Shane Hudella
Name: Shane Hudella
Public Office Sought: Minnesota House of Representatives District 41B
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (651)253-6737
Campaign website: www.ShaneHudellaForHouse.com
Twitter handle: @HudellaDTBL
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100080248815853
Candidate Bio
I served in the Minnesota Army National Guard from 1988 to 2012. While serving in the military I learned to manage and lead soldiers through complex, high stress situations. I retired at the rank of First Sergeant, which is the senior enlisted soldier at the unit level, charged with the care, welfare, and mission readiness of 100+ subordinates.
In 2009, I started a nonprofit organization to help military families with the high cost of youth sports. I recognized the need for military kids to be able to play the sport they loved as a way to cope with the challenges that service families encounter. I have grown the program into a national entity that has provided over $20,000,000 in charitable giving and positively impacted over 100,000 heroic families. The organization, United Heroes League (formerly Defending The Blue Line), won the 2012 Joining Forces Community Challenge as the best new military nonprofit in America. The experience gained while growing our program will serve me well as a State Representative and I am confident that I will continue to excel in the areas of building strategic partnerships, managing budgets, perpetuating growth and positive impact, dealing with media, managing personnel, & public speaking.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Kids – Cash – Crime
Kids – Parents need to have the right to visibility on their child’s curriculum and environment at school, education needs to once again be a nonpartisan endeavor. Kids also need to be protected from future mask / vaccine mandates as well as extended school closures and periods of social isolation.
Cash – Our economy is in huge trouble. Inflation is at a record high and everyone except the wealthy are struggling. We need to stop handing out free money, we need tax cuts and spending controls, and we need people to get back to work.
Crime – We are in a complete state of lawlessness with no accountability right now. Our current leadership’s inability to support our police professionals and hold liberal judges and prosecutors accountable for putting dangerous criminals back on the street is inexcusable.
How would you characterize the business climate in the East Metro and what role do businesses play in supporting quality of life issues in East Metro communities?
The business climate in the East Metro right now is apprehensive at best. They have been beat down for over 2 years by the Walz and Biden Administrations’ failed policies. They are struggling to find people to work, inflation and supply chain issues are hurting them, and the out-of-control crime is keeping our community members from feeling safe about visiting their establishments, particularly at night.
Local businesses are the heart of our communities. They employ our families, fund our communities, and encourage and attract growth in both population and infrastructure. If life isn’t good for our businesses, it’s not good for our citizens.
What role do you think the State should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses to and retain existing businesses in the East Metro?
I view the State governments role as twofold:
1. Create a positive environment for businesses to thrive in by limiting government overreach and over-taxation, and by restoring law and order to our communities so that patrons feel safe about shopping in-person again.
2. The State can help advertise and incentivize communities through media outreach outside of Minnesota. I have seen countless communication on multiple platforms advertising for businesses to move to SD or TX, for example, and wouldn’t you know it, those states have had a huge uptick in business growth.
My steps to retaining and attracting businesses to our communities:
1. Secure our streets (get crime under control again).
2. Work with local Chambers of Commerce and business owners to address concerns and reign in government overreach to ensure companies aren’t being taxed out of our communities.
3. Ensure that our business leaders have the freedom to run their own companies without burdensome and unconstitutional mandates.
4. Ensure that our government can never again shut down businesses and an entire economy for an extended period of time.
5. Meet regularly with the business community to ensure policies are working, and to discuss new and creative initiatives that encourage growth.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address our state’s critical labor shortage?
We have to stop giving away “free money”. We’re trillions in debt as a country and there are more incentives and government programs now that encourage people not to work than there are rewards for people who work hard to provide for their families.
Do you support any specific employment-related proposals? If so, what steps would you take to understand the impact of a proposal on the many types of businesses in the East Metro and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
The Minnesota UI fund has been in chaos under DFL control and needs to be completely revamped. We have to relieve some of the burden on employers with regards to unemployment insurance and settlements for disputes. There needs to be a reasonable and nonpartisan approach to rebuilding how we operate our UI fund, how much we disburse through the program and for how long, and how much of that burden should paid in advance by the business community.
Public safety and rising crime rates are of serious concern to the business community and residents. What strategies or policies would you use to address public safety issues?
It’s time to put the hammer down on violent crime and lawlessness in Minnesota.
