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Paul Thissen Biography

Paul Thissen is an American Supreme Court Justice and former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives born on 10th December 1966 in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States.

He served twice as DFL Minority Leader. He was the longest-serving leader of the Minnesota House Democrats since Martin Olav Sabo in the 1970.

Paul Thissen Age

Paul Thissen was born on December 10, 1966 (He is 52 years old as of 2018)

Paul Thissen Salary

Paul Thissen earns salary of $57, 000.

Paul Thissen Net worth

Paul Thissen has an estimated net worth of $5 million.

Paul Thissen Family

Paul Thissen was born to Frank Thissen (mother) and Barb Thissen (father). He was raised up in a farm in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota. His father worked as a teacher in Richfield Public Schools.

Paul Thissen Wife

Paul Thissen married Karen Wilson Thissen in 1993. They were blessed with three children.

Paul Thissen Children

Paul Thissen has three children Emily Thissen, Griffin Thissen and Evan Thissen.

Paul Thissen Education

Paul Thissen graduated from Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minnesota. He joined Harvad University where he graduated with high honours in 1989. He later joined the University of Chicago Law School in 1992 where he earned his degree in of bachelor Law.

Paul Thissen professional career

Paul Thissen he started his career when he was in Law School. He served as a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 61B in south Minneapolis. First elected in 2002, Thissen was reelected every two years through 2016. On April 17, 2018, Governor Mark Dayton appointed him to the Minnesota Supreme Court. He was sworn in on May 14, 2018. He is the first person to have served both as Minnesota House Speaker and on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

He clerked for James B. Loken of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and then went to work at the Minneapolis law firm of Briggs & Morgan, where he specialized in general litigation and appellate work and served as chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.  During Thissen’s tenure, he pioneered new approaches for lawyers to serve the community, initiating partnerships with several local non-profits. The firm more than doubled the hours of free legal services it provided to low-income individuals and nonprofits. He also worked for the Minnesota State Public Defender’s Office and founded “Access for Persons with Disabilities,” a group of lawyers dedicated to providing legal services to persons with disabilities.

He later worked as an attorney in specializing in health care law at the Minneapolis office of the law firm of Ballard Spahr. In 2006, he was named one of “Forty Under 40” top business professionals in the Twin Cities Minneapolis and St. Paul Business Journal. In 2008, he was named one of the “Best Brains” in the Twin Cities by Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. In 2008 and 2012, Paul was recognized as one of the 100 Influential Minnesotans in Health Care by Physician Magazine. In 2013, he was named the sixth most powerful person in Minnesota by Minnesota Monthly Magazine. He has been active in most of the community activities, he then served on the boards of Minnesota Justice Foundation and numerous other local nonprofits. He has also served in the boards management of Minnesota and Justice Foundation of numerous other local nonprofits.

Paul Thissen Minnesota House of Representatives

Paul Thissen served as a member of the minority party leader and he developed a reputation as someone who could work across party lines. He was also a key player in passing significant legislation, including major changes to Minnesota’s eminent domain laws to protect the rights of individual property owners, the merger of the insolvent Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund into the statewide teachers pension fund, a nation-leading law to curb abusive tax-preparer practices, and an overhaul of state campaign law. In 2006, He served as Finance member of the Co-Chair and the House DFL Caucus where he raised more money than the Republican opposition. In the November election, the DFL added 19 seats to its majority.

Politics in Minnesota named Thissen one of the big “winners” of the 2006 election in its November 9, 2006 edition. From 2007 to 2010, he served as chair person of the Health and Human Services Committee. Before becoming minority leader in 2011, he also served on the Health Finance Committee, the Biosciences Committee, the Telecommunications Division, the Finance Committee, the Rules Committee and the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement. He also served as speaker pro tempore. He was chief author of HF 1, at the Children’s Health Security Act. The proposal, which would provide health coverage to all children in Minnesota families who make under $60,000 per year, passed the Minnesota House.

