A break down about civility in politics with Sen. Grant Hauschild and Shannon Watson

[00:00:00] Welcome to The Break Down with Brodkorb and Becky, a weekly podcast that breaks down politics,

[00:00:16] policy, and current affairs.

[00:00:18] I'm Becky Scherr.

[00:00:19] And I'm Michael Brodkorb.

[00:00:21] Today we are joined by freshman Senator Grant Hostrial.

[00:00:24] Hostrial was elected in 2022 and represents the largest and most rural Senate district

[00:00:28] in northern Minnesota.

[00:00:30] With Senator Hostrial, we are going to break down why he decided to run for office

[00:00:33] and how his more centrist views work at a hyper-partisan time.

[00:00:37] We will also break down his decision to focus on reinserting civility in politics and working

[00:00:42] with members of all parties to get things done for Minnesota.

[00:00:45] Our conversation with Senator Hostrial was a political palette cleanser.

[00:00:49] And one addition to this week's episode is an opportunity I had to speak with Shannon

[00:00:52] Watson, the executive director and founder of Majority in the Middle, to talk about

[00:00:57] the final weeks of the legislative session and opportunities for Republicans and Democrats

[00:01:02] to work in a bipartisan way to finish their work on time this legislative session.

[00:01:06] So thank you for joining us and enjoy the show.

[00:01:11] We are excited to be joined by Senator Grant-Grant Hostrial today.

[00:01:15] You know, Senator, you are in your first term in the Minnesota Senate and we will touch

[00:01:19] on that shortly.

[00:01:20] But I want to hear a little bit about your background and how you decided to run for

[00:01:24] office.

[00:01:25] Before the show, I was looking up a little bit more about your biography and your

[00:01:30] recovered political operative working in that field a little bit.

[00:01:33] So tell us about what you've done and how you got to this point.

[00:01:38] Thanks Becky and Michael for having me on the show.

[00:01:40] I've been a listener for a while now, so it's fun to join you guys.

[00:01:44] That's exactly right.

[00:01:45] I've been involved in politics or policy work since I was really young and I don't

[00:01:50] really come from a political family.

[00:01:53] I still remember the look on my mom's face when I said I wanted to go get involved

[00:01:56] in campaigns.

[00:01:57] I think not always something that parents dream for their kids to get involved

[00:02:01] in politics.

[00:02:02] No, but it's been a great experience.

[00:02:03] I've done campaigns where I grew up in North Dakota for a long time.

[00:02:07] I spent some time in Washington DC working in the US Department of Agriculture and

[00:02:12] the Obama Administration.

[00:02:14] I went on to work for US Senator Heidi who was a moderate Democrat in the US

[00:02:18] Senate.

[00:02:19] And then I eventually made the move to Minnesota.

[00:02:22] My wife is from Minnesota and we wanted to live in northern Minnesota where we

[00:02:26] have beautiful outdoors and great communities.

[00:02:29] And so we moved there for her career and I found myself exploring politics here in

[00:02:35] Minnesota as well.

[00:02:36] Fantastic.

[00:02:38] And you stepped into this kind of role as a member serving your community at a very

[00:02:43] hyper-partisan time.

[00:02:45] So what went into that?

[00:02:47] Really stepping into that and likely knowing that with that comes a lot of arrows

[00:02:50] back at you.

[00:02:52] Yeah, that's one of the things I think I hate most about politics is how the

[00:02:57] extremes pull us into these camps that make it so we can't work together or do

[00:03:02] things to actually improve people's lives.

[00:03:05] And it feels like with both parties, oftentimes you see that happen more and

[00:03:10] more.

[00:03:10] And so one of the things that I really talked a lot about during the

[00:03:14] campaign was trying to stay out of the nonsense that we see in politics

[00:03:19] and focusing on delivering for people, delivering for our communities

[00:03:23] and really the economic side of policy work.

[00:03:26] And I think when you focus on economics, when you focus on deliverables,

[00:03:30] you can find a lot in common with people because everybody wants to achieve

[00:03:34] results for the constituents they represent.

[00:03:37] And so the things I focused on are things like childcare, emergency

[00:03:41] medical services.

[00:03:43] How can we make our permitting structure better in Minnesota so our

[00:03:46] companies can open up new businesses and hire more people?

[00:03:49] So things that I think matter to pocketbook, pocketbooks for our

[00:03:53] constituents is what I focused on.

[00:03:56] We reached out to you after there's been some discussion about

[00:04:00] civility and politics.

[00:04:01] And there's an op-ed that you had wrote for the Duluth News Tribune

[00:04:04] about Northern Minnesota where it's fighting for in St. Paul.

[00:04:08] You have a very large district in terms of a land space.

[00:04:11] It goes, I think it's the largest and most rural Senate district

[00:04:16] in Minnesota.

[00:04:17] You go from Lake Superior all the way.

[00:04:21] How far west do you go?

[00:04:23] Almost to Baddad, if you can believe that.

[00:04:26] Almost half the Canadian border.

[00:04:28] So go ahead.

[00:04:31] Yeah, just half the Canadian border in Minnesota.

[00:04:33] So it's a substantially sized district about the size of

[00:04:36] Massachusetts.

[00:04:37] About the size of Massachusetts.

[00:04:39] So let's talk a little bit about how civility and the

[00:04:42] importance of going to the legislature and focusing your

[00:04:45] legislative approach on civility benefits your legislative district.

[00:04:50] I think when we come together and we hear the different

[00:04:53] perspectives of all these different legislators that

[00:04:55] represent different parts of our state, when we listen to

[00:04:58] everybody and get insight from everybody, that's how we get

[00:05:02] the best policy.

[00:05:03] I said on the floor yesterday regarding an issue we were

[00:05:05] talking about, nobody's going to get 100% of what you want.

[00:05:08] If you only vote for something that you 100% agree with,

[00:05:12] then our legislative body would be completely defunct, right?

[00:05:17] We would never get anything done.

[00:05:18] We'd be like the United States Congress in my opinion.

[00:05:21] And so I think coming to a compromise and hearing people's

[00:05:25] voices is important.

[00:05:26] I just want to add, you brought up my rural nature of the

[00:05:30] district I represent.

[00:05:31] And that's a little bit of a unique perspective I bring to

[00:05:34] the DFL these days.

[00:05:36] There's not very many greater Minnesota DFL members of the

[00:05:39] legislature.

[00:05:40] And given that I do represent such a rural district,

[00:05:44] oftentimes when we are talking about the policy

[00:05:47] implications of the policies we're advancing, I bring up

[00:05:51] the rural nature of how that will affect that policy and

[00:05:54] bringing the voice of those rural constituents to the table.

[00:05:57] And I think that's really important, and it's where I

[00:05:59] find a lot of camaraderie with Republican members of the

[00:06:02] legislature.

[00:06:03] How do we stand up for greater Minnesota?

[00:06:04] How do we stand up for our most rural communities?

[00:06:08] With the transition of the, not, I don't want to mass

[00:06:13] generalize, but in both parties at the legislature,

[00:06:16] the fringes, the most extremes are the squeaky wheel

[00:06:20] gets to the grease, right?

[00:06:21] How do you find working within the DFL caucus being more,

[00:06:27] I don't want to put words in your mouth, but a little bit

[00:06:29] more moderate, a little bit more center left and working

[00:06:32] so bipartisanly with, ooh, bipartisanly.

[00:06:35] Someone's going to have my head for that one.

[00:06:37] In such a bipartisan nature with Republicans, do,

[00:06:41] is anybody within the caucus, and I'm not asking to

[00:06:44] name names, but do people give you a hard time for that?

[00:06:47] Do they want to suck you in a little bit more to the far

[00:06:50] left, or are they okay with your approach, knowing that

[00:06:54] you're representing your district?

[00:06:56] Yeah, you bring up an interesting point, which is

[00:06:59] it feels like almost on every issue, somebody says,

[00:07:03] I better go talk to Grant because I got to find out

[00:07:06] where he's at.

[00:07:06] And it comes from both the Republicans and the Democrats.

[00:07:10] And so that's where I start to, I think be sometimes

[00:07:15] unfortunately an inch deep and a mile wide on a lot of

[00:07:19] policies, because I really do have to bring a voice to a

[00:07:22] lot of different policies and make sure that perspective

[00:07:26] is brought to the table.

