David Hann jokes about the shocking fact of life at the Capitol: It’s full of politics. Still he seemed a little disappointed that there’s so much of it.

He said his focus (since being elected four years ago to represent Eden Prairie and Minnetonka in the State Senate) has been on finding good policies for the state. Obviously the political part of that is how to engage enough people to understand those issues, he noted.

What he has a problem with, he said, is “doing things purely for political effect.”

Sure enough, political grandstanding happens from both sides of the aisle.

But he also said that the overwhelming majority at the Legislature is “doing this for the right reason.”

It’s not a glamorous job and “it’s pretty much down in the trenches,” kind of work in the end, he said.

But he’s enjoyed it, and, “I’d like to give it another shot.”

Hann, a Republican, is running for re-election because he still has policy he wants to make progress with, most notably education issues.

The former Eden Prairie School Board member was in the spotlight in 2005 by introducing an “access grant” program that would give lower income families funds for sending a child to private school, if they so chose. The bill didn’t make it out in 2005.

“I hope whatever people may think about my efforts on access grants, I would hope that they would recognize that it’s coming from a person who has a very strong commitment in lots of ways to public education,” he said.

Hann argues for the merits of such an idea as a way to make sure every child, regardless of income level “had the best opportunity they could have for a good education.”

He said he couldn’t guarantee it will get through the Legislature, but “will I continue to talk about this?”

“Yes.”

When it comes to the toll school taxes take on local property taxes, he questioned whether it would be wise to have the funding come from the state instead.

“Typically, where the money comes from is where the policy comes from,” he said.

In Hann’s view, local policy and local funding control is better.

On transportation issues, he noted that the transportation constitutional amendment is something he supports. He said it makes sense that the money we collect for motor vehicles go to transportation.

If voters don’t vote yes for it, he said, he would offer a bill that would take the same money that it would have raised and do it by reprioritizing spending.

“We need to have a strong commitment to transportation.”

When asked about the ever-mounting anxiety about health care, Hann points out that it’s an industry unlike any other. Consumers don’t know the cost of what they buy.

That structure, he said, is “fundamentally flawed.”

But he pointed out there are ways to fix the system: encouraging health savings accounts, setting up the system so there’s “a more robust health insurance marketplace in Minnesota.”

When it comes to encouraging a state smoking ban, Hann was skeptical.

He noted that there are many more risky activities than secondhand smoke.

“The marketplace, frankly, has done I think a pretty good job, of responding.”

He said the state should continue to let the marketplace govern this.

Overall, his top issue is education.

“To continue to try to find ways to improve our education system, our entire education system.”

And he said he introduced a large number of bills last session to do this.

He said he favors  “strong local control of education.”

What he wanted to share with voters is that he considers his job a humbling experience.

 “It’s a big job, it’s a complex job,” he noted, and to have the electorate honor you with having the opportunity to represent, “that’s a humbling feeling.”

He said that feeling has never left.

“I felt that way on the School Board and I feel that way today.”