We need to fully fund our police professionals and create incentives for departments that reach 100% staffing levels. We also need to hold our judges and prosecutors accountable for deviating from state and federal guidelines through annual review and removal for those who let politics outweigh their responsibility to uphold the law. Furthermore, we need (and I believe this is being sponsored right now) legislation that puts organization like the MN Freedom Fund out of business – it’s been a revolving door for violent offenders in the Twin Cities.
What strategies or policies would you use to address transportation issues? Have your strategies or views changed on transportation since we’ve seen shifts in road use, public transportation use, work from home models, etc. due to the pandemic?
For starters, the Metro Green Line needs to be put on permanent hold. It’s a complete failure to date and another example of government waste. Priority number one after that needs to be a return to the point where people feel safe to use public transportation again because right now they don’t. We have some great assets in our existing LRT system and public busing, but nobody is using them due to crime. On a broader scale I think we need to look at the data for transportation pre-covid, during covid, and then examine how long we anticipate it will be before we return to pre-pandemic levels of transportation usage. In the interim, we can likely delay increases of our transportation budget that can be money better spent elsewhere, like helping businesses recover.
What strategies or policies would you use to address housing issues?
Affordable housing is great, but it can’t make up an entire community. The current AMI (area median income) formula is fair, and I think this is an issue that is better managed at the local municipality level because every city is different. The AMI in Hastings, for example, is far different than the AMI for Woodbury.
What are your priorities for the State’s budget? Are there any services currently provided by the State that you believe should be expanded, cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
Minnesota wastes an exceptional amount of taxpayer dollars. We’re spending 40% of our state budget on K-12 education, and we’re getting a worse product from them every year. It’s not a model that can be sustained for communities that want to grow.
I would advocate for our public safety sector (5.3%) funding to grow to 7%, and that money comes from education and health & human services (33%), .7% from ed and 1% from HHS where we also have a massive waste problem.
It is far past time to end the waste, fraud, and abuse in our state government. If we can waste ½ billion dollars with no accountability on the Feeding Our Future scandal, we can take a long hard look at where to trim the fat in our states programs.
What will you do to expand your district’s tax base?
Hastings is pretty water-locked on the Mississippi river, so outside of a small corridor to the west towards Rosemount, there is not a great opportunity for development (and that is just fine with the majority of the community here). Cottage Grove on the other hand has some great potential to expand to the north and east as they currently are. By encouraging housing growth and attracting new businesses to the west of Hastings and north and east of Cottage Grove, there is tremendous potential to increase our base over the next ten years. The continued exodus from the Minneapolis / St. Paul area will also be a contributing factor in this growth and consideration to that demographic should be weighed when advertising.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce, and address the achievement gap?
We need to demand a better ROI for our investment in education. Our teachers are great, but as I stated earlier, we can’t keep throwing more money at a system that delivers a lower end product each year. Accountability is key and it is time to start rewarding institutions that produce a better product and shrinking the ones that don’t. I also think that we need to make a bigger investment in Community and Technical Colleges and encourage more young people to examine the trades and agriculture as potential career fields.
What is the role of the State in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses?
Government can’t create entrepreneurs no matter what race or gender they are.
That said, government can play a role to help remove roadblocks through less regulation on the banking industry and local communities to help minority and women-owned businesses have the same opportunities for financing, real estate, etc., that other demographics have.
What further policies can the State of Minnesota adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
As I mentioned earlier, UI fund management is still a mess and it’s killing small business. We can start by revamping that fund and examine if the private sector can be given an option to “self-insure” like nonprofits do, with a small annual fee for selecting that option.
Some businesses have done extremely well during the pandemic (the Walmart’s, Amazon, etc.) and we need to be cautious not to waste taxpayer dollars by providing relief to those companies who have profited. There must be an auditable profit and loss statement to qualify for relief.
I would propose tax break incentives over a five year period, equal to verified revenue loss in 2020 & 2021, for businesses that suffered due to Walz’s unlawful mandates.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
I am excited for the opportunity to be the next State Representative for the people of Hastings and Cottage Grove. I am a strong advocate for a smaller government that is more responsible with our citizens tax dollars. Our state is headed in the wrong direction, and I am excited to get to the Capitol and get to work putting Minnesota on a better path for the next generation.
