CSG’s Midwestern Legislative Conference has four-officer team in place for 2025

At a December meeting of The Council of State Governments’ Midwestern Legislative Conference Executive Committee, a new four-officer team was formally installed to lead the bipartisan, binational group in 2025. The MLC Executive Committee is made up of state and provincial legislators from across the Midwest. It met in December at the CSG National Conference, where the annual rotation of committee officers typically takes place. Here is the new four-officer team.

New MLC Chair: Minister Lori Carr

Saskatchewan’s Lori Carr is the first legislator of a Canadian province to be chosen chair of the CSG Midwestern Legislative Conference. Saskatchewan is a full member of the binational MLC along with 11 Midwestern states. Three other Canadian provinces are affiliate members. Minister Carr first joined the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly in 2016. During her time in office, Carr has served in numerous leadership positions for the Government of Saskatchewan, including her current role as minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors and Rural and Remote Health. She came to public office after many years of dedicated service to various community organizations as well as for the town of Estevan, which is located about 15 miles from the Saskatchewan-North Dakota border.

Minister Carr’s ascension to MLC chair marks another milestone in the work of the MLC in strengthening relations between the Midwestern states and neighboring provinces.

MLC First Vice Chair: Minnesota Sen. Mary Kunesh

First elected to the Minnesota Legislature in 2016, Mary Kunesh served two terms in the House before moving to her current position in the Senate.
During the most recent biennium, Kunesh served as assistant Senate majority leader, as chair of the Senate Education Finance Committee, and as chair of the chamber’s People of Color and Indigenous Caucus. She is a retired school library media specialist who resides in the Twin Cities suburb of New Brighton. Kunesh is a 2021 graduate of the MLC’s Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development, or BILLD.

MLC Second Vice Chair: Nebraska Sen. R. Brad von Gillern

Nebraska Sen. Brad von Gillern was elected to the Unicameral Legislature in 2022 and quickly emerged as a key state leader on economic and finance policy. He served as vice chair of the Revenue Committee during his first two years in office. A 2023 graduate of the MLC’s BILLD program, von Gillern came to office as a longtime, respected business leader in Nebraska. He is the past president and CEO, majority owner and now director of business development for Omaha-based Lueder Construction.

MLC Immediate Past Chair: Ohio Sen. Bill Reineke

Ohio Sen. Bill Reineke has wrapped up a successful tenure as MLC chair. He led his home state’s efforts in hosting this summer’s MLC Annual Meeting in Columbus while also guiding a yearlong effort around his MLC Chair’s Initiative: Workforce Innovation and Transformation.  Reineke served three years in the Ohio House before being elected to the state’s upper chamber in 2020. In the most recent biennium, he served as chair of the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee and vice chair of the Transportation Committee. Sen. Reineke also is a member of the Governor’s Executive Workforce Board. He is a 2016 graduate of the MLC’s BILLD program.