(St. Paul, MN) On Friday, Governor Walz announced he would distribute the full $841 million in federal CARES funding to local entities. The distribution follows the approved compromise legislation passed by Senate and House during the recent special session.

Senator Rich Draheim (R- Madison Lake) issued the following statement:

“This is great news for our local governments across Minnesota. I am pleased to see that our cities and counties will be receiving equitable funding, despite the Governor’s initial partisan games. Getting these funds out quickly is critical to rebuilding our communities, and I’m proud our state is taking the right steps.”

The compromise agreement distributed the local government funding fairly to Minnesota counties, cities, and towns based on a formula using their population. The Senate passed the agreed-upon legislation with nearly unanimous support during the special session. The legislation brought transparency and fairness to the distribution since the federal funds were not subject to legislative approval and could be spent unilaterally by Walz.

Minnesota received more than$2billion 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.