Chief author of the Women’s Economic Security Act, Minnesota’s historic Medical Marijuana bill, and a key player in the Iron Range Delegation, Melin has already made her mark on Minnesota legislative history during her four years in the House as District 6A representative.

Considering her family background in public service, Melin’s productive career hardly comes as a surprise.

Melin’s father and brother serve as police officers in the Hibbing area, her mother is a recently-retired social worker, and all are or were members of workers’ unions.

Political issues affecting her parents’ careers inspired Melin’s early interest in political advocacy.

“I’ve always been interested and active in politics, to a certain extent,” said Melin. “I come from a family that always followed politics very closely and was pretty engaged with social justice issues, and I think that the ideologies I’ve grown up with have interwoven with all the work I’ve done here, as related to economic justice, economic opportunity, and educational opportunity.”

A longtime resident of her district, many milestones of Melin’s life are centered around Hibbing, her hometown.

Melin met her high school sweetheart, Zeb Norenberg, while attending Hibbing High School, where they were married in 2013.

“Our high school auditorium is really beautiful, if you ever get the chance to see it. It was modeled after the Capitol Theatre in New York,” said Melin. “Our high school is the only one in Minnesota that is in the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a really beautiful building, so it made sense that we would get married there, the place where we first met.”

Melin graduated magna cum laude from Bemidji State University in 2007, and then earned her J.D. from Hamline University School of Law in 2010.

When Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Tony Sertich as head of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, Melin went through a speedy, month-long election that led her to assume office in February 2011.

“During my last semester of law school, I was working for Tony Sertich when he was (House) majority leader, basically working in his office on legislative issues and issues specific to the Range,” said Melin. “When the appointment was announced, I probably had less than 48 hours to decide whether I was going to run for office, so I really didn’t have any time to think about it because of the timelines.”

At age 25, Melin was the third youngest woman to be elected to state political office in Minnesota.

Though she’s often surrounded by people decades older than her, Melin doesn’t see age as any reason to be deterred from running for office.

“(Running for office) was something I knew I always wanted to do, and I felt the timing was unexpected, but it was still the right time to step up to the plate and run for office,” continued Melin. “It’s not an easy thing for anyone to do, and I try to encourage young people, people of all ages, all over the state to get involved in government, to run for office.”

But running a political office, said Melin, is a challenging, full-time responsibility, which can compromise both career and personal life. Melin was quite familiar to topics pertinent to the Iron Range before assuming office, but her quick election made for a steep learning curve.

“I grew up on the Range, I lived there my entire life, other than the years I was gone for college and law school, so it wasn’t that difficult to get up to speed,” said Melin. “That said, serving in the Legislature in general is kind of like going back to college and majoring in every subject, because you have to know the ins and outs of every issue that comes before you.”

Melin has been well-known for being at the forefront of controversial legislation since she arrived in office.

Melin spent most of last year’s session championing her medical marijuana bill and the Women’s Economic Security Act, all the while pregnant with her now 10-month old son, Leonard.

Last year’s session, said Melin, was one of the greatest challenges of her career.

“(The medical marijuana) bill was certainly in the spotlight, a very controversial, hot topic that was being covered by local, state, and national news, and was very high stress, high pressure legislation,” said Melin. “I don’t shy away from controversy.”

The Women’s Economic Security Act held special significance for Melin, whose pregnancy put healthcare accessibility into a very personal perspective.

“The fact that I was pregnant and how I was fortunate to have a flexible work schedule, it helped me see how important it is to have access to good healthcare,” said Melin.

“I was able to go to the doctor when I was sick, and all my pre-natal medical needs were addressed without issue. Not all pregnant women have access to that sort of healthcare, whether it’s because of insurance or inadequate work flexibility.”

The accommodations Melin had through working at the capitol definitely factored into her ability to balance health issues and her career, said Melin, but otherwise her pregnancy barely affected her ability to work during session.

“I felt fortunate to have access to reasonable accommodations, but I don’t think pregnancy made anything more difficult for me,” said Melin. “Long sessions going into the night were sometimes difficult, but they’re difficult for everyone on the House floor, whether or not they’re pregnant.”

Even while managing her first child, Melin continued to press challenging issues during the 2015 session.

Following passage of the medical marijuana bill last year, Melin again confronted federal law when the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced it would enforce the wild rice sulfate standard, after almost 40 years of silence on the issue.

Under Melin’s bill, the MPCA is required to designate waters which would be subject to the sulfate standard or not impose the standard at all. This language essentially challenges the Environmental Protection Agency, which made the sulfate standard federal law under the Clean Water Act. When the EPA refused to budge on the standard, Melin was prepared for legal action.

But a few weeks after the issue was brought to the Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee, the MPCA released an entirely new system to replace the sulfate standard, along with a drafted list of designated waters.

The new system renders Melin’s bill unnecessary, but she’s pleased that in the end her stubbornness paid off.

“I think that is kind of a reputation the Iron Rangers have; taking the bull by the horns,” said Melin. “I am a collaborative person, I like solving problems with others, but I’m not going to back down or shy away from an issue just because it’s controversial or some people disagree with me.”

The Hibbing legislator still receives mean-spirited emails and phone calls from critics of her sulfate standard bill, but they’re footnotes in her otherwise busy life. After all, Melin has bigger fish to fry.

“I don’t know if it’s just the attorney in me, but I’ve always been a kind of argumentative person,” continued Melin. “The important thing is that if you really believe in something, not to let others hold you back or scare you into thinking that what you’re doing isn’t right. To get things done around here you have to have thick skin.”

Melin has been a hard-hitting Capitol player since she came into office, but so far she doesn’t see any higher political aspirations in the near future.

“We’re only in two-year terms so I don’t really have to think that far ahead, because I’m planning within two-year cycles. I really like serving in the House and representing my constituents here at the Legislature, so my immediate plans are to stay in the House.”

But at her age, one thing is for certain; Melin has a long time to move forward.