Background
Sparks, Dan was born on July 5, 1968.
Sparks, Dan was born on July 5, 1968.
He attended college at the University of Minnesota and at Saint Cloud State University in Saint Cloud.
Education and Sparks worked on a farm, in a highway engineer’s office, and on the production line at Hormel. He became a bankerloan officer at an Austin bank. Elections
He was first elected to the Senate in 2002 defeating Senator Grace Schwab by 7 votes after an automatic recount.
He was re-elected in 2006, 2010 and 2012.
Committee Assignments
Sparks was selected to chair the Senate Committee on Jobs, Agriculture and Rural Development in November 2012. His special legislative concerns include education funding, lowering prescription drug costs, and economic development.
Foreign the 89th Legislative Session, Sparks is a part of the:
Capital Investment
Finance Subcommittee: Environment, Economic Development and Agriculture Budget Division
Finance Subcommittee: Higher Education and Workforce Development Policy and Budget Division
Jobs, Agriculture and Rural Development
Foreign the 88th Legislative Session, Sparks was part of the:
Capital Investment
Finance Subcommittee: Environment, Economic Development, and Agriculture Division
Finance Subcommittee: Higher Education and Workforce Development Division
Higher Education and Workforce Development
Jobs, Agriculture, and Rural Development (Chair)
Foreign the 87th Legislative Session, Sparks was part of the:
Agriculture and Rural Economies
Commerce and Consumer Protection
Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications
Foreign the 86th Legislative Session, Sparks was part of the:
Business, Industry and Jobs
Business, Industry and Jobs Subcommittee: Bioscience and Renewable Energy Development (Chair)
Capital Investment
Commerce and Consumer Protection
Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications
Finance Subcommittee: Economic Development and Housing Budget Division
Foreign the 85th Legislative Session, Sparks was part of the:
Business, Industry and Jobs
Capital Investment
Commerce and Consumer Protection
Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications
Finance Subcommittee: Economic Development Budget Division
Foreign the 84th Legislative Session, Sparks was part of the:
Commerce
Commerce Subcommittee: Consumer Protection, Banking and Insurance (Chair)
Commerce Subcommittee: Number Fault Insurance
Finance Subcommittee: Early Childhood Policy and Budget Division
Finance Subcommittee: K-12 Education Budget Division
Jobs, Energy and Community Development
Jobs, Energy and Community Development Subcommittee: Energy
Jobs, Energy and Community Development Subcommittee: Telecommunications and Technology
Foreign the 83rd Legislative Session, Sparks was part of the:
Agriculture, General Legislation and Veterans Affairs-2003/Agriculture, Veterans and Gaming-2004
Commerce and Utilities-2003/Commerce-2004
Commerce and Utilities-2003/Commerce-2004 Subcommittee: Consumer Protection and Banking (Chair)
Commerce and Utilities-2003/Commerce-2004 Subcommittee: Telecommunications and Technology
Elections-2004
Finance Subcommittee: Early Childhood-Grade 12 Education Budget Division-2003/K-12 Education Budget Division-2004
Jobs, Housing and Community Development-2003/Jobs, Energy and Community Development-2004
Rules and Administration Subcommittee: Elections.
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, Democratic Party.
A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represents District 27, which includes all or portions of Dodge, Faribault, Freeborn, Mower, and Steele counties in the southeastern part of the state.
Married Andrea Sparks. 3 children.