Senator Sandy Pappas was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1984 where she served three terms. In 1990 she was elected to the Minnesota State Senate where she is serving her 7^th term. Her district includes downtown St. Paul, inner city neighborhoods to the west, north and south of downtown, and the area surrounding the State Capitol.

Senator Pappas currently serves as the DFL lead on the Senate Higher Education Committee. She also serves on the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, Committee on Capital Investment, and the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement.

As past chair of the Higher Education Budget and Policy Committee, Pappas championed numerous efforts to ensure the exceptional quality of Minnesota’s institutions and affordable access to its colleges and universities. She has carried a number of initiatives including funding for the University of Minnesota/ Mayo Biosciences Partnership; the introduction of an accountability framework for the state’s higher education institutions and the Minnesota Dream Act, which would allow all graduates of Minnesota high schools, including the children of undocumented immigrants, to attend Minnesota colleges and universities at in-state tuition rates. She has increased funding for first-generation college students, increased childcare grants and college access programs.

Beyond her accomplishments in the area of higher education, Senator Pappas is known as a fervent and long-standing advocate for human rights. Over the years, she has passed legislation to prohibit the trafficking of persons; to curtail investment of state funds in the Darfur region of Sudan; to provide emergency contraception for sexual assault victims; to establish licensure for traditional midwives; and has introduced legislation to create responsible family life and sexuality education programs in Minnesota’s secondary schools. As a member of the Capital Investment Committee, she has, over the years, secured funding for a number of projects in St. Paul including the Children’s Museum, Wabasha Bridge, Harriet Island Regional Park, Raspberry Island and the Great River Park along the Mississippi.

In addition to her legislative duties, Senator Pappas serves as Vice President for the Women Legislators Lobby, is on the advisory committee for the Office on the Economic Status of Women, serves on the board of World Without Genocide, was a member of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota by 2020, served as Treasurer of the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association and was a chair of the Social Justice Committee at Congregation Shir Tikvah Synagogue.

Born in Hibbing, Minnesota, Pappas is a graduate of Metropolitan State University, and has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is married to Neal Gosman, and they have three grown daughters and fifteen grandchildren who live in Israel.