Last night, I posted about the federal disaster declaration issued yesterday by President Obama. Congressman Walz's office released the following statement:
"I am pleased that the President issued this declaration, opening the gateway to federal funding for our communities recovering from flooding. This declaration relieves cities, counties and the state of a significant portion of the financial burden caused by the flooding. For residents of these communities, this means that local officials will not be forced to hike taxes to cover repairs. Additional portions of this declaration are still under review and I’ve encouraged FEMA to move quickly to finalize their review of the additional materials submitted by the State of Minnesota.”
The Star Tribune reports this morning that Pawlenty has called the special session for Monday:
Total state-federal funding for the disaster relief is expected to top $100 million.
The state's portion would rely mostly on $32.5 million from the state general fund and $26.7 million in general obligation bonds.
The special session is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday. Pawlenty and lawmakers had previously predicted it would take less than a day.
Photo: Rochester floodwaters. Photo by Laura Askeli; used by permission.
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