MARSHALL — Students at Southwest Minnesota State University got a chance to talk with area legislators on Thursday, and the conversation covered a lot of ground. In a question-and-answer session, state Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, and Sen. Gary Dahms, R-Redwood Falls, weighed in on everything from state spending to the impact of new industries in Marshall.

Both legislators had positive things to say about the recent partnership announced by Archer Daniels Midland and Solugen, Inc., to build a biomanufacturing plant in Marshall. The announcement from the companies said the project is expected to create at least 40 jobs.

“They’re going to use the raw materials coming out of the ADM plant, value-add and use it for essentially an organic petrochemical,” which could be used instead of petroleum-based chemicals, Swedzinski said. “This is going to be one of the major investments that they’re making, and ADM in partnership with them, I think it’s going to do some unique things.”

“Both companies are pretty excited about that opportunity,” Dahms said.

A lot of the Q&A focused on concerns about government spending, and the impact that new laws would have on businesses and the job market.

“Last session was quite an interesting session. As you know, the DFL has the House, the Senate and the governor’s office, so anything they wanted to pass, they could pass,” Dahms said. “Some (things) were OK, some I think were very marginal to be doing.” That included spending a $17.5 billion surplus, plus an additional $14 billion, he said.

“They raised taxes and fees by $9.6 billion,” Dahms said. “They also had the paid family leave, which – I didn’t object to paid family leave, I objected to the way it was done. It was originally going to cost about 3% . . . We just got notice the other day on the final fiscal note, it’ll be about 9.2% of wages. So that’s a lot of wages to be taken out in one area when this could have been done privately at a much lower rate.”

Swedzinski said the costs of doing business in Minnesota would have impacts on employers and workers. “I think you’re going to see massive amounts of businesses that can’t leave the state of Minnesota invest heavily into mechanization,” he said.

One student asked what the effects of government regulation in Minnesota would be for a new business starting up.

“Are the taxes going to put me under right away? Am I not going to be able to pay my laborers?” he said.

Swedzinski said one of the biggest hangups for a new business would be access to capital, and the cost of that capital. The new family and medical leave legislation would also mean higher labor costs for a business with employees, he said.

“There is one upside, and that would be that we’re seeing a lot more programs for young entrepreneurs who want to get into business, especially in the agricultural field,” Dahms said. “There’s a lot of low-interest loans. There’s a lot of grants and things like that.”

Students said they had also been discussing the impact of artificial intelligence on the job market, and asked if Minnesota passed any legislation governing AI.

“There was a bill passed . . . and it puts a lot of different regulations on artificial intelligence, how it can be used, where it can be used, when it can be used and then what it contains,” Dahms said. One of the concerns legislators had was that AI could be used to influence markets. He said the bill is “Quite expansive, but that’s kind of the start of it. I think we’ll see more activity on that as time goes on.”

Swedzinski said AI would likely have an impact on jobs, and encouraged SMSU students to take that into account in their career paths. “AI is the white-collar revolution of jobs,” he said.

Students also asked about the upcoming 2024 elections, and whether Republicans could win back the majority in the state House or Senate.

“I would think that there’s a pretty good opportunity that we will probably take the House back on the Republican side,” Dahms said. “I think a lot of people looked a the last session, no matter which side of the aisle you’re on, and said ‘This is not what we expected.’ And this is what happens when you don’t have divided government. There’s no checks and balances.”

However, Dahms said, it couldn’t be taken for granted that a flip was coming. “It’s going to take hard work,” he said.

“The legislative races that we have in the state of Minnesota, we can’t really win a whole lot more rural races when it comes to the Minnesota House,” Swedzinski said. “We need to get in and make real gains back in the suburbs, where we held seats two and four years ago, or six years ago.”