[00:07:27] And I do actually enjoy that opportunity because it gives

[00:07:30] me a chance to really touch a lot of different legislation

[00:07:34] and bring a unique voice.

[00:07:35] But to answer your question, people don't give me a hard

[00:07:38] time.

[00:07:38] They understand the position that I'm in.

[00:07:41] They understand the district that I represent, and I

[00:07:44] have to bring that voice to the table.

[00:07:46] And again, as long as you approach things from a

[00:07:49] compromise position, as long as you understand that you're

[00:07:53] going to bring both voices to the table, I find a lot

[00:07:55] in common with my progressive colleagues and my

[00:07:58] conservative colleagues.

[00:07:59] It just depends on the issue.

[00:08:01] I think that's great.

[00:08:02] I think that's a great perspective.

[00:08:04] And that's exactly one of the reasons that we wanted

[00:08:06] to talk to you as we said before, this is what

[00:08:09] the exact type of conversation we want to have on our

[00:08:11] podcast is to have discussions with people who are

[00:08:14] from different political parties and have different

[00:08:15] perspective.

[00:08:16] We have spoken with very conservative members of the

[00:08:20] legislature, very liberal members of the legislature,

[00:08:22] progressive on various levels.

[00:08:24] It's just so good to have people talking.

[00:08:27] And what I'm hearing so much about you in your

[00:08:30] approach is it's based on conversations and discussions.

[00:08:34] And Becky is right in the kind of the question she

[00:08:37] framed out, but it would also be applicable to

[00:08:39] someone who identified in a similar way on the

[00:08:42] Republican side.

[00:08:43] There's always that tug.

[00:08:44] There's always that tug by the extremes on both sides.

[00:08:47] And in essence of passing judgment on the poll that

[00:08:51] happens in both either the Democrat or the

[00:08:53] Republican Party, it's just a reality of the

[00:08:56] nature of parties.

[00:08:57] And it's so interesting to hear another example of

[00:09:01] a legislator coming on and talking about focusing

[00:09:05] on conversations and issues because that's the

[00:09:08] part of the process that we try to identify and

[00:09:11] raise the voices of people on this podcast.

[00:09:13] And so just wanted to note that it was interesting

[00:09:16] to hear you talk about the process and how much

[00:09:18] it was based in conversation.

[00:09:20] And that's what's so important to do.

[00:09:21] And just a tip of the cap at you for having that

[00:09:23] type of approach because it's good to hear, it's

[00:09:26] good to know, and it's good to see happening

[00:09:28] at the legislature.

[00:09:29] I appreciate that, Michael.

[00:09:31] And I really believe that 90% of the issues we

[00:09:35] face in this world are communication problems.

[00:09:38] It's simply a fact that people aren't

[00:09:41] communicating, aren't understanding one another.

[00:09:44] So the more communication opportunities we can open

[00:09:48] up on policy, I think the better we're going to be

[00:09:50] at finding solutions to the issues we face.

[00:09:53] Talk a bit about your Northland strong initiative

[00:09:56] that you put forward ahead of this 2024 legislative session.

[00:10:01] I appreciate you asking about that.

[00:10:03] Given the size of my district and how many

[00:10:05] rural communities I represent that are quite

[00:10:07] frankly far away from where I might live,

[00:10:10] I wanted to find a way to best connect with my constituents

[00:10:15] in an efficient and effective way.

[00:10:17] Other legislators that are in more urban places

[00:10:19] can have a town hall and everybody in that community

[00:10:22] has pretty easy access right to get there

[00:10:24] and voice their opinion.

[00:10:26] So instead with my Northland strong initiative,

[00:10:29] I focused on five core areas, strong families,

[00:10:33] safe communities, protecting our outdoor heritage,

[00:10:36] making sure Minnesota stays a state that works

[00:10:39] and then innovative economies are making sure

[00:10:41] that we have a strong economy.

[00:10:43] Long story short, I went about creating these roundtables

[00:10:46] in these various rural communities where I could

[00:10:48] bring stakeholders together, constituents

[00:10:50] together to talk about those issues,

[00:10:53] get their perspective on those themes

[00:10:55] and then bring a legislative package

[00:10:57] to the legislature this year so that I'm staying

[00:10:59] focused on what people actually asked of me

[00:11:02] rather than getting pulled into maybe some

[00:11:04] of the influence groups that are trying for bigger agendas.

[00:11:08] I want to focus on what matters to the Northland

[00:11:10] and that's why it's called Northland strong.

[00:11:12] It's about making sure my region is strong

[00:11:14] and I'm focusing on issues people care about.

[00:11:17] Now, as you mentioned, obviously you were elected

[00:11:20] in your district, but there are not as many

[00:11:23] Democrat elected officials in greater Minnesota

[00:11:26] and very often kind of Trump country up there, right?

[00:11:30] How do you find these kind of conversations

[00:11:33] when you are there?

[00:11:34] Are there some people that can still come in guns blazing

[00:11:37] or as we talked with some other members,

[00:11:40] other folks too, it's hard to hate up close, right?

[00:11:43] Once you're there and you're showing you're accessible,

[00:11:45] having these conversations, does that kind of

[00:11:47] tamp down that energy a little bit?

[00:11:49] It absolutely does, Becky.

[00:11:51] I think you're right.

[00:11:52] When you are out front, when you present yourself

[00:11:56] to be available to constituents, they are far less likely

[00:11:59] to come and yell at you or say,

[00:12:02] I am so mad at you for XYZ vote.

[00:12:06] Instead, when you present it with a theme of trying

[00:12:09] to deliver for the communities or when you present it

[00:12:11] as a theme of a challenge we all face,

[00:12:14] then people come more so with a mindset of solutions

[00:12:17] or a mindset of ideas than I'm opposed to you

[00:12:22] because you're a Democrat or because you're a Republican.

[00:12:24] And that's why I think having sort of those

[00:12:27] thematic guidelines is an effective way to host town halls

[00:12:30] and roundtables.

[00:12:32] And that's what I found with this initiative.

[00:12:35] What Becky just said is also one of the things

[00:12:37] that we try to do in this podcast and why, again,

[00:12:39] we reached out to you.

[00:12:40] You can have a podcast and you can have a discussion

[00:12:42] where it's just two guests, two hosts just yelling at each other.

[00:12:46] And trust me, there's a lot that Becky probably wants

[00:12:48] to yell at me about.

[00:12:49] And there's probably some things that I could spar back with.

[00:12:51] But one of the opportunities we have is talking

[00:12:54] with Democrats and Republicans even when they disagree.

[00:12:56] And Becky and I are both identify as Republicans.

[00:12:59] You are a Democrat.

[00:13:00] The fact that you came on this podcast or willing to talk

[00:13:02] to us is exactly what more needs to happen.

[00:13:05] Those are the type of conversations that needs to happen.

[00:13:07] You could have gotten this invitation.

[00:13:09] You could have gotten this invitation and said,

[00:13:11] Becky, Michael, it used to be a really partisan hack

[00:13:13] and Becky was also a partisan hack.

[00:13:16] They've both worked for partisan entities.

[00:13:18] There's no way I'm going on then to have that type

[00:13:20] of discussion.

[00:13:21] Fact you're willing to come on and talk about it does

[00:13:23] lower the temperature.

[00:13:24] It does lower.

[00:13:25] I think Becky and I have been so surprised by the reaction

[00:13:30] there's been to just us talking with people as we would

[00:13:33] in everyday life.

[00:13:34] And just again, hearing you talk about these issues,

[00:13:37] it's just great and it's so good that you were willing

[00:13:39] to come on and be an advocate for issues even though

[00:13:42] we may disagree on the focus of those issues.

[00:13:45] And that's what I think what needs to happen more

[00:13:48] and what you're doing every day at the legislature

[00:13:51] where your arms getting twisted a little bit

[00:13:52] and you might be twisting other people's arm.

[00:13:54] That's the type of politics that needs to be identified

[00:13:57] right now and that's a type of discussion that needs

[00:13:58] to happen and really proud of you for coming in

[00:14:02] as a freshman legislator and taking on that type

[00:14:06] of meaty kind of subject of civility and politics.

[00:14:11] Yeah, I appreciate it Michael.

