72nd Minnesota Legislature

The seventy-second Minnesota Legislature first convened on January 6, 1981. The 67 members of the Minnesota Senate and the 134 members of the Minnesota House of Representatives were elected during the general election of November 4, 1980.

Seventy-second Minnesota Legislature
← 71st Minnesota Legislature 73rd Minnesota Legislature →
Overview
Legislative body	Minnesota Legislature
Jurisdiction	Minnesota, United States
Meeting place	Minnesota State Capitol
Term	January 6, 1981 (1981-01-06) – January 4, 1983 (1983-01-04)
Website	www.leg.state.mn.us
Minnesota State Senate
Members	67 Senators
President	John T. Davies
Majority Leader	Roger Moe
Minority Leader	Robert O. Ashbach
Party control	Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Minnesota House of Representatives
Members	134 Representatives
Speaker	Harry A. Sieben
Majority Leader	Willis Eken
Minority Leader	Glen Sherwood, David M. Jennings
Party control	Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

Sessions

The legislature met in a regular session from January 6, 1981, to May 18, 1981. Three special sessions were also convened in 1981. The first of these special sessions was convened on June 6 to consider the state budget, appropriations, and a tax bill. The second of the special sessions was convened on July 1 and July 2 to consider a short-term borrowing law and to correct errors in the laws enacted during the regular session. The third special session of 1981 was convened from December 1, 1981, to January 18, 1982, to consider reducing appropriations.^[1]

A continuation of the regular session was held between January 12, 1982, and March 19, 1982. Three additional special sessions were also held in 1982. The first of these special sessions was convened on March 30 to consider changes to the state's unemployment and workers' compensation laws. The second was convened on July 9 to consider authorizing Albert Lea to spend federal revenue sharing funds, and to consider providing employment aid to the Iron Range from the Northeast Minnesota Economic Protection Fund. The final special session of the 72nd Minnesota Legislature met from December 7, 1982, to December 10, 1982, and considered reductions in appropriations, reducing employer and increasing employee contributions to various retirement funds, adding two members to the investment advisory board, and so forth.^[1]

Party summary

Resignations and new members are discussed in the "Membership changes" section, below.

Senate

	Party[2] (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total	Vacant
	DFL	IR
End of previous Legislature	44	21	65	2
Begin	45	22	67	0
April 10, 1981	44		66	1
May 15, 1981		23	67	0
Latest voting share	66%	34%
Beginning of the next Legislature	42	25	67	0

House of Representatives

	Party[3] (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total	Vacant
	DFL	IR
End of previous Legislature	67	66	133	1
Begin	70	64	134	0
June 1, 1981		63	133	1
July 17, 1981		64	134	0
Latest voting share	52%	48%
Beginning of the next Legislature	77	57	134	0

Leadership

Senate

President of the Senate

John T. Davies (DFL-Minneapolis)^[4]

Senate Majority Leader

Roger Moe (DFL-Ada)^[5]

Senate Minority Leader

Robert O. Ashbach (IR-St. Paul)^[5]

House of Representatives

Speaker of the House

Harry A. Sieben (DFL-Hastings)^[6]

House Majority Leader

Willis Eken (DFL-Twin Valley)^[7]

House Minority Leader

Until February 1982 Glen Sherwood (IR-Pine River)^{[nb 1][7]}

From February 1982 David M. Jennings (IR-Truman)^[7]

