Robert Bierman (politician)

Bierman grew up with 11 siblings. He attended the University of Minnesota, earning a B.A. in history.^[1]

Bierman owns Bierman's Home Furnishings in Northfield, Minnesota, a business his family started over 100 years ago. He previously served as president of his local Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club.^[3]

Bierman was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2018, and has been reelected every two years since. He first ran after one-term DFL incumbent Erin Maye Quade announced she would not seek reelection to run for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota with gubernatorial candidate Erin Murphy.^[4] Bierman earned the DFL endorsement and won a five-candidate primary election.^[4] He was sworn in on January 10, 2019, two days after the beginning of his term, as he was hospitalized for an infection.^[5] In 2020, Bierman had his election results challenged, but a judge dismissed the case for failing to state a claim and a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.^[1]

Bierman serves as vice chair of the Health Finance and Policy Committee and sits on the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy, Commerce Finance and Policy, and Ethics Committees. From 2021 to 2022, he served as vice chair of the Preventative Health Policy Division of the Health Finance and Policy Committee.^[1]

Bierman has spoken out about the opioid epidemic, and carried legislation that would make a potential merger between the Fairview and Sanford health systems require approval from the state health commissioner before going through, citing concerns it could affect health care cost and access.^[6][7][8] He authored legislation to fund electric vehicle charging stations in state parks, paid for by fees Xcel Energy pays to the state to store nuclear energy waste, and a bill to prepare for weatherization of homes.^[9][10]