[00:14:12] And what that's exactly what we've found with

[00:14:15] the civility caucus is that when you bring

[00:14:18] all these people around the table of different

[00:14:20] partisanship, different regions, different backgrounds,

[00:14:23] oftentimes what you find happen is people start

[00:14:26] talking about the similarities they have, the commonalities.

[00:14:30] One of the issues that I've heard talked about

[00:14:33] is this idea of where people are at in the stages

[00:14:36] of their life. A lot of us in the legislature

[00:14:38] are young parents. Some are former business owners

[00:14:42] and they bring that perspective of how is this

[00:14:44] going to impact small businesses?

[00:14:46] And that's a perspective that many of us don't have.

[00:14:48] So it's interesting to hear that perspective, right?

[00:14:51] So we know how policy impacts those things.

[00:14:54] Again, the world divide versus the suburban divide.

[00:14:57] There's a lot of different issues that people bring

[00:14:59] to the table and when you have that civility

[00:15:01] caucus opportunity to say, hey, we're not here

[00:15:05] to argue. We're not on the floor debating a bill.

[00:15:09] We're here to just talk to each other, to open up

[00:15:12] dialogue, to talk about the things that bring

[00:15:14] us together. Then I think when you do start

[00:15:17] talking about policy, you're that much more likely

[00:15:19] to go to that person and say, hey, I heard you say

[00:15:21] that you have young kids. I'm working on this childcare

[00:15:23] issue. How can we find a way to work together

[00:15:26] on some things that we might agree on?

[00:15:28] And that's, I think, the best success we can find

[00:15:30] from the civility caucus.

[00:15:32] That's fantastic.

[00:15:33] You hit on something and I'm going to get into

[00:15:35] the young kids here shortly. But first, I want

[00:15:37] to talk about age in general. You're on the

[00:15:40] younger side of the legislative or the

[00:15:43] legislate legislators serving our state.

[00:15:46] And also we, and again, mass generalization

[00:15:50] here, but it don't see a lot of moderate

[00:15:53] Democrats coming up through the college system

[00:15:56] these days. Now North Dakota is not maybe

[00:16:00] very flabby liberal kind of organization.

[00:16:03] But tell us how your political you got to

[00:16:06] where you are in that mindset and how

[00:16:08] that works because I know as a younger

[00:16:09] Republican, I have a lot of friends that I

[00:16:12] very much disagree with and we have good

[00:16:14] conversations and all that. But how was that

[00:16:16] kind of coming through and being more on the

[00:16:19] moderate side of the Democrats, both through

[00:16:22] college and with folks your age and then in

[00:16:24] the legislature?

[00:16:26] Yeah, it's a great question, Becky. I think

[00:16:29] a lot of it has to do with that very

[00:16:31] upbringing and growing up in North Dakota

[00:16:34] at the time, we had a lot of blue dog

[00:16:37] Democrats for those that are unfamiliar with

[00:16:39] that term because there's not very many

[00:16:41] of them left. It was the moderate rural

[00:16:44] caucus of the Democratic Party nationally

[00:16:46] and our full federal delegation in North

[00:16:49] Dakota, South Dakota and Montana were all

[00:16:51] Democrats at one point. And that's really

[00:16:53] the generation I grew up in. And so I found

[00:16:57] mentors that were in that type of atmosphere

[00:17:01] and latched on to those campaigns. I got

[00:17:03] involved on the policies that they cared

[00:17:05] about like standing up for farmers,

[00:17:08] particularly family farmers, labor, the

[00:17:10] unions, a lot of those groups that make up

[00:17:13] the traditional Democratic Farmer Labor

[00:17:15] Party. And I think that has a lot of

[00:17:18] influence and I think you're right to a

[00:17:20] degree that will coming up perhaps in more

[00:17:23] urban places or maybe in our college

[00:17:25] system, they also bring a different

[00:17:27] perspective. They see the impacts on the

[00:17:30] immigrant community. They see the impacts

[00:17:33] faced in our criminal justice system.

[00:17:35] And that also brings an important

[00:17:38] perspective for all of us. I think the

[00:17:40] most important thing is that we have a

[00:17:43] diversified perspective in the legislature,

[00:17:46] that we have these different areas

[00:17:47] represented because I can't tell you the

[00:17:49] number of times I have talked to either

[00:17:51] progressive colleagues or conservative

[00:17:54] colleagues and thought, oh, I was wrong.

[00:17:56] I was not thinking about that and how it

[00:17:58] impacts a certain group of people. And

[00:18:01] I think that's why the legislative body

[00:18:04] is one of the best bodies to be a

[00:18:05] part of because those different

[00:18:06] perspectives are at the table.

[00:18:09] I love that. I think it's incredible,

[00:18:11] the mindset that you're looking at this

[00:18:12] with because I completely agree. We've

[00:18:14] talked about that before, that I think

[00:18:16] sometimes the best ways I can either

[00:18:18] change my mind or even strengthen my

[00:18:20] opinion is having conversations with

[00:18:21] people on the other side and hearing

[00:18:24] what is there and it can help

[00:18:25] regulate in my mind how I want to

[00:18:27] message or talk about some things.

[00:18:29] Great mindset. We need more like you.

[00:18:31] And then you're a young parent

[00:18:34] or you've got two young kids, right?

[00:18:36] That's right. Yeah. Four year old

[00:18:38] two year old.

[00:18:39] So my son's almost two so I can

[00:18:41] fully appreciate what you're doing.

[00:18:43] But I have a flexibility of

[00:18:45] I get to work from home most days of

[00:18:47] the week. I go into the office two

[00:18:48] days a week, small firm, very

[00:18:50] flexible. Kids are sick all the time.

[00:18:53] How do you balance? We have the

[00:18:55] privilege of having a number of

[00:18:56] young parents up at the legislature

[00:18:58] yourself included. Talk to us a

[00:19:00] little bit about that balancing act

[00:19:02] on both actually getting to the

[00:19:05] capital and doing your job when

[00:19:06] you have a sick child.

[00:19:08] But also being able to have that

[00:19:10] perspective. Let's start there.

[00:19:11] We'll get into the childcare thing

[00:19:13] here shortly.

[00:19:15] The young parent perspective is

[00:19:17] such a critical one at the

[00:19:19] legislature and it's really, I

[00:19:21] think, shown a bipartisanship on

[00:19:23] a lot of issues that were not

[00:19:24] talked about in previous

[00:19:26] generations in the legislature when

[00:19:28] it was traditionally more retired or

[00:19:30] older folks.

[00:19:32] And that's really important.

[00:19:33] But I will say I have the

[00:19:35] ability to do what I do because

[00:19:38] I have such a supportive family.

[00:19:40] I have a supportive wife who knows

[00:19:42] that this is a passion of mine,

[00:19:44] that I'm at my best when I am

[00:19:46] doing policy work.

[00:19:48] But it does make it really hard,

[00:19:50] particularly being a greater

[00:19:52] Minnesota member who lives two

[00:19:54] and a half hours away from the

[00:19:55] capital. Being away from family

[00:19:57] is hard on us.

[00:19:59] And that's a unique perspective I

[00:20:01] also bring to the DFL is not

[00:20:03] just being that young parent

[00:20:05] but also in a more rural

[00:20:07] area away from the capital.

[00:20:09] So you're right, if I have a sick

[00:20:11] kid there have been times where I've

[00:20:12] had to vote remotely and that's

[00:20:14] something I think we need to

[00:20:15] protect because it's not always

[00:20:17] the case that our greater Minnesota

[00:20:19] members can be right there in

[00:20:20] St. Paul. And that's a

[00:20:22] conversation we're having right

[00:20:23] now at the legislature is should

[00:20:25] we allow that for sick kids?

[00:20:27] But yeah, it's not easy,

[00:20:29] but I want to show my kids that

[00:20:30] we have to follow our passion

[00:20:32] and be our best selves.

[00:20:33] And I think me being in the

[00:20:36] legislator is what I've always

[00:20:37] wanted to do. And and I have a

[00:20:39] family that really encourages

[00:20:41] me, which is humbling for sure.

[00:20:45] And I don't think a lot of people

[00:20:46] truly acknowledge the sacrifice

[00:20:48] that parents who have children

[00:20:50] at home are making.