Members

Senate

Name	District	City	Party
Ashbach, Robert O.	48	St. Paul	IR
Bang, Otto T.	39	Edina	IR
Belanger, William	38	Bloomington	IR
Benson, Duane	35	Lanesboro	IR
Berg, Charlie	15	Chokio	IR
Berglin, Linda	59	Minneapolis	DFL
Bernhagen, John	22	Hutchinson	IR
Bertram, Joe	16	Paynesville	DFL
Brataas, Nancy	33	Rochester	IR
Chmielewski, Florian	14	Sturgeon Lake	DFL
Dahl, Gregory	49	White Bear Lake	DFL
Davies, John T.	60	Minneapolis	DFL
Davis, Chuck	18	Princeton	DFL
Dicklich, Ron	05	Hibbing	DFL
Dieterich, Neil	62	St. Paul	DFL
Engler, Steven	25	Randolph	IR
Frank, Don	46	Spring Lake Park	DFL
Frederick, Mel	32	West Concord	IR
Frederickson, Dennis	28	New Ulm	IR
Hanson, Marv	01	Hallock	DFL
Hughes, Jerome M.	50	Maplewood	DFL
Humphrey, Skip	44	New Hope	DFL
Johnson, Doug	06	Tower	DFL
Kamrath, Randy P.	20	Canby	IR
Keefe, John B.	40	Hopkins	IR
Knoll, Franklin J.	61	Minneapolis	DFL
Knutson, Howard A.	53	Burnsville	IR
Kroening, Carl	54	Minneapolis	DFL
Kronebusch, Patricia Louise	34	Rollingstone	IR
Langseth, Keith	09	Glyndon	DFL
Lantry, Marilyn	67	St. Paul	DFL
Lessard, Bob	03	International Falls	DFL
Lindgren, Steven O.	37	Richfield	IR
Luther, Bill	45	Brooklyn Park	DFL
Menning, Mike	26	Edgerton	DFL
Merriam, Gene	47	Coon Rapids	DFL
Moe, Donald	65	St. Paul	DFL
Moe, Roger	02	Ada	DFL
Nelson, Tom A.	31	Austin	DFL
Nichols, James W.	20	Lake Benton	DFL
Olhoft, Wayne	11	Herman	DFL
Pehler, Jim	17	St. Cloud	DFL
Penny, Tim	30	New Richland	DFL
Peterson, Collin Clark	10	Detroit Lakes	DFL
Peterson, Darrel L.	27	Fairmont	IR
Peterson, Randolph W.	19	Wyoming	DFL
Petty, Eric D.	58	Minneapolis	DFL
Pillsbury, George Sturgis	42	Wayzata	IR
Purfeerst, Clarence	24	Faribault	DFL
Ramstad, Jim	43	Plymouth	IR
Renneke, Earl	23	Le Sueur	IR
Rued, David E.	13	Aitkin	IR
Schmitz, Robert J.	36	Jordan	DFL
Setzepfandt, A. O.H.	21	Bird Island	DFL
Sieloff, Ron	63	St. Paul	IR
Sikorski, Gerry	51	Stillwater	DFL
Solon, Sam	07	Duluth	DFL
Spear, Allan	57	Minneapolis	DFL
Stern, Irving M.	41	St. Louis Park	DFL
Stokowski, Anne K.	55	Minneapolis	DFL
Stumpf, Jr., Peter P.	64	St. Paul	DFL
Taylor, Glen	29	Mankato	IR
Tennessen, Robert J.	56	Minneapolis	DFL
Ulland, James E.	08	Duluth	IR
Vega, Conrad	52	South St. Paul	DFL
Waldorf, Gene	66	St. Paul	DFL
Wegener, Myrton O.	12	Bertha	DFL
Willet, Gerald	04	Park Rapids	DFL

