It was a packed house at the Great Northern Bar And Grill in Bagley as Representative Matt Grossell of District 2A, Representative Steve Green of District 2B, and Senator Paul Utke of District 2 participated in special Town Hall event. Many topics were brought up during the discussion. The group started by highlighting a few bills they’re working on in Saint Paul. Rep. Grossell says he’s working to get more protections for law enforcement, as well as protecting gun owner’s rights.

Grossell says about bills House File 8 and House File 9: “I’ve tried to sit and explain that the only people these bills are going to have an ill effect on are people like you and I. People who are not problems, people who are not criminals, people who are not hurting anyone else.”

Sen. Utke spoke about the Line 3 Pipeline and about stopping the lawsuits that are against the project. He also spoke about passing legislation that would help deter protestors.

Utke says, “Of course, we’re very concerned about the pipeline construction and even the current maintenance of it, people trespassing and starting to try to turn valves and do that type of damage. We’re ramping up some of the penalties hopefully to deter these people because currently we’ve got fairly decent laws in place, but it doesn’t seem to stop them.”

The topic of the 2020 Census also came up. Rep. Green expressed the importance of participating in it.

“We’ve got some money in there for the Census coming up. The Census is very important to us because we are this close to losing a congressional seat in Minnesota and we really can’t afford that. We have eight congressional districts – if we’re down to seven, that’s going to hurt us,” says Green.

The officials said the basic message they wanted to get out at the town hall is they’re working for the best interests of the people they serve.

Green says, “Most of my bills are to do away with the rule-making authority and try to cut back on rules and laws that are no longer valid that are hanging out there. It’s been said that you can’t walk outside you door in Minnesota without breaking a law, and I guess I tend to believe that.”

Some other topics brought up at the town hall include medical marijuana and immigration. The town was organized by the Headwaters Regional Farm Bureau.

By — Shirelle Moore