He also served on the Health Care Access Commission and also served on Governor Tim Pawlenty’s Health Transformation Taskforce. In 2008, he played a key role in passing health-care reform legislation that the Minneapolis Star Tribune named the prize of the 2008 session.
In the 2010 election, the DFL lost its majority in the Minnesota House. Thissen was elected by his peers to be the Minority Leader for the DFL House Caucus. He was named 2012 Legislator of the Year by Politics in Minnesota. He led the Democrats back to control of the Minnesota House in the 2012 election.

Paul Thissen Minnesota House of Representative Speaker

Paul Thissen led his caucus to victory in the 2012 elections, He as the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2013 to 2014 he led the legislative sessions. He was appointed as the speaker on January 8, 2013. In 2013 session he passed the most significant productive investment in the early childhood education in Minnesota history; of all-day, every-day kindergarten for every five-year-old kid in that state; which is a two-year tuition freeze for public college and university students; and the legalization of same-sex marriage.

The legislature also passed the Minnesota Dream Act, providing in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants, and expanded health coverage for hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans, creating a Minnesota-based health insurance exchange called MNSure. Minnesota’s 2013 legislative session received national attention. The Washington Post named Thissen an “Emerging Star Outside the Beltway.” In 2014 session he continued this progressive work. The legislature increased the minimum wage from $9.50 and indexed the wage to inflation in the future. It also enacted $550 million in middle-class tax cuts, including additional significant property-tax relief, and passed limited medical marijuana legislation.

The legislature enacted the Women’s Economic Security Act, that was packaged in that policy ideas of Paul Thissen he had also made his top priority for the session, which includes pay equity requirements for state contractors, workplace and protections for all caregivers and new mothers, and incentives for women entrepreneurs. Upon the session’s conclusion, the Star Tribune commented, “For the most part, Minnesota is once again the state that works.” In January 2015, he was elected as the Minority Leader by his DFL colleagues; where he served in that position through the end of 2016.

Paul Thissen campaigns

In November 2008 Paul Thissen launched an exploratory campaign for the 2010 Minnesota gubernatorial race. On July 24, 2009, he officially announced his candidacy, noting that he would focus on the issues of health care, renewable energy and education. His campaigns surprised many since he started as an unknown in a field of high profile candidates yet built broad support across the state.

In April 2010, the DFL State Convention, helped him to win more delegates than any of his rivals in the large Congressional districts outside the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. He outlasted several candidates, but ultimately withdrew from the race after the fifth round of balloting, which led to a two-person race between then House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. On June 15, 2017, he announced that he would run for governor in the 2018 election. He withdrew himself from the race in February 2018.

Paul Thissen Minnesota Supreme Court

On April 17, 2018, Governor Mark Dayton appointed Thissen to be an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. As a result, he resigned from the legislature, in April 20. Although the 17 former legislators have served on the Minnesota Supreme Court, he is the first to move directly from the legislature and to the court. He is also the first former House Speaker to serve on the court. He was sworn in on May 14, 2018.

Paul Thissen News

State Rep. Paul Thissen on Wednesday dropped out of the 2018 race for Minnesota governor, a day after his poor showing in Tuesday night’s DFL caucuses. Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis and a former Minnesota House speaker, launched his campaign in June hoping his record in the Legislature and his promise to work for a fairer economy would appeal to Minnesotans outside the Twin Cities. But he was swamped Tuesday in a crowded field of DFL candidates. Caucus-goers overwhelmingly chose Minnesota U.S. Rep. Tim Walz as their top candidate for governor, followed by State Auditor Rebecca Otto and state Rep. Erin Murphy of St. Paul.

Thissen finished last among the six Democrats in the running, gaining less than 5 percent of the nonbinding straw ballot vote. He did worse at caucuses than in his first run for governor in 2010. He is not seeking re-election to the Minnesota House. In a statement, he said he’d been “incredibly blessed and honored” to serve in the Legislature 15 years. “Not many people get such a chance. I’ve done my best to do all I could with that opportunity,” he wrote. “But I know from experience that so much of life is not just working hard, but being in the right place at the right time. Now is not the right time for my campaign for Governor.”

Source: www.mprnews.org