Public Office Sought: Minnesota House of Representatives District 41B
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (651)253-6737
Campaign website: www.ShaneHudellaForHouse.com
Twitter handle: @HudellaDTBL
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100080248815853
Candidate Bio
I served in the Minnesota Army National Guard from 1988 to 2012. While serving in the military I learned to manage and lead soldiers through complex, high stress situations. I retired at the rank of First Sergeant, which is the senior enlisted soldier at the unit level, charged with the care, welfare, and mission readiness of 100+ subordinates.
In 2009, I started a nonprofit organization to help military families with the high cost of youth sports. I recognized the need for military kids to be able to play the sport they loved as a way to cope with the challenges that service families encounter. I have grown the program into a national entity that has provided over $20,000,000 in charitable giving and positively impacted over 100,000 heroic families. The organization, United Heroes League (formerly Defending The Blue Line), won the 2012 Joining Forces Community Challenge as the best new military nonprofit in America. The experience gained while growing our program will serve me well as a State Representative and I am confident that I will continue to excel in the areas of building strategic partnerships, managing budgets, perpetuating growth and positive impact, dealing with media, managing personnel, & public speaking.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Kids – Cash – Crime
Kids – Parents need to have the right to visibility on their child’s curriculum and environment at school, education needs to once again be a nonpartisan endeavor. Kids also need to be protected from future mask / vaccine mandates as well as extended school closures and periods of social isolation.
Cash – Our economy is in huge trouble. Inflation is at a record high and everyone except the wealthy are struggling. We need to stop handing out free money, we need tax cuts and spending controls, and we need people to get back to work.
Crime – We are in a complete state of lawlessness with no accountability right now. Our current leadership’s inability to support our police professionals and hold liberal judges and prosecutors accountable for putting dangerous criminals back on the street is inexcusable.
How would you characterize the business climate in the East Metro and what role do businesses play in supporting quality of life issues in East Metro communities?
The business climate in the East Metro right now is apprehensive at best. They have been beat down for over 2 years by the Walz and Biden Administrations’ failed policies. They are struggling to find people to work, inflation and supply chain issues are hurting them, and the out-of-control crime is keeping our community members from feeling safe about visiting their establishments, particularly at night.
Local businesses are the heart of our communities. They employ our families, fund our communities, and encourage and attract growth in both population and infrastructure. If life isn’t good for our businesses, it’s not good for our citizens.
What role do you think the State should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses to and retain existing businesses in the East Metro?
I view the State governments role as twofold:
1. Create a positive environment for businesses to thrive in by limiting government overreach and over-taxation, and by restoring law and order to our communities so that patrons feel safe about shopping in-person again.
2. The State can help advertise and incentivize communities through media outreach outside of Minnesota. I have seen countless communication on multiple platforms advertising for businesses to move to SD or TX, for example, and wouldn’t you know it, those states have had a huge uptick in business growth.
My steps to retaining and attracting businesses to our communities:
1. Secure our streets (get crime under control again).
2. Work with local Chambers of Commerce and business owners to address concerns and reign in government overreach to ensure companies aren’t being taxed out of our communities.
3. Ensure that our business leaders have the freedom to run their own companies without burdensome and unconstitutional mandates.
4. Ensure that our government can never again shut down businesses and an entire economy for an extended period of time.
5. Meet regularly with the business community to ensure policies are working, and to discuss new and creative initiatives that encourage growth.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address our state’s critical labor shortage?
We have to stop giving away “free money”. We’re trillions in debt as a country and there are more incentives and government programs now that encourage people not to work than there are rewards for people who work hard to provide for their families.
Do you support any specific employment-related proposals? If so, what steps would you take to understand the impact of a proposal on the many types of businesses in the East Metro and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
The Minnesota UI fund has been in chaos under DFL control and needs to be completely revamped. We have to relieve some of the burden on employers with regards to unemployment insurance and settlements for disputes. There needs to be a reasonable and nonpartisan approach to rebuilding how we operate our UI fund, how much we disburse through the program and for how long, and how much of that burden should paid in advance by the business community.
Public safety and rising crime rates are of serious concern to the business community and residents. What strategies or policies would you use to address public safety issues?
It’s time to put the hammer down on violent crime and lawlessness in Minnesota.