[00:20:52] Whether you live and get to go

[00:20:53] home every night or have to

[00:20:55] travel back and forth on the

[00:20:56] weekends, I think it is truly

[00:20:58] a sacrifice. So that certainly

[00:21:00] should be acknowledged. But then

[00:21:01] I want to also go into we

[00:21:03] are at a point where there's

[00:21:04] economy is wild gas, eggs,

[00:21:08] everything. Childcare is

[00:21:09] something you've talked about.

[00:21:10] Now this is something we have

[00:21:11] one are hoping to have two at

[00:21:13] some point in the future.

[00:21:15] And childcare is just

[00:21:16] astronomical. Talk to us a

[00:21:18] little bit because I know that's

[00:21:19] a priority of yours. But also

[00:21:21] I live in the suburbs where

[00:21:23] we have so much more options

[00:21:25] and opportunities here for

[00:21:26] childcare. But speak about why

[00:21:28] that's important for you as a

[00:21:29] priority and how that is in

[00:21:31] your district.

[00:21:34] Childcare is so critical

[00:21:35] because it's not just about

[00:21:38] the family themselves having

[00:21:40] access to childcare, although

[00:21:41] I'll come back to that because

[00:21:43] it is so critical for families.

[00:21:45] But I do want to talk a little

[00:21:46] bit about my district.

[00:21:48] It is so rural and we have

[00:21:50] these very isolated communities

[00:21:52] where I quite literally hear

[00:21:53] from them that they don't

[00:21:55] have childcare.

[00:21:56] And when you're talking about

[00:21:57] trying to get industry to open

[00:21:58] up in Northern Minnesota,

[00:22:00] small businesses to be able

[00:22:01] to operate restaurants along

[00:22:03] Main Street of Ely, Minnesota

[00:22:05] and you don't have childcare

[00:22:07] even available at all.

[00:22:09] That is something that

[00:22:10] completely debilitates the

[00:22:12] economic growth of a community.

[00:22:14] And I think you're exactly

[00:22:15] right that maybe the more

[00:22:16] suburban members or urban

[00:22:17] members while struggling

[00:22:19] with the cost of childcare

[00:22:20] don't understand that greater

[00:22:22] Minnesota is struggling with

[00:22:23] even having it at all.

[00:22:25] So that's the first sort of

[00:22:26] unique perspective that I've

[00:22:27] brought. Number two,

[00:22:29] having childcare for young

[00:22:31] families is about vibrancy

[00:22:34] of our communities.

[00:22:35] If young families are not

[00:22:37] starting to have kids,

[00:22:40] if they're delaying kids or

[00:22:41] having less, we have to realize

[00:22:43] our domestic growth in

[00:22:46] America is nearly at a point

[00:22:48] of being stagnant.

[00:22:49] And that is a scary prospect

[00:22:51] for the future growth of our

[00:22:52] country. And it's because

[00:22:54] of these economic pressures

[00:22:56] that are facing modern day

[00:22:58] young people from student loans,

[00:23:00] housing costs, inflation

[00:23:03] and childcare. So my

[00:23:05] perspective is that right now

[00:23:07] childcare is a market failure

[00:23:09] and from a moderate Democrat

[00:23:10] perspective, when things are a

[00:23:12] market failure, it's OK for

[00:23:13] the government to step in

[00:23:15] and help where it's needed.

[00:23:16] And I think providing a subsidy

[00:23:18] for middle class families to

[00:23:20] try to just make childcare a

[00:23:22] little bit more accessible

[00:23:23] allows them to consider

[00:23:25] starting a family a little

[00:23:26] bit earlier, making sure we

[00:23:28] have kids riding bikes on our

[00:23:29] streets, our schools full and

[00:23:31] our rural communities not

[00:23:32] shrinking and businesses opening

[00:23:34] up. So it's a it impacts

[00:23:36] all of us and we need people

[00:23:37] of all ages to understand

[00:23:39] childcare is about all of us.

[00:23:41] Senator, before we go here

[00:23:42] today, I have one more

[00:23:43] question to ask it really gets

[00:23:44] into also one of the things

[00:23:46] that the backyard and I are

[00:23:47] trying to do on this podcast.

[00:23:49] We live in a very hyper

[00:23:50] partisan time right now.

[00:23:51] We're coming into a

[00:23:52] presidential election cycle

[00:23:53] that is going to just be

[00:23:54] ugly.

[00:23:56] Do you have some advice?

[00:23:57] You are a member of the

[00:23:58] legislature, you're the member

[00:23:59] of the Senate. You've staked

[00:24:00] out a claim on civility.

[00:24:01] Do you have some advice to our

[00:24:02] listeners on how they can

[00:24:05] how people who want to

[00:24:07] focus on the good

[00:24:08] diselection cycle?

[00:24:09] People are going to vote.

[00:24:10] People are going to be

[00:24:11] inundated with ads.

[00:24:12] But you have some advice for

[00:24:13] people and how to engage

[00:24:15] and have discussions with

[00:24:17] people from different political

[00:24:18] parties and find a way to

[00:24:19] still remain friends and still

[00:24:21] work together because I think

[00:24:22] we're going to have a lot

[00:24:23] of ugliness.

[00:24:23] But in that kind of

[00:24:24] ugliness, there's people like

[00:24:26] you that are out there

[00:24:26] staking the claim with some of

[00:24:28] your colleagues that we need

[00:24:29] to find a way to work

[00:24:30] together. So give some advice

[00:24:32] if you can.

[00:24:34] I think what we need to do is

[00:24:36] listen to the supporters

[00:24:38] that we have, the people that

[00:24:40] are of the same mindset as

[00:24:42] us. We need to keep those

[00:24:43] folks close, have those

[00:24:45] conversations, figure out how

[00:24:46] we're going to advance the

[00:24:47] goals that we have.

[00:24:49] But we can't just do that.

[00:24:51] We can't just talk to our

[00:24:52] side or our supporters or

[00:24:54] our party.

[00:24:55] We have to have those

[00:24:56] conversations and then figure

[00:24:58] out what is the opposing side

[00:25:00] think? What are other people

[00:25:02] saying? What are the

[00:25:03] stakeholders and the experts

[00:25:04] on this issue saying?

[00:25:06] Because if we stay too in

[00:25:08] our party or in our partisan

[00:25:10] lanes, we're going to miss an

[00:25:11] entire perspective that's

[00:25:13] going to cause us to advance

[00:25:15] bad policy.

[00:25:16] The second thing I would say

[00:25:17] for voters in particular

[00:25:20] is focus on the people that

[00:25:22] are doing the work.

[00:25:23] There's a lot of blow hearts.

[00:25:25] There's a lot of people that

[00:25:26] shout. There's a lot of people

[00:25:28] that say things that sound

[00:25:30] really good. But if you follow

[00:25:32] along, even just at the

[00:25:33] margins in your local

[00:25:35] newspapers, in

[00:25:37] in op-eds, finding what

[00:25:39] policy is actually passing, find

[00:25:41] the workers, find the people

[00:25:43] actually advancing and having

[00:25:45] the conversations that are

[00:25:46] good for our state and vote

[00:25:48] for them regardless of

[00:25:49] party, find the people that

[00:25:51] are doing the good work and

[00:25:52] not just throwing stones.

[00:25:53] And I think that's how we will

[00:25:55] advance a better state

[00:25:57] regardless of if it's Republicans

[00:25:59] and the majority are Democrats,

[00:26:00] vote for the people doing the

[00:26:01] work.

[00:26:03] I love that. I think that's a

[00:26:04] really great way to look at it.

[00:26:06] And this has just been a

[00:26:08] very warm,

[00:26:11] fuzzy feeling kind of

[00:26:12] conversation because I do

[00:26:13] think that this is what we want

[00:26:15] more of. We want to get back

[00:26:16] this what politics used to be

[00:26:17] of how can we work with the

[00:26:19] other side? How can we get

[00:26:20] things done together?

[00:26:22] And not just how can I get all

[00:26:23] of what I want with giving them

[00:26:25] nothing?

[00:26:26] So really, it's hopeful and

[00:26:27] optimistic knowing that there

[00:26:29] are Democrats like you in

[00:26:30] office and serving your district,

[00:26:32] which obviously shows you're

[00:26:33] serving them well and having

[00:26:34] the meetings and doing the work.

[00:26:36] So thank you for all of that.

[00:26:37] We absolutely want to have

[00:26:39] you back at some point, maybe

[00:26:40] deep dive into some policy,

[00:26:42] really nerd out over something

[00:26:43] like that. We'd love that.

