Minnesota Legislature
Cohen was first elected to the Minnesota Legislature in 1976. He served as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for District 63B and, after redistricting in 1982, for District 64B. He was elected senator for District 64 in 1986, gaining the the lone Republican-held Senate seat within the Twin Cities. He was re-elected in the 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2012 elections.
He was chair of the Senate Finance Committee from 2003 to 2011, and chair of the Senate State Government Finance Committee from 1997 to 2001.
On November 3, 2009, President Barack Obama announced Cohen's appointment to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Cohen is considered by many to be the leading champion for the arts in the Minnesota Legislature. He led the campaign to include funding for the arts in the Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment that Minnesota voters approved in 2008.
Read more about this topic: Dick Cohen
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“An ... important antidote to American democracy is American gerontocracy. The positions of eminence and authority in Congress are allotted in accordance with length of service, regardless of quality. Superficial observers have long criticized the United States for making a fetish of youth. This is unfair. Uniquely among modern organs of public and private administration, its national legislature rewards senility.”
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