Almanac: At the Capitol

Based on the pace so far, it's going to be very late tonight or early tomorrow morning before what was supposed to a brief special session ends. The property tax relief that the House was seeking is now off the table. But many hours of the special session were eaten up try get that to take off. A Senate committee has been marking up a disaster relief bill in technical boring fashion for what seems like hours now. It appears a second bill will also be considered, dealing with the Help America Vote Act. It would delay townships enactment of HAVA for people with disabilities needing special equipment. The governor is said to be on board. But the attempt to add other major subjects seems to be dead. Now after a few more hours of hammering out the final disaster relief bill, then the two chambers will take several more hours of speeches to actually pass the bill. It seems impossible that Gov. Pawlenty will have a bill to sign tonight and he's not around tomorrow because he's in Washington D.C. to talk about clean energy in front of the National Press Club. No wonder he was so eager for a special session and bill today.

So much for a quick and easy special session. There's a bit a chaos afoot at the Capitol tonight. Both chambers only gaveled in quickly and left again to keep crafting deals. What we're hearing is slowing things down is an effort led by the House to pass a property tax relief bill. The bill is apparently at the Revisor's office now, and it's the same tax bill the governor vetoed minus his objections. The Senate is not on board. One high-ranking senator just told me "we're not interested" in doing the property tax bill. In fact several lawmakers have told me the Senate Tax Chair Tom Bakk may not be attending the special session at all. Gov. Pawlenty has gotten wind of this and just sent a letter out to "inform the legislature of the purposes for which they are convened" and he added that "a deal is a deal" to hold a one-day session limited to disaster relief. He concluded by saying he looks forward to signing the bill later this evening. We'll see...

House Majority Leader Tony Sertich just told us that leaders and the governor are trying to negotiate a last-minute deal on property tax relief. Politically, taking on more than the flood may be good for lawmakers and the governor. That tax relief would affect the whole state and get people thinking they have a stake in this special session. We'll see; the governor has been traveling in Greater Minnesota much of the day so I'm not sure how much he's around to actually cut this 11th-hour deal. There's also lots of pressure to do something about transportation. Many interest groups and lawmakers have had press conferences already today saying it's a missed opportunity to address transportation issues. We're expecting lots of long speeches about the lack of agreement on transportation yet tonight, but likely no amendments to the single bill under consideration dealing with the floods, fire and drought. Lawmakers say they hope to finish up tonight, but you never know.

Here's the official word from the governor and quick react from the DFL:

GOVERNOR PAWLENTY CALLS SPECIAL SESSION TO DEAL WITH FLOOD RELIEF

~ Governor sets Special Session for Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. ~

Saint Paul – Governor Tim Pawlenty announced this afternoon that he is convening a Special Session of the legislature tomorrow to pass additional flood relief assistance for southeastern Minnesota.

The Governor’s proclamation sets the opening of the Special Session for 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 11. He said he expects that legislators will be able to complete their work in one day.

“The recovery and rebuilding effort in southeastern Minnesota requires us to come together as a state to help our neighbors,” Governor Pawlenty said. “We’ve gotten a head start by advancing LGA funding and redirecting existing resources, but we need a strong flood relief package from the legislature to complete the important job before us.”

Special Sessions to deal with similar disasters in 1997 and 2002 took place three or four months after the flooding. This Special Session will be held more quickly. In April-May 1997, the Red River of the North flooded, causing major damage in Minnesota, North Dakota and Manitoba. A one-day special session was held on August 19, 1997. From June 9-11, 2002, heavy rains caused flooding in Roseau and the northwestern part of the state. A one-day special session was held on September 19, 2002.

Since the August 18-19 flooding in the region, a little more than three weeks ago, Governor Pawlenty has directed state assistance to help those impacted by the flood:

• On Friday, Governor Pawlenty directed state agencies to provide $31.8 million of state aid for the rebuilding effort. The money includes assistance for homeowners, businesses, and additional help for local governments to repair their infrastructure. The largest portion of the funds is $16 million from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency to be used for loans to rehabilitate damaged homes and apartments, new construction, and for mortgage down payment assistance.

• Government aid payments to cities and counties in southeastern Minnesota have been accelerated to help communities address the costs associated with rescue, recovery and rebuilding. Local government aid payments are regularly sent to cities and counties twice a year, on July 20 and December 26. Under the Governor’s order, December payments for cities and counties in the presidentially declared disaster area have been expedited. The payments total $25.1 million – $18.2 million to 58 cities and $6.9 million to seven counties.

• Southeastern Minnesota flood victims will receive Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) from the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development. The DUA program provides temporary income assistance to workers and self-employed individuals whose work has been lost or interrupted as a direct result of recent flooding.

• Governor Pawlenty also ordered the state to waive electrical inspection permit fees for residents of southeast Minnesota who are rebuilding their homes following the devastating flash floods earlier this month. Homeowners will not have to pay the $35 to $135 state fees if they are eligible for repairs or reconstruction of their homes under the current FEMA Individual and Household grant program. The fees will be waived for permit applications received by the Department of Labor and Industry within one year of the date of the presidential disaster declaration.

• A new “Minnesota Recovers” Web site is operational and features information for individuals, businesses and others affected by flooding in southeastern Minnesota at www.minnesotarecovers.org

• Governor Pawlenty directed the Department of Revenue to temporarily waive the tax paid for hauling construction debris generated in the presidentially declared disaster area (Minnesota Statute 297H.06; subd. 3). The tax is paid by waste haulers and passed along to residential and business customers. To qualify, debris must have resulted from flood-caused demolition and repair and be hauled to a facility designated by the Pollution Control Agency.

According to estimates by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, severe flooding on August 18-19 resulted in approximately $67 million in damage to private property and public infrastructure in southeastern Minnesota. About 1,500 homes in the area sustained some damage and approximately 300 were destroyed.

Following an expedited request by Governor Pawlenty, the presidential disaster declaration made funds available from a number of federal programs in seven counties – Fillmore, Winona, Houston, Steele, Olmstead, Dodge and Wabasha. FEMA disaster assistance includes aid to individuals and households, aid to public and certain private non-profit entities for emergency services and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged public facilities, and funding for measures designed to reduce future losses to public and private property.

Per federal policy, FEMA reimburses 75 percent of eligible costs associated with public infrastructure damage caused by the disaster. The state and local communities are responsible for the remaining 25 percent. Individual assistance from FEMA is capped at $28,200, though other loans and grants may be available from the Small Business Administration and the State of Minnesota.

--30--

SPECIAL SESSION OR NOT, PAWLENTY FAILED MINNESOTANS

Three Weeks After Floods Ravaged Southeastern Minnesota, Pawlenty Finally Musters the Political Courage to Defy Special Interests, Call Special Session on Flood Relief

Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez is releasing this statement in response to news today that Governor Pawlenty has finally called a special session of the Minnesota State Legislature:

“Nearly six weeks after the catastrophic collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, and over three weeks after historic floods devastated southeastern Minnesota, only today has Governor Pawlenty mustered the political courage to call a special session,” said Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez.

“It would be nice to say that leadership and compassion for our fellow Minnesotans inspired a quick response to urgent needs that face us as a state. But instead, Minnesotans across the state suffered while we got more of the same from Governor Pawlenty — putting politics ahead of real results for the people of Minnesota,” continued Melendez. “Let’s just hope that Pawlenty called this session with a mind toward actually moving our state forward with all the options on the table, instead of bowing to the short-sighted few who continue to want something for nothing.”

--30--