On Monday, the Minnesota Senate passed legislation that would hold cities accountable to pay their mutual aid agreements and prevent the Governor from diverting funds away from education and healthcare to bail out the City of Minneapolis for costs associated with rioting.

“Current law already requires cities to pay for the help they receive for other communities, but there was no mechanism to enforce this requirement. In fact, there was no need for recourse until this past year after Minneapolis took advantage of surrounding smaller communities and left them holding the bill. It is imperative we support our law enforcement who have made great sacrifices in their efforts to keep us safe,” said Senator Mark Johnson (R-East Grand Forks). “I will not bail out Minneapolis for their leadership failures as the Governor has proposed. Minnesotans work hard for their money and their tax dollars should not go to covering Mayor Frey and the Minneapolis City Council’s mistakes.”

The bill was introduced to make sure law enforcement agencies that assist Minneapolis are paid per their mutual aid agreements. Some police departments have raised concerns that they were not paid for their work assisting Minneapolis police during the 2020 Minneapolis riots.

The bill allows cities that provided mutual aid but haven’t been reimbursed for it yet to apply to have their Local Government Aid (LGA) adjusted to match the amount owed. The funds would be provided by lowering the LGA from the city that owes the mutual aid payment.