Michael Beard

Michael Beard
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from the 35A district
Incumbent
Assumed office 2003
Preceded by	Ken Wolf
Personal details
Born	July 22, 1953 Clearfield, Pennsylvania
Political party	Republican Party of Minnesota
Spouse(s)	Karen
Children	4
Residence	Shakopee, Minnesota
Alma mater	Bethany College of Missions
Profession	businessman, publisher, legislator

Michael "Mike" Beard (born July 22, 1953) is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 35A, which includes portions of Scott County in the southwestern part of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A Republican, he is also a local businessman and newspaper publisher.^[1]

Beard was first elected in 2002, and has been re-elected every two years since then. He is currently a member of the House Commerce and Labor Subcommittee for the Telecommunications Regulation and Infrastructure Division; of the Finance subcommittees for the Bioscience and Workforce Development Policy and Oversight Division, the Energy Finance and Policy Division, and the Transportation Finance and Policy Division (on which he is the ranking minority party member); and of the State and Local Government Operations Reform, Technology and Elections Subcommittee for the Local Government Division.^[2] He has been an assistant minority whip since 2007.^[3] On May 21, 2011, he joined the House Republican Majority in voting for a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and woman.^[4]

Beard graduated from Bethany College of Missions in Bloomington, earning his B.A. in Bible Missions. He later attended entrepreneurial classes at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul. He was the owner and operator of Macalester Park Public Company from 1987–1995, and has been publisher of the Minnesota Christian Chronicle newspaper since 1994. He was a member of the Shakopee City Council from 1991–1995, and was a member of the Minnesota Regional Transit Board from 1993-1995.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ http://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail.asp?ID=10754
2. ^ http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/members.asp?id=10754
3. ^ http://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail.asp?ID=10754
4. ^ "Roll call vote: Same-sex marriage ban amendment". Minnesota Public Radio. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2011/05/roll_call_vote_same-sex_ban_am.shtml. Retrieved 2011-05-23. 
5. ^ http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=38756
6. ^ http://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail.asp?ID=10754

External links

• Michael Beard at Minnesota Legislators Past & Present
• Rep. Beard Web Page
• Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Rep. Michael Beard
• Project Votesmart - Rep. Michael Beard Profile
• Mike Beard Campaign Web Site

Persondata
Name	Beard, Michael
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	July 22, 1953
Place of birth	Clearfield, Pennsylvania
Date of death
Place of death