Eden Prairie News
Patty Dexter
Apr 3, 2018

District 48A Sen. Laurie Pryor was sworn in for her first term on Jan. 3.

House District 48A Rep. Laurie Pryor, DFL-Minnetonka, has announced her intent to seek re-election this fall after receiving the DFL endorsement on Saturday, March 17.

Pryor was first elected to the House in 2016 and serves on a number of committees including Education Innovation Policy, Higher Education and Career Readiness Policy and Finance, and the Veterans Affairs Division. She lives in Minnetonka with her husband, Jon. They have three children along with their spouses and six grandchildren.

“It has been an honor to serve our community in St. Paul. I am seeking another term to support quality education and to continue the work of keeping our economy strong and communities safe,” Pryor said.

During her first term in the state House, she has co-authored bills with Republican lawmakers to reduce distracted driving and add prevention of child sexual exploitation to health curriculum. She supports the Second Amendment, “but also supports common sense gun safety legislation to ensure that our children are safe and our schools secure,” according to a news release.

Pryor plans to work on reform to protect seniors from abuse and address the fight against the opioid epidemic by providing resources for prevention, treatment and education.

“Rep. Pryor realizes we must do more for our young adults who are saddled with debt from student loans. Minnesota is fifth in the nation for student debt and as a result, we are seeing worker shortages in essential careers such as teaching, nursing, and counseling because debt loads are high. She introduced efforts to refinance student loans and will advocate for reducing future student debt by holding down the cost of tuition,” the release said.

“Lastly, Rep. Pryor knows that our healthcare system must be fixed, particularly mental health. Effective treatments are available, but lawmakers have yet to build a system that provides a full continuum of care. Until this is done, people will continue to struggle with untreated and under-treated illnesses.”