[00:26:45] In the meantime, are you on

[00:26:46] social work and people follow

[00:26:48] you find you if they want to

[00:26:49] see what you're doing and

[00:26:51] what's next?

[00:26:52] Yeah, I welcome folks to follow

[00:26:54] me on Facebook.

[00:26:55] I think you could just search

[00:26:56] my name for send Minnesota

[00:26:57] State Senate and then on

[00:26:59] Twitter at Grant underscore

[00:27:01] Haaschild would love folks to

[00:27:02] follow me on there as well.

[00:27:05] Sounds great. We look forward

[00:27:06] to chatting with you again

[00:27:07] soon and thanks for joining

[00:27:08] us. Thank you so much for

[00:27:10] having me, Michael and Becky.

[00:27:11] Appreciate your show.

[00:27:15] Becky, we just interviewed

[00:27:17] Senator Haaschild, your

[00:27:18] take.

[00:27:20] It was just really,

[00:27:22] like I said, warm and fuzzy

[00:27:24] feelings. Right? I love

[00:27:26] anybody who seeks

[00:27:28] to serve their community

[00:27:30] in a way to make their community

[00:27:32] better and to work

[00:27:34] with whoever wants to work

[00:27:36] together to make that happen.

[00:27:37] And it really seems that he's

[00:27:39] in it for the right reasons.

[00:27:41] He's willing to work with

[00:27:42] Bar left for right moderates

[00:27:44] to get the job done

[00:27:46] to make things broadband

[00:27:48] infrastructure child care

[00:27:50] in this Northland Strong

[00:27:51] initiative that he's doing,

[00:27:52] traveling all around

[00:27:54] his state, having those round

[00:27:55] tables. You can't get

[00:27:56] better than that than having

[00:27:58] accessibility when you are

[00:27:59] going to the people that you

[00:28:01] are serving.

[00:28:02] And I, yeah, it was just

[00:28:04] really nice to see

[00:28:07] a different change of pace

[00:28:08] from a lot of what we see in

[00:28:09] the news of what young

[00:28:11] Democrats are.

[00:28:13] And again, I don't want to

[00:28:14] mass generally is in bash

[00:28:15] what young Democrats look

[00:28:17] like and stand for.

[00:28:19] But traditionally, they do

[00:28:20] seem to be a little bit more

[00:28:21] on the further left.

[00:28:22] Probably a lot of young

[00:28:23] Republicans are on the

[00:28:25] Maga bar Trump side.

[00:28:27] So I get that.

[00:28:28] And it's just it was just

[00:28:29] very refreshing, very energizing

[00:28:32] like him a lot.

[00:28:33] This is my first interaction

[00:28:34] with him and it was just

[00:28:35] really good hopes for having

[00:28:36] him in this in the Senate

[00:28:38] and serving the state.

[00:28:40] I I grew up with everything

[00:28:41] you said it was incredibly

[00:28:42] invigorating to speak with

[00:28:44] them. Just a couple of

[00:28:45] process thing.

[00:28:46] Saw some tweets on social

[00:28:47] media about the civility caucus.

[00:28:48] Sent him a DM on Twitter.

[00:28:50] We both follow each other.

[00:28:52] Worked with the staff.

[00:28:53] He responded very quickly.

[00:28:54] He had listened to the show,

[00:28:56] worked with the staff to get

[00:28:57] this interview done.

[00:28:58] Could not have been easier.

[00:28:59] Could not have been more

[00:29:00] responsive. Could not have been

[00:29:01] more accessible.

[00:29:02] Could not have been easier to

[00:29:03] to get on the podcast and

[00:29:06] his accessibility, I think

[00:29:07] in his openness and the work

[00:29:08] of his staff to make him

[00:29:09] available beyond was just

[00:29:11] remarkable. And so my

[00:29:12] compliments to him not only

[00:29:14] on the civility approach of

[00:29:15] how he's focusing his

[00:29:16] legislative career, but also

[00:29:18] just his accessibility and that

[00:29:19] of his staff. I absolutely

[00:29:21] am surprised, continue to be

[00:29:23] surprised based on kind of the

[00:29:24] hyperpartisan nature of

[00:29:26] my past and the way I operated

[00:29:28] it did things, which I'm not

[00:29:30] walking away from how

[00:29:31] rewarding at this time in my

[00:29:33] life it is to talk with

[00:29:34] Democrats, to talk with people

[00:29:35] I disagree with.

[00:29:36] People on the Republican side

[00:29:38] that I disagree with.

[00:29:39] Democrats that I speak with

[00:29:40] that I disagree with.

[00:29:42] This is so much fun.

[00:29:43] And this is why having a

[00:29:44] podcast is so great because

[00:29:46] we had an opportunity to talk

[00:29:47] to a DFL senator, centrist

[00:29:50] DFL senator from

[00:29:51] Northern Minnesota who's

[00:29:53] doing great work.

[00:29:54] And that type of conversation

[00:29:55] came because we were willing

[00:29:56] to have these types of

[00:29:57] discussions, but also because

[00:29:59] our guests are too.

[00:30:00] A reminder that people don't

[00:30:02] have to accept our

[00:30:02] invitations to come on.

[00:30:04] But when they do, boy,

[00:30:06] oh, boy am I appreciative of

[00:30:07] it. And that was just a great

[00:30:08] discussion to have because

[00:30:10] there's a lot of ugliness in

[00:30:12] politics.

[00:30:13] And it's every single day.

[00:30:14] I think one of the things

[00:30:15] that we're trying to carve out

[00:30:16] is to continue to try to draw

[00:30:18] attention to sometimes

[00:30:20] some of the best that's going

[00:30:22] on in politics. We cover

[00:30:23] obviously some tough issues

[00:30:25] over the history of this

[00:30:26] podcast, but having these

[00:30:28] kind of palette cleansers

[00:30:29] are the kind of these mind

[00:30:30] cleans that we do when we get

[00:30:32] these type of legislators to

[00:30:33] come on or what we're talking

[00:30:34] about these types of subjects.

[00:30:36] It really resets the brain

[00:30:38] and it allows us to just just

[00:30:40] a good kind of cleansing

[00:30:42] moment, a moment of

[00:30:43] zen, I should say, in kind

[00:30:45] of this podcast discussion to

[00:30:46] speak to someone. And again,

[00:30:48] a lot of our conversations with

[00:30:49] Democrats and Republicans do

[00:30:50] that. But this was this one was

[00:30:52] a little bit extra.

[00:30:53] And I appreciated the

[00:30:54] opportunity for him to come

[00:30:55] on.

[00:30:56] Thank you for reaching out to

[00:30:57] him and his staff and we're

[00:30:58] glad it worked out.

[00:30:59] And definitely we'll get some

[00:31:01] policy deep dive with

[00:31:03] him in the future.

[00:31:04] I feel it.

[00:31:05] We'll get some more.

[00:31:06] Thanks for doing this, Becky.

[00:31:07] Bye.

[00:31:10] I am very excited on a

[00:31:12] Friday early afternoon

[00:31:14] to be talking with Shannon

[00:31:15] Watson, the founder and

[00:31:16] executive director of Majority

[00:31:18] in the Middle, one of the

[00:31:20] feel good organizations

[00:31:22] that exist in this messy

[00:31:23] partisan world.

[00:31:25] And Shannon, thanks for joining

[00:31:26] me today.

[00:31:27] Absolutely, Michael. Good to

[00:31:28] see you. We're in a very

[00:31:30] unique situation based on some

[00:31:32] developments at the state

[00:31:33] capital in terms of the

[00:31:34] partisanship and gridlock

[00:31:36] that could exist.

[00:31:37] Yeah, a little bit.

[00:31:38] Your organization in you in

[00:31:39] particular have been so

[00:31:40] thoughtful about encouraging

[00:31:41] bipartisanship, civility and

[00:31:43] politics.

[00:31:44] And I wanted just to take a

[00:31:45] moment and we as we end the

[00:31:47] kind of weekend come into

[00:31:48] what is likely going to be a

[00:31:49] little bit of a chaotic

[00:31:50] legislative session, your

[00:31:52] thoughts and perspective

[00:31:53] as to how legislators on

[00:31:55] both sides of the aisle could

[00:31:56] approach what may be a

[00:31:58] more tenuous political

[00:32:00] situation than people had

[00:32:02] previously thought.

