Sheran transitioning into advocate role

March 12--Kathy Sheran thought things would slow down after she retired from her last job.

Yet the former state senator has found herself with plenty of things to do since she decided to move on from the Minnesota Legislature. She has been named to the MNsure health exchange board of directors and is working on setting up a local Child Advocacy Center with Blue Earth County Attorney Pat McDermott.

"I knew that I would not be disappearing," Sheran said. "It would just be impossible for me to not be paying attention to what's happening, and to care about what policies are being established to support people in our communities."

Sheran is a longtime advocate of the Mankato area. She served on the Mankato City Council from 1986 to 2002, during which time she became the council president and even acting mayor at one point. Sheran was first elected to the Legislature in 2006, and in 2007 earned numerous accolades after she authored the Freedom to Breathe Act. The landmark legislation bans secondhand smoke in public places, bars and restaurants.

Since then, she was a large-scale champion of health policy. As a registered nurse and a college professor, Sheran was one of the leading DFL lawmakers on Minnesota health issues for years.

Her work is still bearing out today. In 2016, Sheran proposed starting the process to allow MinnesotaCare, the state's public health option, to be sold on MNsure's individual insurance market to offer an alternative amid skyrocketing insurance prices. Sheran had wanted to offer MinnesotaCare to residents since before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2011, but put aside her work as Minnesota worked on complying with the federal health care overhaul.

Rep. Clark Johnson, DFL-North Mankato, sponsored that bill in the House and revived the proposal this year. It's since become a large part of the Minnesota DFL's health care proposals and was endorsed by Gov. Mark Dayton.

"I really believe that it is, even without the Affordable Care Act, the right thing to give people the right to purchase a premium product," she said.

Sheran will stay busy this year as state and federal lawmakers debate health care reform. A Republican-controlled Congress is into reforming the Affordable Care Act, and a GOP-controlled Minnesota Legislature is debating a number of reforms to the state's health insurance industry.

Sheran has also tried to keep a low profile to allow Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, to grow in his role as the area's legislator. Yet she's looking forward to working on state health issues once more.

"It's certainly something I've immersed myself in and know a lot about," she said.

She's also looking into helping Blue Earth County set up its own Child Advocacy Center, a centralized place where law enforcement and medical personnel can help juvenile crime victims. Minnesota has seven such centers around the state with another four in development.

All of that means she won't have much time to herself, but Sheran isn't worried. She spent the winter in Florida visiting family before returning to Minnesota in late February, and now she's ready to get to work.

"I'm just starting to get my legs under me," she said with a laugh. "I'm just starting to figure out what to do with myself."

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