House of Representatives

Name	District	City	Party
Aasness, Paul D.	11A	Wendell	IR
Ainley, Jr., John A.	04A	Park Rapids	IR
Anderson, Bob	10B	Ottertail	IR
Anderson, Bruce W.	26A	Slayton	DFL
Anderson, Glen H.	15B	Bellingham	DFL
Anderson, Irvin N.	03A	International Falls	DFL
Battaglia, David Peter	06B	Two Harbors	DFL
Begich, Joseph	06A	Eveleth	DFL
Berkelman, Thomas R.	08B	Duluth	DFL
Blatz, Kathleen	38A	Bloomington	IR
Brandl, John	61A	Minneapolis	DFL
Brinkman, Bernard J.	16B	Richmond	DFL
Byrne, Margaret Mary	64B	St. Paul	DFL
Carlson, Doug	14A	Sandstone	IR
Carlson, Lyndon	44A	Crystal	DFL
Clark, Janet H.	60A	Minneapolis	DFL
Clark, Karen	59A	Minneapolis	DFL
Clawson, John T.	19A	Center City	DFL
Dahlvang, George C.	54A	Minneapolis	DFL
Dean, William D.	58A	Minneapolis	IR
Dempsey, Terry	28B	New Ulm	IR
Den Ouden, Gaylin	21B	Prinsburg	IR
Drew, John	63B	St. Paul	IR
Eken, Willis	02B	Twin Valley	DFL
Elioff, Dominic J.	05A	Virginia	DFL
Ellingson, Robert L.	45B	Brooklyn Center	DFL
Erickson, Wendell O.	26B	Hills	IR
Esau, Gilbert D.	28A	Mountain Lake	IR
Evans, James	10A	Detroit Lakes	IR
Ewald, Douglas R.	40A	Minnetonka	IR
Fjoslien, David O.	11B	Brandon	IR
Forsythe, Mary	39A	Edina	IR
Frerichs, Don	32B	Rochester	IR
Friedrich, Donald L.	32B	Rochester	IR
Greenfield, Lee	57B	Minneapolis	DFL
Gruenes, Dave	17B	St. Cloud	IR
Gustafson, Ben E.	07B	Duluth	DFL
Halberg, Chuck	53B	Burnsville	IR
Hanson, Walter R.	62B	St. Paul	DFL
Harens, Thomas J.	65B	St. Paul	DFL
Hauge, Earl	15A	Glenwood	DFL
Haukoos, Bob	31A	Albert Lea	IR
Heap, Jim	43B	Robbinsdale	IR
Heinitz, Orlando Jacob	43A	Plymouth	IR
Himle, John	39B	Bloomington	IR
Hoberg, Dwaine	09A	Moorhead	IR
Hokanson, Shirley A.	37A	Richfield	DFL
Hokr, Dorothy	44B	New Hope	IR
Jacobs, Joel	47A	Coon Rapids	DFL
Jennings, David M.	27B	Truman	IR
Johnson, Carl M.	23B	St. Peter	DFL
Johnson, Dean	21A	Willmar	IR
Jude, Tad	42A	Mound	DFL
Kahn, Phyllis	57A	Minneapolis	DFL
Kaley, John R.	33A	Rochester	IR
Kalis, Henry	30A	Walters	DFL
Kelly, Randy	66B	St. Paul	DFL
Knickerbocker, Jerry	40B	Minnetonka	IR
Kostohryz, Dick	50B	North St. Paul	DFL
Laidig, Gary	51A	Stillwater	IR
Lehto, Arlene Ione	08A	Duluth	DFL
Lemen, Robert N.	03B	Grand Rapids	IR
Kvam, Adolph Leonard	22A	Litchfield	IR
Levi, Connie	50A	Dellwood	IR
Long, Dee	56B	Minneapolis	DFL
Ludeman, Cal	20B	Tracy	IR
Luknic, Marsha Johnson	24B	Faribault	IR
Mann, George	27A	Windom	DFL
Marsh, Marcus M.	17A	Sauk Rapids	IR
McCarron, Paul	46A	Spring Lake Park	DFL
McDonald, K. J.	36A	Watertown	IR
McEachern, Bob	18B	St. Michael	DFL
Mehrkens, Lyle	25B	Red Wing	IR
Metzen, James P.	52A	South St. Paul	DFL
Minne, Lona	05B	Hibbing	DFL
Munger, Willard	07A	Duluth	DFL
Murphy, Mary	14B	Hermantown	DFL
Nelsen, Bruce G.	12A	Staples	IR
