Minnesota has two local bulldogs doing impressive things in the House and Senate.

 

This past week, this reporter got the chance to sit down with Rep. Jim Newberger and Sen. Andrew Mathews to get an update on goings-on at the legislature during their last session. Taxes, transportation, healthcare, budgets, forests, sewer systems and of course, the Sherco Power Plant in Becker were discussed.

 

Newberger said he and Mathews were part of the legislature that put forward 10 major budget and policy bills in order to “stay open for business”. Newberger said they got them done early, expecting some being rejected and more work to be done.

 

To Newberger and Mathew’s disbelief, the governor vetoed every one of the bills.

 

“This was even after we had already gone through numerous negotiations and discussions and he wouldn’t sign any of them,” Newberger said. “So the second time we went through a grinder and by the deadline, we got five signed into law. The other five were delayed because Gov. Dayton changed parameters.”

 

The five bills signed included public safety, environmental & natural resources, energy & jobs, higher education and agriculture.

 

From there, they went immediately into special session — a 60-hour marathon — until they finally got the other five bills passed — but with a condition.

 

“The governor passed the bills but line-item vetoed funding for the legislature,” said Mathews. “It went to court and we won at the district level but Gov. Dayton is appealing to the supreme court.”

 

“It was a successful session,” said Newberger. “Bills got passed and the government didn’t shut down.”

 

Newberger said the Republican Tax Plan of $600 million will focus on middle class families. Mathews authored a bill to reduce taxes across the board at every level and hopes to get the bill passed this year. Newberger and Mathews also pushed for a Social Security exemption relief which in part means “you are going to get a raise,” said Newberger.

 

This tax package is the biggest middle class tax relief package in 20 years,” he said. “It’ll be tax relief for farmers, for students and for veterans.”

 

They also introduced a tax exempt bill for business owners that would exempt any business owner from taxes on their first $100,00 of real estate.

 

“We are reinvesting in roads and bridges,” said Mathews. “This has been very high on our agenda and areas we promised to focus on when we asked the voters what they wanted.”

 

Newberger said the Minnesota Republicans just passed the largest transportation bill in nine years where they will be investing nearly $2 billion on roads and bridges in 2018-19 without raising taxes.

 

“We will also continue to invest an additional $5 billion dollars over the next decade,” Newberger said.

 

Newberger and Mathews both said work is being done at the federal level to fix the problem of Obamacare. Because of that, states have had to sort of “press the pause button” (Newberger’s phrase) until they come to an agreement.

 

“We’d like to ultimately see it become a market-driven system at the state level,” said Mathews. “The federal government doesn’t belong in the healthcare business.”

 

Though Obamacare is on pause, the state has taken powerful steps to try and unravel the Obamacare mess and bring premium relief to thousands of people.

 

“We shored up the foundations to keep the market from collapsing and we also took the first steps in going back to a free market model,” said Newberger. “This is just the beginning. I am looking forward to working continue to fix this issue.

 

Newberger said many healthy people have been opting to pay a fee for no insurance rather than pay expensive monthly premiums.

 

“That leaves insurance companies without funds to compound risk,” he said. “I know a lot of people are struggling with healthcare and MNsure was a major disappointment.”

 

In February, Gov. Dayton signed a bill authored by Sen. Mathews and Rep. Newberger to move ahead with building a new natural gas power plant to replace energy production from Sherco in Becker.

 

The move was criticized by some as the bill bypassed the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, which declined last year to commit to the new large-scale natural gas plant in Becker when it approved Xcel’s resource plan.

The bill passed with strong bipartisan support in the Minnesota House (80-45) and Minnesota Senate (39-25).

 

The Becker natural gas plant is a key component of Xcel's plan to transition its energy fleet to cleaner energy and the new plant is estimated to created about 150 jobs in Sherburne County, according to a news release issued by the governor's office.

 

Newberger has been working with Clear Lake and Clearwater for years to solve their sewer problems that is dumping 60 million gallons of phosphorus into the Mississippi River every year and raising rates for citizens of the two communities.

 

Newberger partnered with then Sen. Dave Brown to seek funding for a new plant in 2013 and then again in 2015, where Newberger said the Democrats would not approve it.

 

“In 2017, the bill made it to the final weeks of session and got funding through a bonding bill and jobs & energy bill,” said Newberger. “We were relentless and effective.”

 

The funding approved is for a $1.2 million water treatment facility which will be a cleaner facility and lower energy bills for citizens.

 

Newberger and Mathews  got a bill passed to regulate future DNR management of the Sand Dunes State Forest in Orrock Twp.

 

The DNR had been working to clear cut most of the south eastern area of the Sand Dune State Forest. Newberger said he was told the plan is to clear cut the pines and replace them with oaks. 

 

“It would take decades for these oaks to regrow into mature trees,” he said. “And residents in Orrock were, for the most part, left out of the decision-making process.”

 

Through further investigation by Newberger and Mathews, they learned that one of the main reasons the DNR wanted to clear cut the Sand Dunes State Forest was not driven by a desire to change to an oak forest, but it was to provide open landscape for pollinator bugs to thrive. 

 

“This decision was driven, I am told, by the ecological division of the DNR,” said Newberger. “So I drafted a bill that will stop the clear cutting for one year, and force the DNR to work with local residents on how the future of the forest should be managed.”

 

Last week the Citizen-Tribune reported Newberger has thrown his hat in the ring to run for U.S. Senate against Democrat Amy Klobuchar. It’s a tall task for Newberger, but he says he is ready to take the next step. He has no plans to renew a bid for his current legislative seat.

 

If he wins party endorsement at next year’s state convention, he’ll take on the Democrat who beat her last two opponents by double digits.

 

“There are millions of people in our state who have a different opinion than Sen. Klobuchar,” Newberger said. “We don't have a balance in the U.S. Senate.”

 

Newberger’s campaign goals include repealing the Affordable Care Act, reforming the state’s refugee program and lowering national debt.

 

Voters will choose their senator Nov. 6, 2018.