Minnesota Voters for Animal Protection would like to thank Rep. Greiling for her compassionate leadership and her willingness to author legislation to enhance protections for service animals. We wish her the best in the next phase of her life.
Representative Mindy Greiling represents District 54A- all or parts of Rosevile, St. Anthony, Lauderdale. Representative Greiling received a better-than-perfect score (100+%) on MVAP’s 2009-2010 Humane Scorecard. In addition to her record of voting with the animals on the House floor, in the 2009-2010 biennium Rep. Greiling authored legislation to increase protections for service animals.
From the St. Paul Pioneer Press Jan 20, 2012
Longtime Democratic Rep. Mindy Greiling of Roseville said Wednesday that she won’t run for re-election this fall after almost two decades in the Legislature.
Greiling was first elected in 1992 and became one of her party’s leaders on education. She was the chairwoman of the House Education Finance Committee for four years, until Republicans took control of the Legislature last year.
Greiling, 63, said her biggest accomplishment was pushing for a simpler and more balanced approach to funding schools. Dubbed the new Minnesota Miracle, the proposal would have pumped an additional $2.4 billion into public schools at all levels. Failing to pass it was her biggest disappointment, Greiling said.
House Minority Leader Paul Thissen said Greiling has always been a fighter and tireless advocate for Minnesota’s students and schools and those with mental illness.
“Throughout her years of service, Mindy has challenged us as a Legislature to do more and go further, especially when it comes to adequately funding our schools,” Thissen said in a statement. “I hope we can all live up to this challenge this session and beyond.”
Rep. Pat Garofalo, the Republican chairman of the education finance committee, has publicly sparred with Greiling over the years on education issues. Although the two are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, Garofalo said he has a lot of respect for his colleague.
“She’s a good friend who has served her constituents well,” Garofalo said. “It’s a loss for the state of Minnesota that she’s not running again.”
This fall’s election will be a contentious one. Minnesota has to redraw political lines this year, so all state legislators are up for re-election. Republicans control both the House and Senate by slim margins.
Greiling said redistricting was one of the many reasons she decided not to run for re-election. Running a campaign is hard work, she said, and she knew deep down that it was time for her to move on.
