(St. Paul) – Today, Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives broke a compromise to fairly distribute federal COVID aid to communities across Minnesota. That compromise had previously been agreed to by all four legislative leaders after comprehensive negotiations. It passed the Senate 62-4 on Tuesday, but House Democrats approved a last-minute amendment adding the governor’s supplemental budget to the bill on Thursday morning.
Governor Tim Walz currently has the sole authority over the federal coronavirus aid, and concerns have been raised about both transparency and accountability in aid distribution.
“I am appalled that the House Democrats are pulling political games and power plays with funds that are vital to the survival of our communities,” said Senator Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton). “This legislation offers a balanced approach to distributing the funds within each area of our state and was agreed upon after much work and negotiation. They owe it to Minnesotans not to go back on their word.”
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. The amendment in the House would add more funding for state agencies, despite a $2.4 billion state deficit.
Should the Senate agreement pass, counties would receive 55% of the total CARES dollars, with towns and cities taking allotted amounts from the remaining 45%. Below are the county amounts within Senate District 15:
Benton County: $4,905,923
Kanabec County: $1,966,274
Mille Lacs County: $3,162, 921
Morrison County: $4,025, 326
Sherburne County: $11,667, 880
Wright County: $16,555, 611
Further Resources: