Legislative District 28B: Davids — Trehus

Oct. 30--Republican state Rep. Greg Davids is seeking his 14th term in the state House. His Democratic challenger, Thomas Trehus, is making his second bid for the state House.

Davids, 60, has been a financial planer since 1982 and is a former teacher and mayor of Preston. He serves as chairman of the Minnesota House Taxes Committee. Trehus, 28, is a self-employed educator and farmer and serves on the Spring Grove School Board. Trehus is also a high school speech coach and certified firearm instructor. District 28B covers Fillmore and Houston counties.

1. If elected, what would be your top priority for the 2019 legislative session? Why are you running?

Davids: I'm seeking re-election to continue helping and serving the good people of Houston and Fillmore counties and bringing their needs to the state Capitol. The last two-year cycle might have been our most successful in recent memory as we reformed health care, approved historic tax relief and increased statewide road and bridge funding without raising taxes or fees.

My top priority will continue to be making health care more affordable. We made great progress in this area last session, passing new laws that lower premium rates for those purchasing health insurance on the individual market and ending the double-digit increases they experienced every year since the implementation of Obamacare. We also provided more choices by bringing more competition into the market, ended surprise billing and provided better access to care. We're off to a great start, but there's still more work to be done.

Trehus: In 2019, we must provide another health care option for our small business people, farmers, and those working part-time jobs. I support the option for Minnesotans to buy into MinnesotaCare. In 2017, Rep. Davids led the effort to give insurance companies well over $500 million in taxpayer dollars with no strings attached. These subsidies lowered premiums for about 3% of those in the individual market, which is made up of about 5.5% of Minnesotans. This fiscal irresponsibility cannot be sustained. In 2019, we must also balance the state's budget fairly by fully finding our schools and nursing homes, and stop giving big tax cuts to Twin Cities corporations and tobacco companies.

2. End-of-session gridlock is becoming a recurring theme at the Capitol. What specific measures do you support to increase transparency and reduce partisan gridlock?

Davids: I've always said making laws should not be easy. People have differing views, and many times in St. Paul they are expressed strongly. That's why it's so important to have strong working relationships with both Democrats and Republicans. In the House Taxes Committee that I chair, I have one simple rule: a Democratic bill is always debated first, as I believe everyone's voice should be heard equally. Doing so often relieves partisan tensions that can build up in committee, and it may be a top reason why our tax relief legislation is almost always approved with bipartisan support.

Trehus: I will fight to end the current model of partisan gridlock and gamesmanship in St. Paul. This game of waiting until the final hours of session to pass major bills is ridiculous. The current process is ineffective, and it leads to corruption. There should be at least a 24-hour waiting period before bills can be voted on. Nobody can read 989 pages of text in three-and-a-half hours, as was attempted this past session in St. Paul. Regarding the huge omnibus "garbage bills" we've been seeing at the Capitol, they are unconstitutional. Period. Elected officials are not above the state constitution. Term-limits would help the process in many ways. Legislators who have been in office for over 10, 20, or even 30 years have a difficult time understanding the reality of the people they represent. Term-limits could also help reduce the amount of partisanship we see in our Legislature.

3. Do you support a public buy-in for MinnesotaCare, the state program for low-income people? What measures do you support to increase access to affordable health care?

Davids: Public buy-in for MinnesotaCare would be a disaster for Minnesotans because it would bankrupt our state and close rural hospitals and clinics because reimbursement rates would be so low they couldn't survive.

Remember, this public buy-in idea is promoted by the same liberals who forced Obamacare and MNsure down our throats, and promised "if you like your plan you can keep it" and would save families $2,500. Ask Fillmore and Houston county families who ended up with lousy insurance, paid double-digit premium increases for three straight years and lost access to their longtime doctor how that worked out.

I agree with our senior U.S. Senator -- and Democrat -- Amy Klobuchar, who basically gave my health care reform law her full endorsement, saying Minnesota's reinsurance law should be instituted at the federal level. This would provide carriers with more competition and provide more access to affordable health care.

Trehus: Yes. In addition, we need to increase the MinnesotaCare reimbursement rate. I support greater price transparency in the costs of procedures and prescription drugs. I support women's health and family planning. I support a strong medical research tradition, particularly through the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota. I support making sure our rural clinics and nursing homes stay in business.

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