Terri E. Bonoff (born August 1, 1957) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Minnesota. She is a former member of the Minnesota Senate, representing District 44, which included portions of Minnetonka, Plymouth and Woodland in Hennepin County in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Minnesota's 3rd congressional district in 2016. She was defeated by incumbent Republican Erik Paulsen in the general election. She now resides in Atlanta, Georgia and serves as CEO of Jewish Family & Career Services.
Early life, education, and career
Bonoff grew up in Edina, Minnesota and later attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, earning a degree in psychology and sociology. She began her business career at Jackson Graves, a family-owned women's specialty store. Bonoff then spent five years in the toy and video game business with Tonka Toys and 13 years as Director of Merchandising for the Computer Products Division of the publicly held, New Hope-based Navarre Corporation. After 18 years in business, Bonoff stepped down from Navarre in 1999 to spend time with her husband and four children.
Before being elected to the Senate, Bonoff served on the Minnetonka Planning Commission and as a volunteer for the Hopkins Legislative Action Commission. She eventually became president of the Hopkins Legislative Action Coalition, a guide at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and president of Babe Ruth Baseball in Hopkins/Minnetonka.
Minnesota Senate
Bonoff's career as an elected official began when she won a 2005 special election against Plymouth mayor Judy Johnson to fill the Minnesota Senate seat being vacated by David Gaither. She won a second race against Johnson in the 2006 general election. Bonoff's slogan for all her campaigns has been "Uniting the Middle." She was elected to a second term in 2010 and a third in 2012.
In 2011, Bonoff was elected Deputy Minority Leader of the DFL Senate caucus.
In 2013, Bonoff became the Chair of the Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee. In that capacity, she has overseen an investment of more than $400 million over four years in Minnesota's higher education infrastructure, particularly the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) and the University of Minnesota. She also created the MN PIPELINE (Private Investment, Public Education Labor Industry Experience) Project, which has received national and international recognition.
On April 16, 2016, Bonoff announced at the Minnesota Senate District 44 Convention that she is leaving the State Legislature to run for U.S. Representative in Minnesota's Third Congressional District.
Voting record
Transportation
Bonoff supported the South West Light Rail Train.
Health care
Bonoff has been a supporter of Minnesotacare, a partnership between private industry and government to provide health care to low-income families and individuals. To be enrolled in MinnesotaCare people must first apply and then pay what they can afford for health insurance. Bonoff has said, "Frankly, I thought our MinnesotaCare program and our subsequent reform efforts to enhance quality while keeping costs down should have been the backbone of the Affordable Care Act" and "Minnesota should establish a health insurance exchange that complies with the minimum requirements under federal law and provides exchange consumers the ability to shop based on provider quality as well as cost." In order to do that Bonoff has said the legislature should "evaluate the cost-effectiveness of new and existing health benefits and eliminate barriers to flexible, innovative insurance products, purchasing and finance options."
Education
Bonoff voted in favor of alternative teacher licensing (2012 SF 40, SJ 339). After her vote, she explained, "I would never support anything that threatens the integrity of the teaching profession... Alternative licensure is working. Those states -- there are 35 of them -- that have alternative licensure have strong records of the success."
Bonoff also voted in favor of teacher layoff reform (LIFO, 2012 SF 1690 SJ 3968). After that vote she explained, "School districts should use performance and not just seniority when making layoff decisions."
And Bonoff supported paying down the debt owed to school districts with 2012 HF 2083.