GRAND RAPIDS — State Sen. Grant Hauschild just finished his first legislative session representing the largest Senate district in the state, covering five counties and two tribal nations in the Arrowhead region.
Senate District 3 covers five counties and two tribal nations in northeastern Minnesota. In conversation with Heidi Holtan and Kari Hedlund on the KAXE Morning Show Thursday, July 20, the DFLer from Hermantown said his priority was bringing money back to the district through the bonding bill agreed on two days before the end of session.
He recently made a trip to Bigfork and Grand Rapids to highlight funded projects.
Bigfork Community Center gets $1.5 million
The Bigfork Community Center will soon get a facelift with some state money. A total of $1.5 million was appropriated to the Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation to provide a grant to the city to renovate and expand the center.
The dollars are designated for a community strength training, fitness and wellness center along with public restrooms accessible from the Bigfork River Walk Trail and new locker rooms for the Bigfork school.
“I really think it’s going to be a great place for community gathering in the region,” Hauschild said.
He explained the tax base in small communities can hinder quality of life opportunities.
“We know that we need to provide quality of life opportunities to keep people in our communities.”
Bigfork Valley Hospital and Nursing Home gets direct appropriation of $25 million per year
A total of $25 million in funding came from legislation to support places like Bigfork Valley and other federal qualified health centers. Included in the funding is assistance in purchasing technology for health care records, recruitment and an apprenticeship program to build a health care workforce in the region.
Hauschild had a chance to visit the facility and said, “I work in health care and so does my wife, and I was just truly blown away by the quality of the facility that they have in Bigfork.”
He added, “I genuinely mean that. Really just a world class facility in a rural community.”
" I was just truly blown away by the quality of the facility that they have in Bigfork."Sen. Grant Hauschild DFL-Hermantown
Rural electric coops
Hauschild met with rural electric coop district members from Lake Country Power in Grand Rapids as well.
“We have a lot of rural coops in our region that serve our local communities,” he said. “And those rural coops and those elected members to those boards know best how to provide power to their local community.”
Hauschild mentioned one of his accomplishments this session was working on rural coops not having to meet the same standards as larger utilities.
He said advocating for bonding and other funding for small towns is a necessary part of his role.
“A lot of senators, particularly in the Twin Cities, don’t even ask for bonding projects,” he said. “ … It’s really shocking when you get down there and I think a lot of that is because their tax base is larger and they have projects funding by levies and property taxes.”