Posted: 9/18/07
$157 million for flood relief
By T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
Southeast Minnesota receiv-ed a big booster shot early Wednesday (Sept. 12) morning with the signing of a $157 million flood relief bill.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed the bill into law at about 2:43 a.m. with the billís House and Senate authors, Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes, DFL-Winona, and Rep. Ken Tschumper, DFL-LaCrescent, standing behind the governor at the signing ceremony.
"People are starting to feel downcast and weary, physically and emotionally," said Erickson Ropes of southeast Minnesotans impacted by the flood waters.
"So Iím hoping this will give everybody a big shot in the arm," she said, speaking on the House floor Tuesday night.
Tschumper on the House floor explained that the massive flash flood that raged through seven counties some three weeks ago showed the fragility of human existence.
"Life is very fragile. It can disappear like the morning fog," he said.
Pawlenty hailed the flood relief bill as the fastest and largest disaster relief effort by the state certainly within its modern history.
"The sun is going to come up in southeast Minnesota in more ways than one tomorrow morning," said Pawlenty, speaking at the bill signing.
The flood relief bill provides about $51 million to repairing roads and bridges in the seven counties declared federal disaster areas in southeast Minnesota.
This includes Houston County.
It also slates some $45 million towards business, nonprofit and community assistance, among other funding areas.
Neither the governor nor Erickson Ropes viewed the flood relief package as the final word in recovery.
"This is going to come back again and again and again," said Erickson Ropes, speaking at a press conference shortly after lawmakers passed the bill with just one dissenting vote.
"Up here we sling mud. Down there (southeast Minnesota they just shovel it out of the basement," said Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, another southeast lawmaker pushing for the flood relief package.
Pawlenty announced the special session on Monday, with House and Senate convening late Tuesday afternoon.
Although the governor called the special session to address flood relief, other issues seeped along the fringes.
Democrats lamented a perceived "lost opportunity" to fashion and pass a comprehensive transportation funding bill.
Tschumper on the House floor expressed regret that transportation and property tax relief bills werenít accompanying the flood relief legislation.
Pawlenty gave a simple answer to the question what it would take to achieve a comprehensive transportation funding bill.
"I think itís going to take compromise between the two sides," he said.
Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, found it ironic that conservatives were uninterested in pursuing a transportation funding bill during the special session.
Now is when they have the most leverage, he explained, speaking on the House floor Tuesday afternoon.
And during the rush of a special session itís possible for people to influence a bill without leaving fingerprints, he said with a smile.
Next session Democrats can bring forth even a bigger transportation funding bill than the one the governor vetoed this spring, Abeler explained.
Indeed, Murphy, Senate Transportation Committee Chairman, indicated that was exactly what the Senate intended to do.
Ultimately, it will come down to overriding a gubernatorial veto, he opined.
Abeler, for one, called for moderation.
"Overreaching gets you nothing," he said.
But no attempts were made at forcing transportation or tax relief onto House or Senate floors.
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano, who attempted to procedurally force the House to go out of session before House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis wanted, backed off his motion.
Pawlenty thanked legislative leaders for the way the special session was handled.
"I think you can judge the process by the results," he said.
But the governor also indicated he had no intentions of calling another special session to deal with transportation or property tax relief.
The flood relief legislation went into effect on Thursday, Sept. 13.
Besides providing flood relief, the bill includes $2 million in matching funds slated towards I-35W bridge reconstruction.
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