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Steve Elkins (politician)

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Steve Elkins
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
from the 50B district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 8, 2019
Preceded byPaul Rosenthal
Personal details
Born (1952-04-17) April 17, 1952 (age 72)
Political partyDemocratic (DFL)
SpouseJudy
Children2
Residence(s)Bloomington, Minnesota, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
Occupation
WebsiteGovernment website Campaign website

Steve Elkins (born April 17, 1952) is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Elkins represents District 50B in the southwestern Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes the city of Bloomington and parts of Hennepin County.[1][2]

Early life, education, and career

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Elkins attended University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in economics.[1]

Elkins was a member of the Bloomington city council for three terms until Governor Mark Dayton appointed him to the Metropolitan Council in 2011.[3] He was chair of the Metropolitan Council Transportation Advisory Board, and served on the Bloomington School District Transportation Task Force and the Bloomington City Planning Commission. Elkins is an IT architect.[1][4][5]

Minnesota House of Representatives

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Elkins was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2018 and has been reelected every two years since. He first ran after four-term DFL incumbent Paul Rosenthal resigned to take a position in another state. After 2022 legislative redistricting put him in the same district as fellow state representative Andrew Carlson, Elkins defeated Carlson in the DFL primary election.[1][6]

Elkins serves as vice chair of the Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committee, and sits on the Health Finance and Policy, Taxes, and Transportation Finance and Policy Committees as well as the Property Tax Division of the Taxes Committee. From 2021 to 2022, he was vice chair of the Local Government Division of the State Government Finance and Elections Committee, and from 2019 to 2020 he was vice chair of the Subcommittee on Local Government.[1]

Transportation

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Elkins supported bipartisan legislation to allow undocumented immigrants to register vehicles with a consular ID.[7] He authored legislation to reduce penalties for fare evasion on public transit and create "uniformed transit safety officials" to ride light-rail trains instead of police officers.[8][9] He has said that suburban police departments are willing to help monitor Metro Transit sites.[10] Elkins supported efforts to audit the Metropolitan Council's management of the Southwest Light Rail project.[11]

Housing

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Elkins has written many bills to address housing prices and supply, including a Housing Affordability Act in 2021, saying, "NIMBYism is alive and well" in Minnesota.[12][13][14] He wrote an op-ed calling for cities to pursue rule changes and zoning policies that promote the creation of more affordable housing on smaller lots.[15] He authored legislation that would limit cities' power to regulate development and local zoning practices in order to increase housing supply and reduce prices and rents.[16][17] His bill would also allow cities to impose development and street maintenance fees in exchange for eliminating their power to declare development moratoriums and requiring cities to allow duplexes in any residential area.[18][19] City councils around Minnesota and the League of Minnesota Cities have opposed Elkins's efforts.[20]

Other political positions

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Elkins supports ranked-choice voting and authored legislation to expand its use to state and federal general and primary elections in Minnesota.[21][22] He wrote a bill to give major political parties more power over which candidates can run under their party name and make it easier for minor parties to qualify candidates for legislative offices, lowering the threshold for major party status from five percent to one percent.[23][24]

Elkins authored the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act, which would increase privacy rights for Minnesota residents.[25] He also worked on legislation to update Minnesota's antitrust laws.[26] Elkins supported a ban on the use of conversion therapy in Bloomington.[27] He wrote legislation to allow cities to ban the use of plastic bags.[28] Elkins was part of a bipartisan group of state legislators that traveled to Israel and the West Bank in 2019.[29]

Electoral history

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2018 Minnesota State House - District 49B[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Steve Elkins 15,264 61.69
Republican Matt Sikich 9,446 38.17
Write-in 34 0.21
Total votes 24,744 100.0
Democratic (DFL) hold
2020 Minnesota State House - District 49B[31]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Steve Elkins (incumbent) 17,883 62.22
Republican Joe Thalman 10,836 37.70
Write-in 21 0.07
Total votes 28,740 100.0
Democratic (DFL) hold
2022 DFL Primary for Minnesota State House - District 50B[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Steve Elkins 3,179 61.09
Democratic (DFL) Andrew Carlson 2,025 38.91
Total votes 5,204 100.0
2022 Minnesota State House - District 50B[33]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Steve Elkins (incumbent) 14,425 63.05
Republican Beth Beebe 8,437 36.88
Write-in 15 0.07
Total votes 22,877 100.0
Democratic (DFL) hold

