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Text: When Minnesota Sen. Amy Koch was 8 years old, she wanted to be the first female president of the United States. Her career goals have changed a bit since then -- but Koch has still followed her dream of being a public servant.

While she was growing up with five brothers and sisters, political discussions were the norm in Koch's house.
"Sometimes we would take on the other side of the issue just to debate," she recalls.

Although she grew up in a "very political family," Koch, a Republican, is the first member to run for public office. After winning a special election in 2005, she was re-elected in 2006 and 2010.
Koch is a fourth-generation resident of Wright County, located in central Minnesota just west of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area; her entire family still lives there.
The district has seen its highs and lows since Koch took office. When she first joined the Legislature, the area was one of the fastest-growing parts of the state. One of the top concerns for her constituents was access to better transportation within the county and for commuting to the Twin Cities.
But when the housing crisis hit in 2007, things changed dramatically. Transportation is still an issue, she says, but it's been eclipsed by more immediate concerns such as the high rate of foreclosure.
"The construction trades, particularly in my area, have been hit hard [by the economy]," she says. "They've been hit hard all over the state and all over the country -- but we [had been experiencing] tremendous growth, so it was a harder fall for us."
Historic events in state politics
In November, Koch was part of a dramatic shift in state politics in Minnesota. For the first time in 38 years, Republicans now hold the majority in the state Senate. (Control of the House also shifted from the Democrats to the GOP, while the governor's office changed from Republican to Democrat.)
Koch was elected majority leader earlier this year. She now leads a caucus with 37 members, 21 of whom are brand-new members of the Senate.
"No one in this caucus has been in leadership, and no one has been a committee chair, so we're all learning," she says.

"It's definitely a challenge but it's also such an opportunity. What we heard over and over from the voters is that they don't want business as usual, and they don't think government as it exists is sustainable. These new legislators came in during a very difficult time, and they knew what they were in for. They really want change."

One of the first changes Republican leaders made was to restructure the Legislature's committees. The number of committees was cut by 30 percent, Koch says, and they are now aligned in the House and the Senate. She believes the restructuring will not only save some money, but will also make government more accountable and transparent.
As those early institutional reforms indicate, Koch hit the ground running in her new leadership role. What will her leadership style be?
Most of all, she wants to be a leader who helps others make their own mark in the Legislature.
"I am very happy to see other senators step up and take the lead on things," she says. "You can lead, but you can do that in a way where you're not always the person out front, and you don't need to be the one getting the credit."
This session also includes a first for Minnesota: election of the first female Senate majority leader. Koch is proud to set what she hopes will be an example for her 15-year-old daughter and other young women throughout the state.
"I hope that they will look at this and see that everything is open to them," she says. "Hopefully it will encourage more women to get involved, whether it be local politics or state politics or running for Congress."
CSG Midwest recently interviewed Koch about her legislative priorities and Minnesota's future. Here are some excerpts from the interview.
Q: You represent a legislative district with one of Minnesota's two nuclear power plants, and lifting the state's ban on new plants has been a longtime legislative priority for you. Why?
A: Currently, we have a moratorium on nuclear power and coal. So we literally have taken off the table every form of baseload energy that there is. We've really ramped up the development of renewable energy, which is one thing, but we have heavy mining industries and big manufacturers. They cannot run on renewable energy -- they run on baseload power. If you have these options off the table, you go into the future with one hand tied behind your back. It's about the future of Minnesota's economy, it's about keeping energy prices affordable, and it's about keeping energy reliable....
We're not suggesting we build a nuclear power plant. We're not even giving a preference for nuclear power or cost recovery for nuclear power. We want to be able to have that discussion and have nuclear power as part of the mix.
Q: How do you respond to critics of repealing Minnesota's ban who point out that there is no permanent storage facility for radioactive waste?

A: That is largely a federal issue. I am very disappointed, to say the least ... that the federal government has been ridiculously slow on this and taking our money to boot.
I think that the states need to step up. My conjecture is that states will step up and push the issue. We've got moratoria in Wisconsin and Minnesota that allow the feds to sort of ignore the issue. But if every state steps forward and says they want nuclear power, I think that pushes the federal government.
Q: One of the top priorities of the Legislature this year is creating more jobs. How are you and your colleagues working to do this?

A: We need to address the tax climate in the state of Minnesota, but we also have a heavy regulatory and permitting process. On top of what the federal government requires, Minnesota has its own permitting and regulatory requirements.
For example, we have what would be the second-largest copper, nickel and palladium mine in the world sitting on the Iron Range. The investors want to get going, but currently the mining is being held up basically by red tape in St. Paul and on the federal side, which is disappointing. It's thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment just waiting to go forward. It's happening all over the state of Minnesota.
Part of our first bill, SF 1, was to deal with this regulation and permitting issue. It's all about streamlining and putting deadlines in place.
Q: You've also mentioned that in the next couple of years, you'd like to explore government reform. Tell us why this is on your list of legislative priorities.

A: There is a real clamor for local, city, county and state government reform in Minnesota. It's not just about cutting jobs; it's about providing better service in a more cost-effective way.
All options are on the table. We have 87 counties, and, in general, we have far too much government in Minnesota. We have four different departments that deal with water in the state of Minnesota. If you are trying to start a business or expand a business, you've got to go to four different agencies to deal with water issues -- in addition to the cities and the counties that you have to deal with....
We are looking at what other states have done. We are working with the big accounting firms and some of the Fortune 500 companies in the state, and they've offered to come in and show us some of their lean processes ... and make this a 21st-century government instead of a 1960s or 1970s model.