(St. Paul) – The Minnesota Senate approved compromise legislation today, creating a formula to fairly distribute federal COVID-19 assistance to help local governments. Gov. Tim Walz currently has the sole authority over the federal coronavirus aid, and concerns have been raised about both transparency and accountability in how the aid is distributed.

Senator Michelle Benson (R-Ham Lake) commended the bill’s passage, saying, “This is a transparent agreement every Minnesotan should feel good about.  The funding formula was developed with significant legislative input so that all counties, cities, and towns are accounted for as they recover from the height of the pandemic.”

Minnesota received more than $2 billion from the federal government to help local governments, health professionals, and businesses fight COVID. That money went into an account called the Federal Coronavirus Relief Fund, so it could be quickly deployed to places it is needed most.

The compromise agreement, authored by Senate Finance Chair Julie Rosen (R-Vernon Center), distributes the local government portion of that funding – about $841 million – fairly to Minnesota counties, cities, and towns based on a formula using their population.

In Senate District 32, our counties, cities, and towns all stand to benefit from Senate File 47:

Sherburne County: $11,667,880

Zimmerman – $ 432,001
Livonia – $485,945

Isanti County: $4,842,859

Athens – $54,125
Bradford – $85,950
Spencer Brook – $41,800
Stanford – $58,425

Anoka County: $3,399,327

Andover – $ 2,465,736
Bethel – $ 38,047
East Bethel – $ 906,268
Columbus – $ 297,594
Ham Lake – $1,235,128
Linwood – $ 413,091
Nowthen – $ 358,469
Oak Grove – $ 654,631
St. Francis – $ 593,078