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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Gene Pelowski, Jr. (DFL)

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Rep. Pelowski to hold hearing on Minnesota’s Disaster Assistance Contingency Account

Thursday, February 20, 2020

St. Paul, MN – On Monday, State Representative Gene Pelowski (DFL – Winona), chair of the House Greater Minnesota Jobs and Economic Development Finance Division, will hold a hearing on his bill, HF 3633, to fund the state’s Disaster Assistance Contingency Account. This is following Governor Walz’s announcement of a $30 million funding proposal to improve natural disaster preparedness.

“No local unit of government can sustain the amount of work and the amount of resources it takes to deal with these natural disasters once they hit,” said Rep. Pelowski. “We are once again going to be hearing legislation on replenishing the state’s Disaster Assistance Contingency Account, and I’m very hopeful that we can get this bill to the governor’s desk by April 1, like we did last session.”

The bill is expected to be fast-tracked in the Minnesota House and Senate. The Disaster Assistance Contingency Account, signed into law in 2014, speeds up the recovery process for communities burdened with damages to public property and infrastructure like roads, utilities, and public buildings. Prior to the passage of the law, the Legislature was required to convene each time a disaster was declared in order to appropriate state money toward community recovery efforts, often in a special session.

The hearing will be held on Monday, February 24, at 12:45pm in Room 10 of the State Office Building.

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