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Energized to follow a different path

Published (4/15/2010)
By Sue Hegarty
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In the span of a few years, a bachelor and would-be architect followed a very different path and instead became a law student, a husband and a state and national leader on energy issues.

Now Rep. Jeremy Kalin (DFL-North Branch) said it’s time he took his wife on a long overdue ski vacation. Then, there’s this test he’ll take in July called the bar exam. Perhaps he’ll study for that inside the mountain chalet.

Kalin’s life took a sharp turn in 2007 when he began his first term as a legislator and was wed.

“My wife and I were married 11 days after the 35W bridge went down.” The conversation went something like this: “Honey, you know that part-time job I have? Well it’s actually full-time because my training in architecture means I can actually speak the language of engineers,” Kalin said.

For the next two-and-a-half years, the couple has managed the very hectic life of a state representative and an ob-gyn physician who drives 45 miles to deliver babies in Minneapolis.

“We’ve decided to take a break from campaigns and elected office and enjoy our lives together, while we can still call ourselves newlyweds,” Kalin said.

Through the end of his term he’ll focus on the proposed Ratepayer Protection Act that would update utility rate structures.

“Our utility rates are really set based on having to expand. We haven’t truly modernized the way that we set our utility rates. We’ve gotten much better at energy efficiency and energy conservation … and yet we’re still in this 1930s and 1940s mode.”

In 2009, Kalin was selected by the White House to chair the national, bipartisan Coalition of Legislators for Energy Action Now. Working with the Obama Administration and the U.S. Senate has been a highlight of his career.

In 2007, he helped craft the Demand Efficiency Act, an energy conservation standard. One year later, Kalin partnered with the Pentagon to pass the Military and Overseas Voting Act, resulting in a 450 percent increase in military and overseas ballots getting counted.

“To make sure our defenders of democracy have that core right to vote was an amazing privilege,” Kalin said.

As a freshman legislator, the first bill he introduced was on behalf of a constituent who returned from Iraq and was denied a deer hunting license because he didn’t have a gun safety certificate. “Here’s a guy we trusted with an M16 and other sidearms in battle, but we couldn’t trust him with a rifle out in the woods.” Kalin thought his bill to waive the gun safety requirement for veterans was non-controversial, but he faced opposition. A compromise was eventually reached.

“It taught me that no matter how common sense it sounds, things don’t get done simply around here,” he added.

He quickly learned not to take it personally. “While things around here can feel petty at times, some of it is just the result of either ourselves or the people we work with not being able to clearly articulate their passion for their subject,” Kalin said.

He also played a key role in his district, securing funding to create Ojiketa Regional Park in Chisago City, to build the new North Branch bridge over Interstate 35 and to advance the Highway 8 project in downtown Lindstrom.

Kalin began working on the framework for a 2009 energy stimulus bill even before the federal recovery act passed. It was a “moment in history where the clean energy policies were lining up with the job opportunities,” he said. “We were clearly in crisis and I wanted to do whatever I could to get people to work as soon as possible.”

His successor will have his or her work cut out for them.

“The state’s economic challenges are severe,” Kalin said. “Not only are we dealing with what’s been called the Great Recession, but we’re also dealing with the leading edge of the retirement of the baby boomers. We really have to rethink the way we’re doing things.”

Come late May, Kalin and his wife will focus on packing their bags and waxing their skis. When the honeymoon is over and he passes the bar exam, expect Kalin to continue his work on clean energy initiatives. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be in the energy area but we’ll see what comes.”

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