State Senator Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) was officially sworn in as the youngest Senate president in the modern era when the Minnesota legislature reconvened for the 2019 legislative session on Tuesday.

“I am constantly overwhelmed with gratitude in this job,” said Sen. Miller. “Every day I cherish the fact that the residents of Fillmore, Houston, and Winona Counties continue to trust me as their voice at the Capitol, and now I am equally grateful to my colleagues for trusting me to preside over the Senate with the respect and dignity Minnesotans deserve.”

Minnesota’s Lieutenant Governor served as the Senate president from the state’s founding in 1858 until 1973, at which point the Minnesota Senate began electing its own presidents. While there were younger Lieutenant Governors to serve as Senate president, at 35 years old, Sen. Miller is the youngest state Senator in Minnesota history to serve as president. Sen. Miller, who was 26 when he won his first election, was also the second youngest state Senator in Minnesota history.

Sen. Miller also discussed some overall early session priorities, which aim to address issues on the minds of hardworking Minnesotans, such as better support for individuals facing mental health issues, better access to affordable child care, cleaning up waste and fraud within state government, and bringing Minnesota’s tax code up to date with recent federal changes.

“As I have traveled the district listening to ideas and feedback from the people I represent, a few issues keep coming up over and over,” said Sen. Miller. “While there are several other important issues we will address this session, these initial priorities reflect the concerns I hear most from working Minnesotans. I look forward to working with Gov. Walz to deliver results that Minnesotans can be proud of.”

The first five priorities unveiled by Senate Republicans are as follows:

• Supporting mental health – Senator Miller is committed to a stronger legislative response to the growing problem families are facing regarding mental health, including in our schools and on the farm.
• Making child care more affordable and accessible – During statewide listening sessions over the summer, senators heard from parents struggling to find and afford child care. New legislation will address the regulatory overreach that causes these problems and encourage new child care providers to start up.
• Lowering health care costs – Senate Republicans will build upon their recent success in lowering health insurance premiums by offering new proposals that allow patients more freedom to choose their doctor, shop around for the best value for their health care dollar, and make health care billing more transparent.
• Making government more effective and accountable, and eliminating fraud – Senate Republicans will introduce several proposals to hold government more accountable and stop wasting money in the areas of child care fraud, MNLARS and other statewide IT failures.
• Making our tax code simpler and fairer – In addition to making tax filing easier by conforming to the new federal tax law, the Senate Republicans’ proposal will simplify the tax code and reduce taxes for Minnesota families.

In addition to his role as Senate president, Sen. Miller will serve on the Capital Investment Committee, the Higher Education Committee, the Rules Committee, and the Taxes Committee.

Sen. Miller can be reached by phone at 651-296-5649, by email at Sen.Jeremy.Miller@senate.mn; or at his office in room 3107 of the Minnesota Senate Building, 95 University Ave, St Paul.