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 Jeff Howe (R- Rockville) issued the following statement:

“I applaud Governor Walz’s decision to release CARES dollars equitably to communities across Minnesota despite initially holding the fund’s hostage for partisan spending priorities. By following our legislative agreement with the House, these CARE dollars will have an immediate impact in our communities who have been crushed by the COVID crisis.  While I had hoped that we could to get this done quicker,  I am happy that these dollars are on their way out now so that we can set Minnesota up for on a path to rebuild and succeed.”

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.