January 4, 2003
--State Representative Al Juhnke--NEWS RELEASE
371 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155651/296-6206
3951 Horizon Hills Circle, Willmar, MN 56201320/235-4442
JUHNKE NAMED TO TRANSPORTATION, AG, ENERGY PANELS FOR 2003
Rep. Al Juhnke has been named to committees working on transportation, agriculture and energy issues for the 2003 legislative session.
Committee assignments for the new session were announced by House Speaker Steve Sviggum on Thursday. Lawmakers return to session on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
"These committee assignments put me in a position to work on some critical issues for the Willmar area and for Rural Minnesota," Juhnke, of Willmar, said. "Although it's disturbing that many of the committees were stacked with Republican legislators by the Republican Speaker. In some committees, there are twice as many Republicans as Democrats."
Juhnke will serve on a new committee, Regulated Industries, which primarily deals with issues surrounding energy and public utilities.
"This new assignment will give me a platform to promote ag-based energy solutions for Minnesota, such as biomass-fueled powerplants and the continued promotion of corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel fuel," Juhnke said. "I hope that we begin to move Minnesota away from dependence on foreign and imported energy sources and develop more home-grown and ag-based energy sources."
Juhnke has been re-appointed to three panels that he served on in the 2001-02 session. They are:
* Transportation Finance, which works on means to pay for state and local road work, mass transit, the State Patrol and related issues. "Good roads are urgently needed in the Willmar area, and I will be doing whatever it takes to get road dollars to west-central Minnesota," he said.
* Agriculture Policy and Agriculture Finance Committee. These committees both work on issues related to Minnesota's farm programs, including the budgets for ethanol and biodiesel development. In addition, they address policy issues like feedlot regulation and rural economic development.
