Scrap recycler elected to Minnesota Senate presidency

State Sen. Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) has been sworn in as the youngest Minnesota Senate president in the state’s current format, with the state senator—who also is a scrap recycler—beginning his term Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2019.

Miller is part of the Winona, Minnesota-based Wm. Miller Scrap Iron & Metal Co. family business. The company was profiled in the November 2016 edition of Recycling Today magazine.

Says Miller of his new senate duties, “I am constantly overwhelmed with gratitude in this job. Every day I cherish the fact that the residents of Fillmore, Houston and Winona Counties continue to trust me as their voice at the Capitol, and now I am equally grateful to my colleagues for trusting me to preside over the Senate with the respect and dignity Minnesotans deserve.”

Minnesota’s lieutenant governor formerly served as the senate president, from the state’s founding in 1858 until 1973. That year, the Minnesota Senate began electing its own presidents. While there were younger lieutenant governors to serve as senate president, at 35 years old Miller is the youngest state senator in Minnesota history to serve as the body’s president. Miller, who was 26 when he won his first election, was also the second youngest state senator in Minnesota history.

In addition to his role as senate president, Miller will serve on the senate’s Capital Investment Committee, the Higher Education Committee, the Rules Committee and the Taxes Committee.