Personal life

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Elkins and his wife, Judy, have two children. He resides in Bloomington, Minnesota.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Elkins, Steve". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  2. ^ "Rep. Steve Elkins (50B) - Minnesota House of Representatives". www.house.mn.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  3. ^ Olson, Dan (March 2, 2011). "Not the Oscars, but the (Met Council) winners are…". MPR News. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  4. ^ Wig, Andrew (October 11, 2018). "Voters Guide: House District 49B". Sun Current. Adams Publishing Group. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  5. ^ Hanks, Mike (July 7, 2018). "Met Council rep announces House District 49B candidacy". Sun Current. Adams Publishing Group. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  6. ^ Bierschbach, Briana (August 10, 2022). "Dozens of primaries shape next Minnesota Legislature". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  7. ^ Rao, Maya (June 19, 2019). "New law allows undocumented immigrants to register vehicles in Minnesota". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  8. ^ Moore, Janet (March 16, 2021). "Bills would put safety officers on buses and LRT, lower fare evasion fines". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  9. ^ Moore, Janet (April 16, 2022). "Shortage of recruits slowing Metro Transit initiative to beef up safety, spur ridership numbers". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  10. ^ Winter, Deena (2023-02-10). "Lawmakers drafting bill that would put social workers on light-rail trains". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  11. ^ Bakst, Brian (March 3, 2022). "Audit fever hits Minnesota lawmakers". MPR News. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  12. ^ Berkel, Jessie Van; Webster, MaryJo (August 9, 2021). "Minnesota legislators aim to spur creation of more entry-level housing". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  13. ^ Buchta, Jim (September 18, 2021). "No wonder it's hard to find a new home: The Twin Cities has the worst housing shortage in the nation". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  14. ^ Nesterak, Max (2021-08-10). "Lawmaker looks to drive down housing costs by overriding local zoning laws". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  15. ^ Elkins, Steve (February 14, 2020). "OPINION EXCHANGE | Twin Cities housing: The 'flaming hoops' separating builders and cities". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  16. ^ Roper, Eric (March 10, 2020). "Lawmakers want limits on cities' power to shape development, to lower housing costs". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  17. ^ Van Berkel, Jessie (January 11, 2023). "Rent assistance vouchers for 220,000 Minnesota households proposed at Capitol". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  18. ^ Webster, MaryJo; Corey, Michael (August 7, 2021). "How Twin Cities housing rules keep the metro segregated". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  19. ^ Callaghan, Peter (2021-08-17). "Could a global deal between builders and local governments help increase affordability — and decrease segregation — in Minnesota?". MinnPost. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  20. ^ Nesterak, Max (2022-03-22). "91 cities come out against bill that would allow more housing density across Minnesota". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  21. ^ Durenberger, Dave; Elkins, Steve; Nelson, Kim; Osterholm, Mike (August 17, 2020). "OPINION EXCHANGE | Counterpoint: Ranked-choice voting is successful. No wonder its use is expanding". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  22. ^ Massey, Jeanne (2021-04-07). "Rank-choice voting can serve as a bulwark against extremism". MinnPost. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  23. ^ Callaghan, Peter (2019-02-07). "'The whole thing is goofy': Proposal to liberalize rules for minor party candidates in Minnesota would also block some major party candidates from primary ballot". MinnPost. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  24. ^ Callaghan, Peter (2019-08-23). "Minnesota makes it really difficult for minor parties to get on the ballot. Could a new lawsuit change that?". MinnPost. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  25. ^ Hoidal, Sten-Erik (May 4, 2021). "Businesses face new obligations under web of privacy laws". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  26. ^ Stofferahn, Justin (2022-04-04). "Minnesota House is working to put an end to state monopolies". MinnPost. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  27. ^ Hyatt, Kim (March 3, 2021). "Bloomington may ban conversion therapy for minors, vulnerable adults". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  28. ^ Pugmire, Tim (March 6, 2019). "House panel debates lifting ban on bag bans". MPR News. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  29. ^ Multiple authors (December 11, 2019). "OPINION EXCHANGE | Counterpoint: Yes, we state legislators belong in the Mideast. Here's why we're there". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  30. ^ "2018 Results for State Representative District 49B". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  31. ^ "2020 Results for State Representative District 49B". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  32. ^ "2022 Results for State Representative District 50B Primary". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  33. ^ "2022 Results for State Representative District 50B". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
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