We need to fully fund our police professionals and create incentives for departments that reach 100% staffing levels. We also need to hold our judges and prosecutors accountable for deviating from state and federal guidelines through annual review and removal for those who let politics outweigh their responsibility to uphold the law. Furthermore, we need (and I believe this is being sponsored right now) legislation that puts organization like the MN Freedom Fund out of business – it’s been a revolving door for violent offenders in the Twin Cities.
What strategies or policies would you use to address transportation issues? Have your strategies or views changed on transportation since we’ve seen shifts in road use, public transportation use, work from home models, etc. due to the pandemic?
For starters, the Metro Green Line needs to be put on permanent hold. It’s a complete failure to date and another example of government waste. Priority number one after that needs to be a return to the point where people feel safe to use public transportation again because right now they don’t. We have some great assets in our existing LRT system and public busing, but nobody is using them due to crime. On a broader scale I think we need to look at the data for transportation pre-covid, during covid, and then examine how long we anticipate it will be before we return to pre-pandemic levels of transportation usage. In the interim, we can likely delay increases of our transportation budget that can be money better spent elsewhere, like helping businesses recover.
What strategies or policies would you use to address housing issues?
Affordable housing is great, but it can’t make up an entire community. The current AMI (area median income) formula is fair, and I think this is an issue that is better managed at the local municipality level because every city is different. The AMI in Hastings, for example, is far different than the AMI for Woodbury.
What are your priorities for the State’s budget? Are there any services currently provided by the State that you believe should be expanded, cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
Minnesota wastes an exceptional amount of taxpayer dollars. We’re spending 40% of our state budget on K-12 education, and we’re getting a worse product from them every year. It’s not a model that can be sustained for communities that want to grow.
I would advocate for our public safety sector (5.3%) funding to grow to 7%, and that money comes from education and health & human services (33%), .7% from ed and 1% from HHS where we also have a massive waste problem.
It is far past time to end the waste, fraud, and abuse in our state government. If we can waste ½ billion dollars with no accountability on the Feeding Our Future scandal, we can take a long hard look at where to trim the fat in our states programs.
What will you do to expand your district’s tax base?
Hastings is pretty water-locked on the Mississippi river, so outside of a small corridor to the west towards Rosemount, there is not a great opportunity for development (and that is just fine with the majority of the community here). Cottage Grove on the other hand has some great potential to expand to the north and east as they currently are. By encouraging housing growth and attracting new businesses to the west of Hastings and north and east of Cottage Grove, there is tremendous potential to increase our base over the next ten years. The continued exodus from the Minneapolis / St. Paul area will also be a contributing factor in this growth and consideration to that demographic should be weighed when advertising.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce, and address the achievement gap?
We need to demand a better ROI for our investment in education. Our teachers are great, but as I stated earlier, we can’t keep throwing more money at a system that delivers a lower end product each year. Accountability is key and it is time to start rewarding institutions that produce a better product and shrinking the ones that don’t. I also think that we need to make a bigger investment in Community and Technical Colleges and encourage more young people to examine the trades and agriculture as potential career fields.
What is the role of the State in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses?
Government can’t create entrepreneurs no matter what race or gender they are.
That said, government can play a role to help remove roadblocks through less regulation on the banking industry and local communities to help minority and women-owned businesses have the same opportunities for financing, real estate, etc., that other demographics have.
What further policies can the State of Minnesota adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
As I mentioned earlier, UI fund management is still a mess and it’s killing small business. We can start by revamping that fund and examine if the private sector can be given an option to “self-insure” like nonprofits do, with a small annual fee for selecting that option.
Some businesses have done extremely well during the pandemic (the Walmart’s, Amazon, etc.) and we need to be cautious not to waste taxpayer dollars by providing relief to those companies who have profited. There must be an auditable profit and loss statement to qualify for relief.
I would propose tax break incentives over a five year period, equal to verified revenue loss in 2020 & 2021, for businesses that suffered due to Walz’s unlawful mandates.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
I am excited for the opportunity to be the next State Representative for the people of Hastings and Cottage Grove. I am a strong advocate for a smaller government that is more responsible with our citizens tax dollars. Our state is headed in the wrong direction, and I am excited to get to the Capitol and get to work putting Minnesota on a better path for the next generation.