State’s disaster assistance account is running on empty

“We are at the mercy of Mother Nature and the weather certainly has become much more unpredictable,” Joe Kelly, the Department of Public Safety’s director of homeland security and emergency management, told the House Greater Minnesota Jobs and Economic Development Finance Division Wednesday.

Kelly gave members an overview of the state’s disaster assistance contingency account and highlighted a series of 2018 disasters that left no corner of the state unscathed.

Overall, there were 10 major disasters that rose to the level of severity and magnitude that made them eligible for state and or federal government aid. Combined, those events amounted to $40 million in uninsured damage to public infrastructure in communities across Minnesota.

“2018 was a very busy year and it put a tremendous strain on our disaster assistance contingency account,” Kelly said, noting that the state picked up $14.5 million of the disaster expenses.

The program and the corresponding account were created in 2014. Since that time, the Legislature has appropriated $52 million into it.  

To date, Kelly said $51.5 million of those funds have been used to provide assistance. There is currently $500,000 in the account, but it’s already earmarked to contribute toward disaster-relief costs incurred following an October storm that hit Duluth.

While the event received a presidential emergency declaration, the state still pays 25 percent of the cost. The initial state share of this latest federal declaration for St. Louis County and the city of Duluth is $2.9 million, thus creating a deficiency of $2.4 million, according to Kelly.  

He and Rep. Gene Pelowski (DFL-Winona), referenced HF682, which the division possesses but hasn’t heard. Sponsored by Pelowski, the bill follows a recommendation from Gov. Tim Walz to appropriate $10 million in Fiscal Year 2019 to cover the cost of the Duluth disaster and replenish the account.

In a meeting earlier this week, Pelowski, the division chair, overviewed the history of Chapter 12B. Noting that it has been a game changer when it comes to being able to quickly and efficiently get help to communities immediately following a disaster, he emphasized the importance of keeping the account solvent.

“We don’t know where the next disaster’s going to be, we don’t know what it will be, but if it’s anything like the previous disasters, we have to be ready,” Pelowski said. “This account has to be standing there in order to help, and we have to make sure that this state lives up to its promises to the people of Minnesota.”