'This is ridiculous'

Local leaders watched the Minnesota Legislature attentively last week for action to release federal funds to offset economic losses during the pandemic.
But at the end of the day Friday, lawmakers adjourned the special session without voting on a measure to activate millions of dollars of relief for Minnesotans.
In Rock County, Emergency Management Director Kyle Oldre was anticipating over $1 million to offset losses to local businesses that were closed over the past three months.
He shared his frustration Monday after canceling a special County Board meeting that would have prioritized and distributed the dollars locally.
“If you’re a resident of Minnesota today, I don’t care where you live, you should be ticked off,” Oldre said.
“There’s $841 million sitting in a bank in St. Paul that should be working for us. This is ridiculous.”
On March 27 Congress passed the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) and distributed funds to states around the nation based on population.
Without action from the Minnesota Legislature, the funds have not yet been released, raising the ire of local governments statewide.
In a scathing commentary released Saturday, the president of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, Audrey Nelsen, said the people of Minnesota deserve better.
“The special session was a train wreck,” she wrote (see her full statement on page 4). “It has been 86 days since Congress passed the CARES Act, and local governments in Greater Minnesota still haven’t received a penny.”
She blamed Democrats in the House for attaching an unrelated measure to the proposal, and she blamed Republicans in the Senate for abruptly adjourning before the work was done.
Luverne Mayor Pat Baustian said he was “deeply disappointed” with the House, the Senate and the governor for failing to act on the CARES Act funding.
“The City of Luverne and the Luverne Economic Development Authority intend to utilize these funds … to assist those businesses that were indirectly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn.”
Baustian said he was also disappointed that local governments weren’t consulted for input on the impact of CARES Act money on their businesses. Luverne is hoping to receive $355,000.
“For Main Street businesses in our communities it’s urgent,” he said. “Now I’m not sure if a few local businesses will make it.”
 
Follow the money
Lobbyists with the Association of Minnesota Counties, the CGMC and others have followed the Legislature closely since March.
The Legislature failed to act on the CARES money during the regular session, because lawmakers couldn’t agree on a proposal for dispersing the federal funds. For example, one version said cities smaller than 500 people shouldn’t get aid. Others said counties should simply disperse to communities as needed.
Thirty days later, legislators took it up in a special session that resulted in a “clean bill” from the Senate with bipartisan support to disperse the aid to Minnesota communities.
However, a $150,000 million provision for law enforcement reform was tacked on in the House version that ultimately couldn’t find support to pass.
“What kind of kindergarten move was that?” Oldre fumed. “They had a clean bill that everyone agreed on.”
In a conference committee, the added provision was negotiated down to $50 million, but at the end of the day Saturday, the Senate adjourned the special session without final action on the measure — a move that was criticized by some as “arbitrary.”
Since then, Minnesota community leaders have been demanding answers from lawmakers about why the CARES Act money still hasn’t reached the people it’s intended to help.
“I don’t know how you could feel good driving your car home on Saturday about how the session ended,” Oldre said.
Now, it will wait 30 days until lawmakers reconvene, but with a November deadline for the funds to be spent, he said communities are running out of time.
“The clock is ticking,” Oldre said. “Every day that goes by is one less day we in outstate Minnesota have to spend those funds.”
He said he isn’t convinced the money will ever get distributed, and that’s what he fears most.
“There’s $841 million that should be in the hands of business owners in Luverne and Hills and everywhere else in Minnesota still sitting in a bank in St. Paul.”
Both he and Baustian said they are urging Gov. Walz to use executive powers to release the funds.
“He could do that,” Oldre said. “He could have done it a long time ago. The question is, why hasn’t he?”
The Star Herald reached out to Sen. Bill Weber and Rep. Joe Schomacker, both of Luverne, but hadn’t received a response as of Tuesday’s press time.