Nelson, Ken	59B	Minneapolis	DFL
Niehaus, Sr., Joseph T.	16A	Sauk Centre	IR
Norton, Fred C.	65A	St. Paul	DFL
Novak, Steve	48A	New Brighton	DFL
Nysether, Myron E.	01A	Roseau	IR
O'Connor, Rich	66A	St. Paul	DFL
Ogren, Paul Anders	13B	Aitkin	DFL
Olsen, Sally	41A	Saint Louis Park	IR
Onnen, Tony	22B	Cokato	IR
Osthoff, Tom	64A	St. Paul	DFL
Otis, Todd	58B	Minneapolis	DFL
Peterson, Bill	38B	Bloomington	IR
Peterson, Donna C.	60B	Minneapolis	DFL
Piepho, Mark J.	29A	Mankato	IR
Pogemiller, Larry	55A	Minneapolis	DFL
Redalen, Elton	35A	Fountain	IR
Reding, Leo John	31B	Austin	DFL
Rees, Tom	36B	Elko	IR
Reif, Robert W.	49B	White Bear Lake	IR
Rice, Jim	54B	Minneapolis	DFL
Rodriguez, Carolyn Jane	53A	Apple Valley	DFL
Rodriguez, Frank J.	67A	St. Paul	DFL
Rose, John	48B	Roseville	IR
Rothenberg, Elliot C.	41B	St. Louis Park	IR
Samuelson, Donald B.	13A	Brainerd	DFL
Sarna, John	55B	Minneapolis	DFL
Schafer, Gary	23A	Gibbon	IR
Schoenfeld, Jerry E.	30B	Waseca	DFL
Schreiber, Bill	45A	Brooklyn Park	IR
Searles, Robert L.	42B	Wayzata	IR
Shea, Tom J.	32A	Owatonna	DFL
Sherman, Tim	34B	Winona	IR
Sherwood, Glen A.	04B	Pine River	IR
Sieben, Harry A.	52B	Hastings	DFL
Sieben, Michael R.	51B	Newport	DFL
Simoneau, Wayne	46B	Fridley	DFL
Skoglund, Wes	61B	Minneapolis	DFL
Stadum, Tony	02A	Ada	IR
Staten, Sr., Randolph Wilbert	56A	Minneapolis	DFL
Stowell, Warren	34A	Lewiston	IR
Stumpf, LeRoy A.	01B	Plummer	DFL
Sviggum, Steve	25A	Kenyon	IR
Swanson, James C.	37B	Richfield	DFL
Tomlinson, John D.	67B	St. Paul	DFL
Valan, Merlyn Orville	09B	Moorhead	IR
Valento, Don	49A	Little Canada	IR
Vanasek, Robert	24A	New Prague	DFL
Vellenga, Kathleen	63A	St. Paul	DFL
Voss, Gordon	47B	Blaine	DFL
Weaver, John L.	19B	Anoka	IR
Welch, Richard J.	18A	Cambridge	DFL
Welker, Ray	20A	Montevideo	IR
Wenzel, Steve	12B	Little Falls	DFL
Wieser, Jr., Al W.	35B	La Crescent	IR
Wigley, Richard E.	29B	Lake Crystal	IR
Wynia, Ann	62A	St. Paul	DFL
Zubay, Kenneth Peter	33B	Rochester	IR

Membership changes

Senate

District	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date successor seated
20	James W. Nichols (DFL)	Resigned April 10, 1981, citing the needs of his family and farm.[9]	Randy P. Kamrath (IR)	May 15, 1981[10]

House of Representatives

District	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date successor seated
32B	Donald L. Friedrich (IR)	Appointed to other office circa June 1, 1981.[11]	Don Frerichs (IR)	July 17, 1981[12]

Notes

1. Although he retained his seat in the House of Representatives, Glen Sherwood resigned as the House Minority Leader in February 1982, in order to (unsuccessfully) run for the Independent Republican nomination for Governor of Minnesota in that year's gubernatorial election.^[8]