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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Paul Anderson (R)

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Storm aid provided via special session

Monday, August 27, 2012

By Rep. Paul Anderson

Legislators were back in St. Paul on Friday of last week for a special session dealing with flood relief for various parts of Minnesota.

In total, the bill allocates just under $168 million in two separate disaster relief funds. The larger of the two, $159.6 million, will help counties and cities recover and rebuild from storms and flooding that occurred in June. Kandiyohi and Meeker counties are among the 13 counties designated in a Presidential Disaster Declaration and included in this part of the relief package. A smaller amount, $7.8 million, is set aside for seven counties in north central Minnesota for wind damage as the result of storms in early July.

Although the total amount may seem large, it’s about $27 million less that Gov. Dayton originally proposed. In addition, several safeguards were added to the bill’s language to insure the money is used for its intended purpose. Any funding not spent will return to the state’s General Fund, and recovery loan payments will now be made to the state and deposited into a special fund designated for future disaster relief, rather than going to cities and counties to be spent again.

The largest portion of the disaster money, about 45 percent, will go toward repairing roads and bridges washed out by heavy rainfall. Most of that money will come from bonding so it won’t affect the funding of transportation projects in the planning stages in other parts of the state.

About $12 million is also designated for homeowners who suffered damages to their place of residence. The maximum loan amount per housing structure is $30,000, although in some cases that amount may be higher.

Made our annul trip to St. Francis – which is north of Albany – for their outstanding chicken dinner this past Sunday. It’s amazing how a church of that size can put on an event such as this. I visited with a gentleman who was selling dinner tickets and he told me the count was around 1,600 and they were still serving! It was another near-perfect day as folks strolled around the church yard enjoying the various activities in addition to the live old-time music.

One of the final church celebrations of the summer takes places this weekend at St. Rosa. It’s another big one with chicken and ham on the dinner menu, in addition to a polka mass Sunday morning and a full afternoon of activities.

Most schools begin the new year next week, following the Labor Day weekend. Watch for little ones walking to and from school, and also pay extra attention to the orange buses soon to be on the road again. High school sports activities are in full swing, with some contests having already been held. Most football teams begin their new season with games this week. Good luck to all, and may you have a safe and successful year.

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