[00:32:03] Absolutely.

[00:32:04] That 34 33 majority was

[00:32:06] always going to be a

[00:32:08] thing with Senator Dietzik

[00:32:10] being out fighting cancer.

[00:32:11] And then Senator Port has long

[00:32:12] COVID and so that has some

[00:32:14] health situations for her.

[00:32:15] And then just other

[00:32:17] senators dealing just with

[00:32:19] life. This was always a sort

[00:32:21] of a tenuous situation.

[00:32:22] And one of the things that

[00:32:23] I've been really heartened by

[00:32:26] and the reason that I'm not

[00:32:28] necessarily so worried about

[00:32:30] what's going to happen in the

[00:32:31] next four or five weeks

[00:32:33] is because I'm already seeing

[00:32:35] a lot of bipartisanship

[00:32:36] happening.

[00:32:37] So I think they've already set

[00:32:39] that stage and

[00:32:41] they can if they just keep

[00:32:43] going down that path, I think

[00:32:45] that they are in a really good

[00:32:47] position to

[00:32:49] find the bipartisan cooperation

[00:32:51] on things and the session in a

[00:32:53] way that it doesn't have to be

[00:32:55] terrible and angsty.

[00:32:56] And I'll be a sum of that

[00:32:57] because there always is.

[00:32:58] But it can be a good outcome

[00:33:00] for most everybody involved.

[00:33:02] Let me ask you a question on

[00:33:03] kind of the role of

[00:33:04] partisanship. Obviously we have

[00:33:07] members of the legislature run

[00:33:08] for these are partisan

[00:33:10] office. There was a time years

[00:33:11] ago where there wasn't party

[00:33:13] designation, but there is.

[00:33:14] And so partisanship seems

[00:33:17] to be coming more and more of

[00:33:19] in some ways a problem

[00:33:20] is of getting solutions.

[00:33:21] And so how do

[00:33:23] how would you if you could

[00:33:25] wave a wand

[00:33:27] in these final four to five

[00:33:28] five weeks?

[00:33:29] What would be the recipe

[00:33:31] and the ingredients needed

[00:33:33] to have there be a bipartisan

[00:33:35] solution to in this

[00:33:36] remaining few weeks knowing

[00:33:38] very well that the partisan

[00:33:39] makeup of the legislature is

[00:33:40] one that Democrats have control

[00:33:42] in both the House, the Senate

[00:33:44] and in the governor's office.

[00:33:45] How can there be a bipartisan

[00:33:48] arrangement and agreement in

[00:33:49] these final weeks?

[00:33:50] The final weeks that Minnesotans

[00:33:51] can be proud of.

[00:33:52] Yeah, the partisanship is

[00:33:54] interesting because not only

[00:33:55] does it give people a shorthand

[00:33:57] way to describe what they believe,

[00:33:59] but it's also it's the

[00:34:00] organizing function

[00:34:02] of the legislature.

[00:34:03] Your caucus is the organizing

[00:34:05] thing and who's in charge has to

[00:34:06] do with party affiliation.

[00:34:09] So there's some of that structural

[00:34:11] partisanship that I think

[00:34:12] it can get in the way of the

[00:34:14] relationship building.

[00:34:15] And one of the do's I've been

[00:34:16] spending a lot of time watching

[00:34:18] the last couple of weeks are

[00:34:19] Senator Scott Dibble and

[00:34:21] Senate. Oh, I'm going to mess it up.

[00:34:23] And it's in ski because

[00:34:25] those two have

[00:34:26] a really good partnership

[00:34:29] in the Transportation Committee.

[00:34:30] They have for years.

[00:34:31] Transportation Conference

[00:34:32] Committee met yesterday and

[00:34:34] just in ski talked about this

[00:34:35] as they were getting done that

[00:34:36] those two have worked together

[00:34:38] for X number of years.

[00:34:39] I don't remember if it was like eight or 10

[00:34:41] and they've really built up their bank

[00:34:42] of trust between the two of them.

[00:34:45] So like they know that they're

[00:34:47] going to be able to talk to each other,

[00:34:49] even if they don't agree,

[00:34:51] they're going to give each other

[00:34:52] the space and the time to

[00:34:54] debate amendments and do the thing.

[00:34:56] Senate transportation had a really

[00:34:57] long hearing on Third Deadline

[00:34:59] in a way that I had some friends

[00:35:01] who had bills on that agenda

[00:35:03] and they were like, oh, this is

[00:35:04] taking forever.

[00:35:05] But when it takes forever

[00:35:07] that means that everybody is giving

[00:35:09] given the space and the time to be heard.

[00:35:11] And I think that comes down on the

[00:35:13] frustration level.

[00:35:14] I've watched particularly in the house,

[00:35:15] there are some of the committees where

[00:35:16] they they had a lot of fidelity

[00:35:18] to committee schedule and that

[00:35:20] time.

[00:35:21] And so they got members

[00:35:23] of the minority got really frustrated

[00:35:25] when they didn't have the opportunity

[00:35:27] to ask all of their questions

[00:35:28] or give all of their amendments.

[00:35:30] And so what Senate transportation

[00:35:32] is showing that even if all

[00:35:34] the amendments don't go through,

[00:35:35] if people are allowed to participate

[00:35:37] in the process, then

[00:35:40] they accept the outcome, whatever

[00:35:42] that is. So I've been watching some of

[00:35:43] that and then just

[00:35:45] the bills that have gotten

[00:35:47] through.

[00:35:48] So we've had 12 bills in 2024

[00:35:51] that have passed both

[00:35:52] both chambers and

[00:35:55] enacted into law.

[00:35:57] And of those 12,

[00:35:59] none of them were 33 34 votes.

[00:36:02] I think the lowest one was 37

[00:36:05] 28.

[00:36:06] And I think four of them

[00:36:08] were unanimous

[00:36:11] in the Senate.

[00:36:11] And so that shows that there's already

[00:36:13] a lot of bipartisanship happening.

[00:36:15] And so I encourage

[00:36:17] particularly senators, but House

[00:36:18] members as well, to keep leaning into

[00:36:20] that and find the things

[00:36:22] they don't have to agree on everything.

[00:36:24] Nobody expects them to agree on

[00:36:25] anything on everything.

[00:36:27] But when they can

[00:36:28] when they can leave the omnibus

[00:36:30] bills to the stuff that they

[00:36:31] disagree about, pull out the things

[00:36:33] that they do agree

[00:36:35] I think there's opportunity there.

[00:36:38] I would agree and I would agree in that

[00:36:40] situation and I'm a glass half full

[00:36:41] person and part of the

[00:36:43] am I always have but I'm really

[00:36:45] really what I'm a partly sunny

[00:36:47] versus partly cloudy glass half full.

[00:36:49] There you go. Yes, it has to be

[00:36:50] opportunities there. And what I

[00:36:51] really liked was the email that you

[00:36:53] sent out a couple days ago just

[00:36:55] talking about your perspective on

[00:36:57] this potential for 33 33 split.

[00:37:00] You were so optimistic about the

[00:37:01] opportunity that it presented

[00:37:04] and it was such a refreshing take

[00:37:06] because partisanship is on

[00:37:08] both sides. It happens.

[00:37:09] No one is more guilty on another side

[00:37:11] but when it comes down to actually

[00:37:13] doing the work that Minnesotans want

[00:37:15] it is an it is a situation where

[00:37:17] there has to be progress and there

[00:37:18] has to be a process and there has to

[00:37:20] be collaboration.

[00:37:22] And I think it was such an important

[00:37:23] message that you sent that email

[00:37:26] it just it was in the rancor of

[00:37:27] everything that was going on.

[00:37:29] It was great to just get a positive

[00:37:30] message about the opportunity that

[00:37:32] exists and how this is an

[00:37:34] opportunity for Republicans and

[00:37:35] Democrats to work together

[00:37:37] in these final days and pull

[00:37:39] together through what is likely

[00:37:41] going to be a more partisan

[00:37:42] situation than we would have

[00:37:44] already thought.

[00:37:46] It has the potential to be.

[00:37:47] And so in my mind it has the

[00:37:49] potential to be better too.

[00:37:50] And I think we spent a lot of time

[00:37:52] last in 2023 talking

[00:37:54] about how we had this huge

[00:37:56] freshman class incoming.

