Minnesota Senate Republicans announced today that Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids) will serve as the chair of the new Mining and Forestry Policy Committee when the new legislative session begins in January.

“Those of us from Northern Minnesota understand what it is like to be surrounded by beautiful natural resources that provide for our way of life,” said Sen. Eichorn. “We have smaller tax bases and have an economy driven by timber, taconite, and tourism. We depend on natural resources for our communities to thrive. From my first day in the Senate, I have pushed for a more intense focus on the issues important to Northern Minnesota and I am glad to have the opportunity to chair this new committee. From timber harvests to pipelines to mining, we can revitalize our local economies and create good-paying jobs in a safe, environmentally-conscious way — while continuing to protect the Great Minnesota wilderness that we all treasure.”

The priority for the session will be balancing the budget in light of the economy recovering from Covid. For the upcoming session there are more committees, 29 in total, from 2020, but with fewer members to accommodate for social distancing. The new committee areas are focused on: data practices and civil law, property taxes, mining and forestry, labor and industry, health and human services licensing, metropolitan governance, and redistricting.