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Disaster relief package heads to governor’s desk

About $17 million in state disaster funding is a signature away from being released after the House passed a disaster relief package Monday.

HF164/SF1* was passed 132-0 following a brief debate, and now heads to the desk of Gov. Mark Dayton. It was passed 65-0 by the Senate last Thursday.

The bill includes $13 million to cover the cost of the state match for monies spent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in responding to flooding that struck the state in June 2014 following a series of torrential rainstorms that affected 37 counties and three parcels of American Indian tribal land.

In addition, the bill appropriates $3 million for the Department of Transportation to meet that agency’s required match for federal highway funds, as well as another $2 million for the Board of Water and Soil Resources and $1.4 million in state-only disaster spending.

Most of the disaster-relief tab contained in the bill was covered by cancelling leftover appropriations made but never spent in responding to 2011 and 2012 weather-related disasters in the state.

Rep. Jim Knoblach (R-St. Cloud), who sponsors the bill with Sen. Vicki Jensen (DFL-Owatonna), pointed out during floor debate that it contained just $2.2 million in new spending.

The brief debate — following a suspension of House Rules — included bipartisan praise for the work of Rep. Gene Pelowski Jr. (DFL-Winona), who sponsored the 2014 legislation that established the state’s disaster contingency fund. Rep. Greg Davids (R-Preston) called for raising the statutory cash level in the fund above the $3 million appropriated in 2014.

But Rep. Tony Albright (R-Prior Lake) cautioned his fellow legislators that “there will be more forthcoming legislation” to deal with some still-unmet costs associated with the 2014 disaster declaration.

Sponsored by Knoblach, HF264 is scheduled to be heard Tuesday by the House Health and Human Services finance Committee. It includes deficiency funding for the state security hospital, Minnesota Zoo, natural resources enforcement activities and Ebola-related costs.


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