(St. Paul) – The Senate Republicans passed legislation after a battle for equal treatment of Greater MN on Tuesday. The bill creates 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 by Senate Republicans about both transparency and accountability in how the aid is distributed.
“This was a tremendous bill for our rural counties and communities. It was worth the hard fight in the Senate to make it happen,” said Senator Torrey Westrom (R-Elbow Lake). “The Democrats and Governor wanted to steer the majority of the funds towards the metro – namely Hennepin and Ramsey Counties – but it was important to me that our rural communities were treated fairly.”
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.
Senate District 12 will benefit greatly from the bill if it is signed into law. The counties in our area would receive the following funds with Senate File 47:
Big Stone County: $606,388
Douglas County: $4,613,523
Grant County: $724, 634
Pope County: $1,339,633
Stearns County: $19,314,435
Stevens County: $1,173,968
Traverse County: $402, 157
Wilkin County: $763,200
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