Senator weighs in on both state, federal issues during town hall
State Sen. Grant Hauschild addressed an assortment of issues - including gun legislation - during a town hall event in Ely.
Nearly 50 people attended the event at the Ely Community Center, where Hauschild spoke for nearly an hour and fielded numerous questions.
Guns and national politics were hot topics, and the Hermantown Democrat spoke to both.
Responding to a question from the audience, Hauschild said “I don’t know” when asked if he would support a proposal to ban assault weapons in Minnesota.
“I want to keep having a conversation and see what is in the whole package,” said Hauschild. “I think magazines in particular, we can limit the amount of bullets.” Hauschild addressed both the June assassination of State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and the shootings of State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, as well as the August mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
Area resident Val Myntti, who raised the first question related to guns, told Hauschild she had a cousin who “hid under a pew as the bullets were going over his head” at Annunciation. Hauschild indicated he had two second cousins present as well.
“When I think about the Annunciation shooting, I think about sending my son on a bus to kindergarten and it’s very hard, concerning to my wife and I,” said Hauschild. “What we have to find is how do we get this issue to move beyond the politics and partisanship you see on these issues.”
Hauschild supported and voted for “red flag” legislation that he said helped avert a potential mass shooting in Duluth and added it was “a complete DFL voting issue and now you have Republicans saying those are great things.”
“But the legislature is 50-50 right now,” said Hauschild. “I want to work with Republicans on school security and common sense gun reforms. It would take maybe four or five moderates or maybe even two to be willing to vote on a package that can truly pass. If it becomes a political game, I don’t think it’s doing service to the families who have children who died... We’re going to do what we can but we have to get the other side to join us and take this on.”
Hauschild said a potential statewide referendum on the issue, recently suggested by Gov. Tim Walz “could possibly be a common sense way to do it as well.”
Federal issues and the ongoing federal government shutdown crept into the discussion as well, with both audience members and Hauschild voicing concern about the impact of federal Medicaid cuts on local hospitals, as well as the looming loss of SNAP (food stamp) benefits for millions of Americans.
“I’ve been trying to shout from the rooftops what Medicaid cuts mean,” said Hauschild.
He noted the substantial number of Medicaid recipients in rural areas including northeastern Minnesota and said cuts would hurt rural hospitals in Ely, Cook, Bigfork and Grand Marais.
FIVE TIME STATE QUALIFIER - Molly Brophy of Ely took sixth at the Section 7A girls cross country meet and qualified for state for a fifth straight season. The Ely junior will compete Saturday at the University of Minnesota in the Class A girls event, and will look to move up after taking 35th in the state last season.
Hauschild said it was “backward” to pass legislation to help rural hospitals and then “pull people’s insurance.”
“I don’t think that’s the right approach,” he said.
The loss of food stamp benefits “is going to be on the top of our mind for legislators,” Hauschild indicated.
“We do have $4 billion in our rainy day fund,” said Hauschild. “I’m not saying I want to completely take away from that but in certain emergencies where people are going hungry, it’s possible you can see a fund like that utilized.”
Ely area resident Bill Erzar also raised a federal issue, saying “as a grandson of immigrants, I thoroughly dislike what the masked ICE marauders are doing in this country to immigrants. If the state can do anything, make ICE show their identification and keep their masks down and tell people what they’re being charged with.”
Hauschild agreed and said, “The fact that we have masked law enforcement capturing people is truly horrific.”
“I think the state is looking at what it can do,” said Hauschild. “What is it we can do at the state level... I don’t know frankly what power we do have to supersede the feds. It is a top-down jurisdiction. The biggest thing as Minnesotans is we have to raise our voices.”
Hauschild said he was at a dinner recently honoring the late state lawmaker and county commissioner Tom Rukavina, who on his deathbed released a public letter hailing the contributions of immigrants.
“The point of his letter was him talking about the history of immigration in his family and the fact he was being cared by a Somali nurse,” said Hauschild. “And making the point we are a country of immigrants.”
Asked if the impact of the Trump Administration “is all bad,” Hauschild offered some praise related to trade policy.
“I’m being completely transparent, I do think there’s a conversation that needs to happen on tariffs,” said Hauschild. “I don’t think across the board everywhere all at once on adversaries and allies is a very effective trade policy. That’s where I think Trump is wrong. But we are the wealthiest country in the world. We buy most of the products from the rest of the world. Jobs are being shipped overseas. I don’t see any problem with us as a country saying we have buying power and you’re going to pay a tax if you want us to buy your stuff. How we do it reasonably is much more nuanced.”
Few political debates in Ely avoid the topic of mining and copper-nickel ventures, which came up with Hauschild, who said he opposed legislation that would permanently ban copper-nickel mining on state lands near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
“I want an objective process that allows the state to evaluate a mine plan regardless of where it is,” said Hauschild.
Local resident and longtime wilderness advocate Becky Rom pushed back, urging Hauschild to oppose copper-nickel projects and to support a sale of school trust lands in the BWCAW that would net funding for Minnesota public schools.
Hauschild voices his support for both solar and nuclear energy projects during the discussion, and pointed to his efforts to land several million dollars for the Ely schools for athletic facilities.
“It doesn’t matter which school district or what rural community you come from, your extracurriculars for your kids should be at a good quality level,” said Hauschild.
Constituents also asked Hauschild to keep an eye on how the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources manages logging on state lands, as well as the impact of proposed data centers across the state. Another pressed him to support funding for a possible community swimming pool in Ely.
Late in the session, Hauschild addressed his cooperation with State Rep. Roger Skraba (R-Ely), despite their party differences.
“We have colleagues who represent the same district who don’t have each other’s cell number,” said Hauschild. “How can you work for your district if you can’t even talk to each other? Roger and I certainly disagree on a lot of things, but we also agree on a lot of core things that matter for northern Minnesota. There’s no point in fighting each other.”
