REGIONAL— As lawmakers settled into the 2024 legislative session this week, it was clear that this year’s goals will be more modest than last year’s transformational session.
“It’s a policy year,” said Third District Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown, during an interview this week with the Timberjay. “We did the big stuff last year.”
Instead, Hauschild expects fellow lawmakers to focus on more modest objectives to address some of the issues that didn’t quite make the final cut last year.
Hauschild’s take on the session is in line with others in his party, including Gov. Walz who told Minnpost this week that he’s happy to focus on implementation of some of the major programs enacted last year. The governor also proposed a relatively modest $928 million bonding proposal, far less than the $2.6 billion in capital bonding approved by lawmakers last year.
“And I’m okay with it,” said Hauschild. “Last year was the largest bonding bill ever in Minnesota, and we’re making historic investments as a result,” he said, adding that bond rating agencies have recommended the state take a smaller bite this year. “They’re telling us that the governor’s number is appropriate.”
Hauschild said last year’s bill helped make up for years of gridlock in St. Paul, including years when no bonding was approved.
Hauschild said he’s looking now for projects that are truly needed. “I think the water infrastructure project in Tower is a perfect example of a big need rather than a want. It’s one of my top priorities.”
Tower’s project, which includes the construction of a new drinking water treatment facility, has seen dramatic escalations in its projected price tag (see related story page 1), in part due to the impact of a significant amount of infrastructure spending approved at both the state and federal levels in the past couple years, which has created a large volume of work for a limited number of contractors. “This is the thing about making punctuated investments in infrastructure,” said Hauschild. “It’s the irony of divided government. It creates higher costs [when the spending all happens at once]. The flip side is, do you not make the investments? That’s the balancing act.”

EMS stopgap
A fix to the ongoing budget shortfalls for area ambulance services is high on Hauschild’s agenda as well. Hauschild had called for the creation of the bipartisan EMS task force and the issue has consumed a lot of his time. “I just got back from D.C. to lobby on behalf of higher federal reimbursements,” he said. “Next week, I plan to introduce a bill to plug the holes in some of the ambulance budgets, especially on the Iron Range.” He said he’ll be proposing $125 million to address the issue statewide, although he acknowledges he’s unlikely to get that much money. “I‘m hoping it will raise awareness of the issue. Meanwhile, I’ll work behind the scenes with leadership and the governor’s office to figure out how to get the support they need, at least in the short term, then in 2025 I hope we can craft a longer-term solution.”
Hauschild suggested a regional approach could make sense, although implementing it without increasing response times will be the challenge. He mentioned using what’s been dubbed a “fly car,” which is a non-transporting EMS vehicle typically driven by a paramedic to respond quickly to medical needs, typically ahead of the arrival of an ambulance.
They’re in use in several European countries but haven’t seen widespread use in the U.S.
Hauschild acknowledged that any reform of ambulance services on the Iron Range will take time, whereas the need for additional funding is acute. “We’re facing a crisis right now. We have to figure out how to plug the holes in the short term while reforming the system.
There’s no way I can snap my fingers this session and solve it all at once.”
Meanwhile, Hauschild said he’s hoping to make progress on other issues developed out of his Northland Strong initiative. “We had a lot of great roundtables around the district,” he said. Out of those discussions, he’s hoping to expand the eligibility cap for the Public Facilities Authority, which provides grant and loan funding to most water treatment projects in the state. Hauschild said he believes expanding the cap would help a lot of rural communities fund water infrastructure.
He’s also planning a bill to address e-waste, another to advance mine truck electrification, and another to increase funding for outdoor education. “We’re becoming so screen focused today that the best thing we can provide is outdoor experiences for our kids,” he said.
He’s also planning to continue to work on child care affordability. “That’s been one of my top issues,” Hauschild said. “Last session, I worked on child care stabilization grants. Now, I’m introducing a bill that would try to make it so no family spends more than seven percent of their income on child care, a threshold identified by the Department of Health.” While such funding provides direct help to young families and child care centers, he said rural communities benefit more broadly by making it possible for young families to live and work there. “This is about having young families in our communities, about creating vibrant communities for the long-term.”