Legislation to designate a 'Snow Professionals Appreciation Month' clears Minnesota House

Green grass is sprouting across the state, trees are in bloom and thousands of Minnesotans will take to the open water Saturday for the fishing opener.

The House may have seemed climatology confused briefly talking about snow Wednesday, but it nonetheless passed a bill to celebrate the public and private professionals who seek to keep Minnesotans safe when powdery white precipitation falls.

Sponsored by Rep. Jim Nash (R-Waconia), HF3554, as amended, would designate January as Snow Professionals Appreciation Month and encourage the governor to promote and encourage observance. Rep. Athena Hollins (DFL-St. Paul) was the initial sponsor.

Following the 133-0 vote, the bill heads to the Senate.

“If you drove last week during the snow, you recognize the value of the people who remove the snow from the roads for us. Minnesota is a snow state and it’s very valuable that we recognize people who do that for us,” Nash told the House State Government Finance and Policy Committee March 24.

“For my team, January isn’t just another month on the calendar, it’s a month of extreme mental and physical exhaustion. While the rest of the world sees winter wonderland, my team sees high stakes safety. We’re the first responders helping the first responders. If we don’t clear snow and ice first responders are put at risk, ER entrances, drives, walkways become hazardous for EMS patients and caregivers,” Prescription Landscape CSO and Managing Partner Paulita LaPlante told the committee. “My employees juggle childcare, they work 12-hour shifts, they miss birthdays, they miss hockey games, they miss family nights together to work outside in freezing weather and whiteout conditions.

“By designating January as Snow Professionals Appreciation Month, this bill validates the professional status for our industry, tells my crew their specialized skills are essential to the state’s infrastructure. … We’ve seen how other states shut down during heavy snow and ice storms. Not in Minnesota. That’s solely because of the thousands of professionals who work tirelessly.”