Anderson to co-chair state House ag committee

By Reed Anfinson
District 12A State Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, has been named the Republican Co-Chair of the House Agricul-ture Finance and Policy Committee for the 2025-26 legisla-tive biennium.
He is co-chairing the committee with Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party Rep. Rick Hansen of South St. Paul be-cause for the second time in state history the 134-member House is evenly split 67-67 between Republicans and Dem-ocrats.
Anderson, who farms southeast of Starbuck in Pope Coun-ty, was elected to his 9th term in the state House with 73.8% of the vote Nov. 5. During the last legislative session, when the DFL controlled the body, he served as the Republican lead on the Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee.
For the current members of the Minnesota House splitting power is entirely new. There isn’t a member in the body that was around that last time it happened in 1978. The Legisla-ture Jan. 14 for 2025 session at the Capitol in St. Paul.
“We’ve been given a tied House to provide balance in Min-nesota, and make sure that our agriculture industry here in Minnesota does not suffer from the burdensome and unnec-essary regulations passed over the last several years,” Ander-son said in a prepared statement following the announce-ment of his leadership position. “Our state is an agriculture leader, and we need to support our farmers and give them the tools they need to continue their important work.”
It is somewhat ironic that the ag committee’s co-chair rep-resenting the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is from South St. Paul. It shows the reality of a party that doesn’t have much to choose from in rural Minnesota. The Republican Party has captured nearly every House and Senate seat outside the Twin Cities seven county metropolitan area.
District 12A House includes all of Swift, Stevens, and Big Stone counties, all but the three northeast townships of Pope County, and 12 townships in western Stearns County.
With some issues, it may indicate a split along not just lines of the Republican and DFL parties, but also along urban and rural interests.
Hansen’s choice by the DFL as the co-chair of the ag com-mittee could be challenging for Anderson and Republicans. During the 2023-2024 session, Hansen was chair of the En-vironment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Com-mittee. However, he also served on the Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee.

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