Sen.-Elect Mary Kiffmeyer of Big Lake is staring at a different set of circumstances in preparing for her first term in the Minnesota Senate in January. Her Republican party will be in the minority in both houses and to DFL Gov. Mark Dayton. It represents the first time since the early 1990’s the DFL has held control of all three arms of the government. The Senate has 39 Democrats and 28 Republicans; the House has “This will be very different,” she says. The flow of power will be from the other side of the aisle. Kiffmeyer told the Tribune Wednesday she recently met with the deputy chief of staff on policy for Gov. Dayton and shared ideas with them. “I told them they can ‘blow’ anything through they want to, except for bonding,” she said. “But they didn’t seem like they may want to go there.” She admits, conversely, that if the Republicans had control of all three branches, they would face the same pressures. “We have a very liberal governor and a very liberal house and senate,” she said. She is a fiscal conservative, bent on keeping government as small as possible. How that will entwine with the more liberal ideals of her legislative brethren will be played out. “But I am there to best-represent my district (Dist. 30) and its peoples,” she said. ‘We have a conservative district and I feel I am a good fit for that.” (Dist. 30 covers the communities of Hanover, St. Michael, Albertville, Elk River and Big Lake. Her previous House seat covered most of Sherburne County, so the territory is different.) Kiffmeyer feels there are three large causes she needs to push in service to the district. They include an improved I-94 corridor, improved economic infrastructure to serve the area and general education issues - equitable funding from the state. The Green Acres tax rulings will continue to get her attention, she said. She also believes many communities need to do without state assistance, such as the failed bonding for the St. Cloud Civic Center. She asked the city officials to go about funding it themselves; they have, and it is being improved to better serve that region. The governor’s bonding package from last session snubbed Big Lake’s proposed rail industrial park expansion. So, there is more work to do there, she suggests. This week, the Nov. 1 financial forecast showed the state will experience a $1.1 billion financial shortfall for the biennium beginning July 1. How that will play with state spending is yet to be determined. Her line on state growth is not to grow it by legislative proposals - but by allowing businesses to thrive, creating jobs and increased earnings. “Pro-growth policies, that’s what we need,” she said. “But the mindset on the House floor? They just don’t get it. “Government has no money, except what it takes from the people!” So, she argues, what government takes from people should be less, for one good reason: “For every dollar of taxes, it (the state) takes 20 cents to collect it. For every 80 cents remaining, it takes another 20 cents to distribute services. “For every dollar we send in, we’re getting 60 cents back!” And it’s doubly troublesome for a paralyzed recovery, such as the state is experiencing, she says. Putting the money in the right places, where it can do the most good, is one hook Kiffmeyer can hang her hat on. As part of the education funding bill recently, Kiffmeyer lobbied to take two percent out of the bill intended for “staff development” and redirect it towards general education. The additional monies made available to the Elk River School District allowed them to hire 22 more teachers, she reported. “And Big Lake really benefitted by having the Republicans being in control,” she said. And regarding design of additional school buildings, she has a simple answer. Develop one model to serve the elementary, middle, junior high and high schools and use only those models. Architectural fees would be diminished greatly, she advises. “Besides, once you graduate, you don’t remember the building,” she said. “You remember the teacher or coaches who made an impact on your lives.” Kiffmeyer has two new House colleagues, elected with her to St. Paul in November. They are Nick Zerwas of Elk River, who serves Dist. 30A and David Fitzsimmons of Hanover, who serves Dist. 30B. “Nick has a forensics background, which should be invaluable,” she says. “And David is from a farming family. He should be equally helpful.” As for how this all plays out, she is hopeful: “Anything they (the Democrats) want to do, they can do. “The majority party has the responsibility of balancing the budget. The minority party needs to be a balance to the excess of the majority.”