[00:37:58] So it was 68 or 86.

[00:38:00] I don't remember.

[00:38:01] Number of members who were new

[00:38:03] to their roles in legislature in

[00:38:05] 2023.

[00:38:06] And so most people

[00:38:08] who get elected to the

[00:38:09] legislature they don't understand

[00:38:11] how partisan it is until they get

[00:38:12] there and they start figuring out

[00:38:15] how things were run and how the

[00:38:17] caucus systems work and

[00:38:19] you know where their offices are

[00:38:20] and how floor sessions are really

[00:38:22] more performative than anything

[00:38:23] else. And so we've got a lot

[00:38:25] of people who are still in their

[00:38:26] first term who are not

[00:38:28] super entrenched in the

[00:38:30] partisanship and are super willing

[00:38:32] to reach across the aisle

[00:38:34] and find things that they can agree

[00:38:36] on. And I think if they have

[00:38:37] the freedom and opportunity

[00:38:39] to do that then that can be

[00:38:41] like it's a much it's a much

[00:38:43] better environment.

[00:38:45] It's like a better work

[00:38:45] environment for everybody

[00:38:47] if we can cut down some of that

[00:38:49] angst and stress and all of

[00:38:51] that.

[00:38:52] Here's in some ways how I

[00:38:53] describe my partisan journey.

[00:38:55] I don't know if you've ever

[00:38:55] seen the movie Monsters, Inc.

[00:38:57] But there's in the movie Monsters,

[00:38:58] Inc. At the beginning of the

[00:39:00] movie they realized that scaring

[00:39:01] kids is a way to get energy

[00:39:03] and that's how they that's how

[00:39:04] they feel kind of monster world.

[00:39:07] But at the end of the movie

[00:39:07] I love the analogy already.

[00:39:08] They realize that it's laughter

[00:39:10] that's so much more powerful

[00:39:12] and I have a very partisan

[00:39:14] past. So what I've come to

[00:39:15] realize as I've gotten a little

[00:39:16] older and as I've been less

[00:39:18] in kind of the arena of

[00:39:19] politics what really seems to

[00:39:21] excite me is when there's

[00:39:23] just good solutions and people

[00:39:25] working in a collaborative way

[00:39:27] and one of the things that you've

[00:39:28] touched on is that the

[00:39:30] bipartisan work is going on.

[00:39:32] It's already there. But what

[00:39:33] sometimes I think it gets

[00:39:35] clouds, it gets clouded out

[00:39:37] or gets blocked a little bit by

[00:39:39] the partisan rancor because

[00:39:40] that's what gets the headlines

[00:39:42] and in reality we should be

[00:39:43] focusing more on

[00:39:45] the relationships that you've

[00:39:47] discussed here where members on

[00:39:48] different sides of the aisle

[00:39:49] are finding ways to work

[00:39:51] together.

[00:39:52] Yeah absolutely and the

[00:39:54] when members get attention

[00:39:56] and headlines and all

[00:39:58] the other things that come with

[00:39:59] an attention economy

[00:40:01] when they do that then they will

[00:40:02] lean into those things that get

[00:40:04] them the attention.

[00:40:05] And when media is

[00:40:07] in fairness like media has a

[00:40:08] bias towards conflict and media

[00:40:10] has a bias towards fairness and

[00:40:11] that's OK.

[00:40:12] But when we lean into that

[00:40:14] conflict narrative then

[00:40:16] I think we give people

[00:40:17] attention for the wrong things.

[00:40:19] And so if we can highlight

[00:40:21] that's one of the things that

[00:40:22] my organization tries to do.

[00:40:24] If we can highlight the

[00:40:25] instances of people working

[00:40:26] together and give them credit

[00:40:28] and give them kudos that they

[00:40:30] should get then not only

[00:40:32] is that I think the right thing

[00:40:33] to do but it's also a way

[00:40:35] to to encourage that behavior

[00:40:37] amongst amongst everybody.

[00:40:39] In some instances politics

[00:40:40] sometimes politics in media does

[00:40:42] not reward the best behavior.

[00:40:43] They were the conflict

[00:40:45] and in this particular situation

[00:40:47] I think it's so important when

[00:40:48] you've detailed here about the

[00:40:49] bipartisan work and it just

[00:40:52] it's just better for all of us

[00:40:53] as if we could find a way to

[00:40:55] work together Republicans and

[00:40:57] Democrats on solutions in a

[00:40:58] collaborative way.

[00:40:59] I think those are the most

[00:41:01] important stories that need to

[00:41:02] be told in the legislative

[00:41:03] session.

[00:41:04] Does your organization or do you

[00:41:06] have any will you be at the

[00:41:07] Capitol more or less in the

[00:41:09] coming weeks.

[00:41:10] Are you going to be looking

[00:41:10] for opportunities to tamper

[00:41:12] down some of the animosity

[00:41:14] because there's unfortunately

[00:41:16] there's a potential for things

[00:41:17] to spiral here.

[00:41:18] And how do we keep the focus

[00:41:20] how do we keep the focus on the

[00:41:21] good that's being done in the end

[00:41:23] product that Minnesotans so

[00:41:24] desperately want.

[00:41:26] I try to practice what I preach

[00:41:27] I do spend a lot of time at the

[00:41:28] Capitol.

[00:41:28] I was just over there today and

[00:41:30] run back here.

[00:41:31] And when I see senators

[00:41:33] or representatives going out of

[00:41:34] their way to keep things

[00:41:37] civil minimum or work across

[00:41:38] the aisle or whatever I will

[00:41:40] send private messages will do

[00:41:42] sing things on social sometimes

[00:41:43] too but I will send I send a

[00:41:44] lot of private emails and like

[00:41:46] hey I really appreciated your

[00:41:48] perspective on that or

[00:41:50] hey I understand that you have

[00:41:51] been the bulldog in this

[00:41:53] committee for the entire

[00:41:55] session.

[00:41:56] And well I understand

[00:41:57] that this is your role.

[00:42:00] You're keeping the tone really

[00:42:01] positive and I appreciate that

[00:42:02] and thank you.

[00:42:03] And I get a lot of responses

[00:42:06] to those because honestly

[00:42:07] that's not the communication that

[00:42:09] a lot of people are getting

[00:42:09] right now.

[00:42:10] They get a lot of you should

[00:42:11] vote this way or you should

[00:42:12] vote that way or this thing

[00:42:13] is terrible or that thing is

[00:42:14] great.

[00:42:15] And it's almost never

[00:42:16] supportive.

[00:42:17] It's all about what we want

[00:42:19] you to do.

[00:42:20] So just remembering that

[00:42:21] elected officials are human

[00:42:22] beings and that sometimes

[00:42:24] they need to know that

[00:42:25] people notice.

[00:42:27] I appreciate Eric Putnam's dad

[00:42:29] jokes.

[00:42:30] They break the tension a lot

[00:42:31] and I let him know that earlier

[00:42:33] in session.

[00:42:34] I appreciate the dad jokes

[00:42:36] and keep that stuff up because

[00:42:37] it does make a difference.

[00:42:38] Yeah.

[00:42:39] And one of the things that

[00:42:40] Becky and I are trying to do

[00:42:41] on this podcast is to identify

[00:42:43] folks who want to be part

[00:42:45] of a responsible discussion.

[00:42:46] We embrace and recognize the

[00:42:48] partisanship.

[00:42:49] Yes.

[00:42:49] Having a platform where people

[00:42:50] can talk and we can learn from

[00:42:53] each other I think is so

[00:42:53] critically important and your

[00:42:55] organization is leading the way

[00:42:56] on that and leading that

[00:42:58] discussion.

[00:42:59] And that's why I thought it

[00:43:00] was so important particularly

[00:43:01] as we released this episode

[00:43:03] this week potentially with what's

[00:43:05] going to be coming next week

[00:43:07] and what's what were the kind

[00:43:08] of situation we're right now

[00:43:09] that just we kind of ground

[00:43:10] people and have just maybe

[00:43:12] a potential reset on some of

[00:43:13] the partisanship and look for

[00:43:14] the opportunities that exist

[00:43:16] because that's what I think

[00:43:17] Minnesotans want.

[00:43:18] I think Minnesotans want

[00:43:19] government to work in a

[00:43:21] functional way and Minnesotans

[00:43:23] like to think that they're

[00:43:23] exceptional at everything.

