GRANITE FALLS -- Sen. Gary Kubly, DFL-Granite Falls, would have liked to have been named chairman of a full committee but said he is pleased he will be assigned chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Subdivision.
The Senate DFL leadership ann-ounced their list of recommended committees and chairman. The assignments are expected to be finalized on Monday by the caucus. Kubly was hoping to be named chairman of a full committee.
However, said the top positions are given based on seniority and he missed the cut off. He is currently the most senior senator that doesn't have a full committee assignment, he said.
"You can't spend a lot of time lamenting that," he said.
Because of the seniority system, three-fourths of the Senate committee chairman are from metro districts.
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The natural resources subdivision will be addressing issues of dedication of "financial resources for our natural resources," Kubly said in a telephone interview Thursday.
"It's a good subdivision," he said. "I'm sure it will be busy." He said at least 16 people have indicated they want to be a member on his committee.
The "strong drive to have more miles of trails" for snowmobiles and off-highway vehicles will likely be addressed by the subdivision, he said, as well as ways to address off-highway vehicles using state forests. He said he'd like to see the users police themselves to deal with offenders who abuse the parks and harm the terrain.
Kubly said it's possible he may also be named chairman of the energy sub-committee. With renewable energy being "the topic of the day" and with his district's involvement in winder energy, he said that assignment would be a good fit.
