Sen. Ann Rest: 40 Years of Wit, Wisdom and Public Service

Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, will retire as the only legislator in Minnesota history to chair the Taxes Committee in both the state House and Senate. 

“The one person who has done it and maybe the only one who ever wanted to be the chair of both,” said Rest with a smile in an interview with CCX News.

Rest: ‘I want to once again be a teacher’

Rest is known for her extensive work and knowledge of taxes, but she’s also well-versed in classic literature and hearkened back to her roots as an English teacher as she shared her final words on the Senate floor.  

“I want to once again be a teacher,” said Rest in her farewell address to the Senate, as she read three poems. Two were by Minnesota author Michael Dennis Browne and the third was “A Tree Telling of Orpheus,” a poem by Rest’s favorite author, Denise Levertov, that reimagines the classic Greek myth of Orpheus. At the end of the action of the poem, the trees are left with deeper insight and memory. 

Ann Rest (pictured right) in the 1974 Armstrong High School yearbook. Courtesy Hennepin County Library

Rest taught English literature for nine years locally at Armstrong High School before her position was eliminated so she went back to school to become a CPA. 

“I went to a hearing just to check it out and it was a tax committee hearing,” remembered Rest.  “I had been doing some work for the firm at the Department of Revenue and I watched [the hearing] and said ‘I can do that.”

Rest: ‘I can do that.’

Rest was first elected to the Minnesota House in 1984 representing parts of Crystal, Golden Valley, Plymouth, Robbinsdale and New Hope. She served eight terms in the House until she was elected to the Senate in 2000. 

1985, Courtesy Minnesota House of Representatives

In her first re-election campaign for the House, Rest’s campaign literature that contained a questionnaire for constituents.

“This is in 1986, and you will find some of them very familiar,” said Rest, who read over the piece that shared concerns of senior citizens, tax reform, and protecting the environment. “I could send this out right now and people would identify in some way with those issues.”

Back then, Rest was talking to constituents about post-secondary enrollment ideas that would become PSEO programs at high schools and whether voters should decide on a state lottery. Many of the hot topics went on to become law. 

Campaigning changed over the years. Rest used to always wear a dress when campaigning and she used to send out two-page letters that she jokes were “TLDR” for “Too Long Didn’t Read.” She campaigned with candidates for U.S. Congress like Martin Sabo, which is now not allowed. And she also put her home phone number on campaign literature, when now, she doesn’t even have a landline.

2011, Minnesota Senate Media Services

One thing Rest said she’ll miss most about serving in the legislature are the listening sessions, which have been held at Frankie’s Chicago-Style Pizza in New Hope. Rest said whomever came first would get to speak first, people would give opinions and she would just listen.

“With liberals, progressives, socialists, conservatives, and real far right conservatives and they sit there for an hour respectively disagreeing vigorously,” said Rest. “So at the end of the hour, I have learned so much, and I learn best from hearing from people I disagree with.”

Crystal | New Hope | Plymouth | Robbinsdale

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