Saint Paul, Minnesota – Today, legislative leaders and Governor Mark Dayton reached an agreement to hold a Special Session on September 9, 2013. The Special Session will deal only with storm damage relief. Preliminary damage assessments determined the storms caused $17.8 million in damage to public infrastructure across the state. FEMA will reimburse 75 percent of approved costs. The 25 percent non-federal share is the responsibility of state and local governments.
State Representative Mary Sawatzky (DFL – Willmar) released the following statement:
“I’m very pleased that leaders were able to reach an agreement on disaster relief. No matter where disaster strikes in our state, we come together to help our neighbors regardless of our political viewpoints. This summer’s severe storms caused damage throughout our state and while District 17B was not included in the disaster area, our neighbors were and they need our help.
“At the same time, I’m disappointed we could not reach an agreement on repealing the farm equipment repair tax. I had hoped we could have used this opportunity to help hardworking farmers in our area, and advocated strongly for its repeal. Our farmers have had to deal with a lot the last year: drought, a long winter, and then wet conditions that made it more difficult to plant crops. I will continue to push for the repeal of this tax and hope we can do it next session.”
Rep. Sawatzky encourages constituents to contact her with any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas on Special Session or any legislative topic. Rep. Sawatzky can be reached by phone at 651-296-6206 or by email at rep.mary.sawatzky@house.mn. Constituents can also visit Rep. Sawatzky’s AreaVoices blog, legislative page and sign up for email updates.