Over 50 passionate Bemidji residents loaded a bus and made the trip down to St. Paul to visit with state legislators and to lobby support for various area projects. This annual tradition put together by the Bemidji Chamber of Commerce has lead the way to better communication and a stronger representation for Bemidji.

For the past 12 years, a delegation of Bemidji residents has traveled down to the state capitol to make their voices heard on key issues, and one thing is certain that when its Bemidji day at the capital it definitely has an impact.

There was a noticeable Bemidji presence that sat in on a House Transportation Committee hearing  where they heard discussion about the expansion of the highway 371 Paul Bunyan Expressway. But it was in a less formal setting when the team of red and black paid got paid a visit by Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt who was joined by representative Matt Bliss who took questions from the group of Bemidji lobbyists regarding topics ranging from transportation to local government aid.

Bemidji lobbyists then split into small groups and made the effort to connect with every Senator and House Representative. In one group, questions about bonding, and transportation were not the only issues discussed. For one Bemidji High School student, it was a question about a career in politics that was asked to freshman Senator Justin Eichorn.

After a full day of lobbying and making one on one personal connections with state legislators, the 12^th Annual Bemidji Day at the Capitol was considered another success.

By — Josh Peterson

News Reporter in Bemidji | jpeterson@lptv.org