Grant Hauschild

From Hoyt Lakes and Tower to Babbitt and Ely, Iron Rangers know what it means to stand together when times get tough. This year at the Minnesota Legislature, I made sure that spirit was reflected in our work. The Iron Range wasn’t just represented, we were prioritized.
When more than 630 Steelworkers at the Hibtac and Minorca mines were laid off, I didn’t wait around to see what would happen. I brought the Senate Majority Leader to the Range to meet with impacted workers. I then served as a lead negotiator on the Jobs & Labor Conference Committee and secured 26 weeks of extended unemployment benefits. We need these workers and their families to stay in our Range communities so that we can rely on their skilled labor when our mines get back up and running. That is why this was so important.
We also delivered $32 million in new EMS funding for rural Minnesota, ensuring that our first responders have the resources they need. On the Iron Range, where small towns are spread out across a wide area, that kind of investment is lifesaving. We also protected rural nursing homes from severe cuts originally proposed in the budget. Nursing homes like the Cook Care Center and Boundary Waters Care Center are a key part of our social fabric and helping them means helping all of us.
In the Tax Committee, I fought to protect Local Government Aid and pushed for a fairer deal for school districts with large seasonal property tax bases. This is an issue that hits several Range school districts hard. While we didn’t get the full fix this year, we made important headway in highlighting this issue and I am committed to pushing this forward as my top priority.
I also helped lead on bipartisan permitting reform, a key priority for Iron Range businesses. I was joined in this effort by Representative Josh Heintzman, a Republican from Nisswa. The bill we passed keeps strong environmental protections in place but ensures the process works so job-creating projects can move forward if they meet and exceed standards. That’s good for mining, good for construction, and good for small towns trying to grow.
Water infrastructure was another major focus. I supported raising the cap on Water Infrastructure Fund (WIF) grants so Range towns with aging pipes and systems can qualify for the support they need. Recent communities that benefit from these water programs include Tower and Aurora - Hoyt Lakes.
And in our schools, I passed legislation giving rural districts more flexibility to hire support staff including counselors and mental health professionals because our kids deserve the same opportunities as any others in the state.
The people of the Range sent me to St. Paul to be their voice - not the voice of any one party or any one interest group. That’s why I’ll never stop fighting for our communities, because it is my firm belief that Northern Minnesota is the best of Minnesota. And after this session, I can proudly say the rest of the state realized that too.
Sen. Grant Hauschild is the Assistant Majority Leader