The Minnesota Senate today unanimously passed its first bill of the 2020 legislative session, a $30 million appropriation for the state’s Disaster Assistance Contingency Account. The bill allows the state to provide fast assistance to help local communities recover from spring flooding, severe thunderstorms or windstorms, tornados, or other natural disasters, without the need for a special legislative session. 

“Disasters can strike fast and cause significant damage to property and infrastructure, and that damage can mean big costs for local communities,” said Sen. John Jasinski (R-Faribault). “We saw it firsthand with the tornado that struck Roberds Lake back in 2018. I authored a bill to help clean up the debris after that disaster, but it took almost 18 months to get it through the process. This disaster relief account skips that entire process so we can get money into the hands of communities as fast as possible when natural disasters occur.”

Since 2014, the Disaster Assistance Contingency Account has been used 40 times to help local communities following natural disasters. Worse-than-expected flooding in the spring of 2019 left the account with a $3 million deficiency. The Senate’s disaster relief bill wipes out that deficiency and replenishes the account in preparation for possible future disasters.