Jon Collins offer this story in today’s Mesabi Daily News (he writes for several Range papers including the Hibbing Daily Tribune that runs my column). The piece is a great roundup of Iron Range legislator perspective in anticipation of a big fight with the governor over this session’s historically tight budget. And though State Rep. Tom Rukavinia is a complex political figure, often misunderstood around the state, he does effectively sum up the opinions of a majority of Iron Rangers with this quote:

As for the governor’s threat of a “collision” if the DFL didn’t back down from collecting new revenue sources, Rukavina predicted a “huge, big fight.”

“I for one will not destroy this state so he can keep a stupid pledge that he’s made so he thinks he can become president of the United States,” he said. “I tell him, put your seatbelt on governor, get ready for a collision.”