[00:43:25] And then we have a great

[00:43:26] reputation but as people who

[00:43:28] follow the legislative process

[00:43:30] know that it can be ugly.

[00:43:31] It can be messy.

[00:43:32] Sometimes the work doesn't get

[00:43:33] on it doesn't get done on time

[00:43:35] but there are still opportunities

[00:43:37] for people to work together

[00:43:39] just wrapping this up.

[00:43:40] Where do you what advice would

[00:43:41] you have if you'd be willing

[00:43:43] to share for the public for

[00:43:44] legislators for lobbyists

[00:43:46] for people that are there

[00:43:47] observing this process how they

[00:43:49] can contribute more to their

[00:43:50] being a positive outcome

[00:43:53] rather than just focusing on any

[00:43:54] drama or ranker or other type

[00:43:57] of issues.

[00:43:58] It was like I'm human too.

[00:44:00] And so I was

[00:44:02] scrolling through Twitter a lot

[00:44:04] earlier this week and I'll keep

[00:44:05] scrolling through Twitter and we

[00:44:07] all digest the beefy news

[00:44:09] and that's not a reference to

[00:44:11] stake on a stake day that was

[00:44:12] Thursday but again that sounds

[00:44:14] like a fantastic day on the

[00:44:15] yes.

[00:44:16] It's one of the best ones.

[00:44:17] Puppy Day, Stake on a Stake Day,

[00:44:19] Ice Cream Day, The Park

[00:44:20] Lambs Day.

[00:44:21] Oh yes.

[00:44:22] Yes that's coming up.

[00:44:23] That's in about a week or

[00:44:25] maybe it's next week.

[00:44:26] There's nothing like animals to

[00:44:28] just break the partisan tension.

[00:44:29] I mean looking mad if there's

[00:44:31] lambs and there's puppies and

[00:44:32] steak and other types of but

[00:44:33] getting animals at the capital

[00:44:34] that's the recipe to break

[00:44:35] the tension.

[00:44:36] Absolutely. And that's a good

[00:44:37] place for people to interact

[00:44:39] and take the partisanship

[00:44:41] aside and just bond over

[00:44:43] isn't this lamb cute

[00:44:45] or the stick is awesome.

[00:44:47] Those are things that we agree on

[00:44:48] and those are building blocks of

[00:44:50] relationships in ways that we

[00:44:51] don't really think about.

[00:44:52] So taking the opportunity to get

[00:44:53] out of your office, get out of

[00:44:54] the committee meeting, come to

[00:44:55] those opportunities and interact

[00:44:57] with other people.

[00:44:58] The thing I constantly

[00:44:59] champion with voters

[00:45:02] and normal Minnesotans if

[00:45:04] you if you care

[00:45:05] about legislators working

[00:45:07] together, if you really

[00:45:09] want them to collaborate

[00:45:11] and come to agreement and find

[00:45:14] not necessarily the mushy middle

[00:45:15] but find the things that they can

[00:45:16] agree on, please let

[00:45:18] your elected representatives

[00:45:19] know that because they need to

[00:45:21] hear that directly from you

[00:45:22] because like I said, right now

[00:45:24] they're hearing a lot from

[00:45:25] activists and lobbyists and

[00:45:27] each other about how

[00:45:28] they should vote on bills.

[00:45:30] And even if you don't care

[00:45:31] about a particular outcome

[00:45:33] of a bill, but just that

[00:45:34] we really want

[00:45:36] a little less partisanship,

[00:45:38] a little more civility

[00:45:39] and finding that way to get

[00:45:40] along.

[00:45:41] Those emails and those phone

[00:45:43] calls go a long way.

[00:45:44] Are you just to clarify, you

[00:45:46] said normal people, you saying

[00:45:47] that we're not normal for

[00:45:48] following this closely?

[00:45:49] I do not classify myself as

[00:45:51] normal. No, I think if

[00:45:53] if you can name just off

[00:45:55] the top of your head more than

[00:45:57] half of the 201 legislators,

[00:45:59] you're probably not normal

[00:46:00] in this realm.

[00:46:01] Yes, I think it's fair to

[00:46:03] say that that's a good point

[00:46:04] if I if the Grammys are on

[00:46:06] or some enter the MTV

[00:46:07] Oh yeah, I have no idea.

[00:46:08] I have absolutely no who

[00:46:10] any of those people are have

[00:46:11] to go. But if C spans on or

[00:46:13] the legislative coverage is

[00:46:14] on, I can rally a bunch of

[00:46:16] names pretty quick.

[00:46:16] And yes, I think it's fair to

[00:46:17] say that we're probably not

[00:46:19] normal. Shannon, thank you so

[00:46:20] much for just giving an

[00:46:22] uplifting message that we

[00:46:24] legislators and I hope all

[00:46:25] everyone that's going to be

[00:46:27] watching the legislative

[00:46:28] session partakes in and

[00:46:30] where can people follow you

[00:46:31] in your organization to learn

[00:46:32] more about what the great

[00:46:34] work that you're doing.

[00:46:35] Awesome. You know what

[00:46:36] actually one thing I will

[00:46:37] mention before we just

[00:46:38] amplify this.

[00:46:39] I suggest it.

[00:46:41] I try to get it on people's

[00:46:42] minds, but it's really

[00:46:43] the 201 legislators that are

[00:46:45] they're doing the hard work

[00:46:46] and want to give a shout out

[00:46:48] to Senator Mark Johnson,

[00:46:50] who's the minority leader

[00:46:51] who really like this week has

[00:46:52] shown some leadership.

[00:46:53] There were more than one

[00:46:56] place where he could have

[00:46:58] his entire caucus could have

[00:46:59] sat on their hands and they

[00:47:00] didn't and they came to

[00:47:01] the table and I appreciate

[00:47:03] that. I feel like he needs

[00:47:04] to get the credit as well.

[00:47:06] As for majority in the middle,

[00:47:07] you can find us at

[00:47:09] majority middle dot com.

[00:47:11] We have a newsletter list that

[00:47:13] we encourage people to sign up

[00:47:15] for. We're not going to spam

[00:47:16] you, we promise.

[00:47:18] And we have events that we

[00:47:20] hold occasionally.

[00:47:21] There are other ways that you

[00:47:22] can connect with us.

[00:47:23] Easiest place to find me is

[00:47:24] probably still on Twitter.

[00:47:26] Shannon K. Watson and I'm

[00:47:28] still going to call it Twitter.

[00:47:28] I'm not going to call it X.

[00:47:30] Yes. Because if you say X

[00:47:32] then you have to say formally

[00:47:32] known as Twitter.

[00:47:34] Yeah, I just I protest

[00:47:36] and I just call it Twitter.

[00:47:37] That's great. I can't thank you

[00:47:38] enough for being here today for

[00:47:39] the work that your organization

[00:47:41] does and also I will say

[00:47:42] thanks for sending that email

[00:47:44] because it was it's what triggered

[00:47:46] this discussion and made me say

[00:47:47] this the timing would be great.

[00:47:49] And so keep doing that type of

[00:47:50] stuff and reminding people about

[00:47:53] the opportunities that exist

[00:47:54] because the reason I wanted

[00:47:56] to talk to you today and just

[00:47:57] get up just a few minutes of

[00:47:59] your time on a Friday

[00:47:59] afternoon because I think

[00:48:01] your organization and the

[00:48:02] message that you're crafting

[00:48:03] is so important for people to

[00:48:05] hear. So please keep up the

[00:48:06] great work.

[00:48:07] Thank you so much.

[00:48:08] I appreciate it.

[00:48:09] Thank you so much.

[00:48:10] Awesome. All right.

[00:48:13] We want to thank you for listening

[00:48:15] to the breakdown with Broadcore

[00:48:16] Rebeccae and before we go show

[00:48:17] some love for your favorite

[00:48:18] podcast by leaving us a real

[00:48:20] and Apple podcast Spotify or

[00:48:22] on the platform where you listen.

[00:48:24] You can leave a review or give

[00:48:25] us a shout out on our website

[00:48:27] or across all social media

[00:48:29] platforms at BV Break

[00:48:31] Pod.

[00:48:32] The breakdown with Broadcore

[00:48:33] Becky will return next week.

[00:48:35] Thank you again for listening.