PCA Magazine Summer 2022

56 PCA The Magazine | VOLUME 3 2022 PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG My second is the surreal moments at the PCA show this year and smoking cigars with the owners of the cigar companies I love, like Padron, Rocky Patel, Newman, Kristoff, Ferio Tego, etc. That was pretty special. CAN YOU SHARE WHAT THE ENVIRONMENT IS LIKE FOR PREMIUM CIGAR RETAILERS IN YOUR STATE? HOW HAVE SMOKING BANS AND TAX LAWS IMPACTED THE CIGAR INDUSTRY THERE? In 2017, I helped passed a tax cap bill in Minnesota. We saw the cap reduced from $3.50 per stick to $0.50 a stick. This has has a great impact on retail shops and has fundamentally improved the landscape for Minnesota retailers, as well as driven up sales in our state for manufacturers. WHY DO YOU THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO PROTECT THE PREMIUM CIGAR INDUSTRY? The premium cigar industry is very misunderstood and too frequently lumped in with “big tobacco.” Nothing could be further from reality, and changing the views of legislators is important. Realizing too that the local element of impact is profound. Retailers are caught up in unfair anti-tobacco legislation and local businesses and jobs are killed off if we don’t stop that. HOW DO YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR DOWN TIME? When I have down time I love to fish, hunt and work in my woodshop making American flags from reclaimed barn wood. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF. HOW/WHY DID YOU GET INTO MINNESOTA POLITICS? I’mmarried to Kim (32 years) and we have six kids. We live in the most wonderful Midwest town you could imagine, Waconia, Minnnesota. I’ve always been politically plugged in from a young age, but I realized in 2008 that the city I live in was really needing a different direction. I was elected to city council, then Mayor and finally state rep with the idea that an average person can make a positive impact on their state. FAVORITE CIGAR MOMENT? My first was having a cigar in Berlin, West Germany, at the Brandenburg Gate in 1985. I was an exchange student and we were all thinking about how we could end communism. President Reagan took care of that later in the exact same spot. Five Questions Jim Nash ASSISTANT MINORITY LEADER (R) MINNESOTA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 1 .