Dear Friends,
I wanted to send you a quick update on today's special session that took place in Saint Paul.
Benton and Morrison County are among the 18 counties that will receive portions of the $4.5 million dollars appropriated today by the legislature as state and local disaster relief matching funds for the severe weather that hit the state in June 2013.
The funds passed today, along with the federal FEMA money will go toward debris removal, road and bridge repair, as well as many other miscellaneous repairs and upgrades to existing infrastructure.
The legislature has a rich tradition of coming together to provide relief to our communities when they are hit by severe weather. It was great to see such strong bipartisan support for this critical disaster relief.
Unfortunately, there was no agreement made to repeal any of the taxes -- the man made disasters -- passed in May. There's support on both sides of the aisle for the repeal of many of these harmful increases that are causing harm to Greater Minnesota, so I hope to see these taxes revisited when the legislature comes back into session next February.
USS Minnesota Trip
The commissioning ceremony in Virginia this weekend was truly something special. More than 3,000 people attended the ceremony which included a number of military officials, federal, state, and local elected officials, and many more.
It was great to meet many of the dedicated servicemen and women that help keep our country safe. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they continue serving and defending our country.
You can see more photos and stories from the commissioning ceremony by visiting the blog that many of the House GOP members contributed to. You can find the blog by clicking here.
God bless,
Jim