State Senator stresses importance of bipartisanship

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

It is difficult to balance the interests of outstate issues and metro issues in the Minnesota state legislature. For that reason, State Sen. Jordan Rasmusson said it is essential to work in a bipartisan manner whenever possible.

“We accomplished a lot on a bipartisan effort in 2025,” said Rasmusson to attendees July 28 at the Bigwood Event Center, Fergus Falls, during an event sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) of Minnesota, a non-profit organization advocating for sound economic practices to benefit families and businesses.

Rasmusson, in 2025, worked on a bipartisan effort to successfully pass a legislative bill for funding to address transitional recovery housing in Otter Tail County. He previously worked with outstate and metro lawmakers to address funding for rural nursing homes, rural ambulance services and mental heath units in outstate Minnesota.

“Jordan and other like-minded legislators from both parties should be commended for improving communications to get things done for Minnesotans,” said Joshua Solana, deputy director for Americans for Prosperity (AFP) of Minnesota, standing next to Rasmusson at the Bigwood Event Center.

“Our emphasis, as members of the Republican party, continues to be on free-market solutions,” Rasmusson said. “This year we were able to work with Democrats to stop a cost shift from the state to county commissioners. Had we not done this, some counties could have seen tax increases from five to nine percent.”

Both parties, said Rasmusson, agreed to a $700 million capital investment bill to address repairs of roads, bridges and wastewater plants. “There was no pork in this bill, with dollars going to where they should be going,” Rasmusson said.

Both parties saw the need to roll back health services to illegal immigrants. “This is an example of legislators coming together to make some tough but necessary decisions in order to balance the state budget,” Solana said.

Rasmusson said that Republicans will continue to push for audits to find waste and abuse. To that end, he said an independent office of inspector general in Minnesota will look into waste, fraud and other issues.

The Feeding Our Future scandal in Minnesota involved a massive fraud scheme that allegedly stole more than $250 million in federal funds intended for child nutrition programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. One example was fraudsters saying that 2,000 meals were provided to youths in Pelican Rapids on a daily basis. But the population of Pelican Rapids is only 2,597 residents.

As for the upcoming 2026 legislative session, Rasmusson said lawmakers will need to address the housing issue with many Minnesota residents unable to enter the housing market. He added that emergency ambulance challenges remain as well as rural hospital and nursing home assistance needs.

The lion’s share of the state budget, said Rasmusson, will continue to be health and human services and k-12 education. 

“For that reason, taxation in Minnesota will not be going away anytime soon,” added Solana who personally made a pitch for more legislative funding assistance for Minnesota’s military veterans.