.

Well, I'd like to thank you both.

We are out of time.

I'd like to thank Senator Grant Hoschild and also Representative Spencer Iggo for being with us today and sharing their thoughts, answering their questions today.

We will be back again next week to speak speak with more members of the Minnesota State Legislature and answer more of your questions.

Thank you for watching and to the viewers at home for writing in with your questions.

You're playing a vital part in our representative government.

For the team here at PBS North, I'm Greg Grell.

Have a great evening.

Heat.

Heat.