Additionally, the deal that was reached included a bonding bill that borrows and spends $497 million on state infrastructure projects.

In light of the fact that the state budget was projected to grow to $39 billion (and 18% increase in spending), it could be said that we reduced the projected growth by $4-5 billion.

While I voted for this budget in order to end the shutdown and get Minnesotans back to work, in my opinion this budget did not meet the goals that I and other conservatives in the legislature set as we began the session in January of 2011.

Given that the governor’s goals were to raise taxes on Minnesota families, farms, and other businesses by over $4 billion to feed the huge appetite of state government, this budget can be looked at as a true compromise between the parties involved in decision-making.

Additionally, a large number of reforms in state government were passed as part of the 2011 regular session. A copy of my 2011 post session report, outlining several of those reforms, is available for download here.

We will be providing you an overview of the 2011 regular and special sessions, particularly focusing on the budget resolution and what was contained in the final agreement with the governor. This budget deal contained a large number of the many government reforms that we had passed during the regular legislative session. Collectively, these reforms are being referred to as Reform 1.0. Additionally, we will be asking you for your ideas for future government reforms (Reform 2.0) as we look forward to next session.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the Town Hall meetings next week!  In the meantime, please take a look at the Reform 2.0 Facebook site at reform2.mn

August 2011 Town Hall Meeting Schedule

A great deal of work is underway to help families in our area to recover. State, federal, county, and local government staff and leaders are working hand in hand to help bring the assistance that our flood-stricken neighbors so badly need.  We are now seeing help from long-term recovery organizations, including Lutheran Social Services and The United Way as
they get organized to assist families in the long term.

I want to bring your immediate attention to one very important fundraising event that will be taking place this coming weekend at Bluff Valley Campground, located just west of Zumbro Falls on Highway60. Floodfest 2010 is a 3-day flood relief event aimed at raising money to help flooded families throughout our area. I highly encourage you to attend this event
to show your strong support for our friends and neighbors.  The event is still accepting donations for the live and silent auction, as well as volunteers to help throughout the weekend. A full Floodfest schedule is available at: http://www.bluffvalley.com/floodfest2010.htm

Please forward this email to your friends, family and neighbors and encourage them to participate!

I know that the wait for flooded families has been much longer than anyone wanted. We heard from the federal government last night and then again this morning, regarding the federal disaster declaration. The waiting is over. The news on Minnesota’s application for federal assistance is mixed:

First of all, the federal government DID grant the federal declaration for Wabasha, Goodhue, Winona, Olmsted, and 17 other counties. This federal declaration does include public assistance, which provides 75% of the cost for repairing the state, county, and township roads and bridges in our communities. It also pays similar costs for other public facilities, including public water and sewer damages. The remaining 25% will be paid for with the state flood relief package that we pass in special session on Monday, October 18th. So our public infrastructure will be replaced without added burdens on our county, city, or township governments.

Unfortunately, the federal declaration does not include what we were hoping that it would – individual assistance. This means that the FEMA federal grants for homeowners to repair their flooded homes will not be available to flood victims in the 29-county disaster area.

Over the past week, I have been meeting regularly at the capitol with a team of legislators, governor’s staff, and agency officials to discuss and plan for the state’s flood assistance in our communities. The work accomplished was two-fold: we were able to draft the state flood relief bill, which will be discussed and passed in the special session of the legislature on Monday – and we discussed at length the state’s application to FEMA, and what our options would be if FEMA did not grant individual assistance. The resulting plan is, immediately upon hearing a rejection of our individual assistance application (which we heard this morning) to apply to the SBA (US Small Business Association) for a SBA disaster declaration. This application has been made to SBA, it is fully expected to be granted, and we expect to receive confirmation of acceptance by the SBA sometime next week. This SBA declaration will allow businesses and homeowners in the flooded area to apply for low interest SBA loans. While not the FEMA individual assistance that we were all hoping to obtain, it’s the best other federal government help that we can obtain for individuals.

Minnesota government has a long history of helping our citizens who experience natural disaster. Many other states, like Iowa, do not. In those states, aid is generally limited to the types and levels of assistance that the federal government includes in the federal disaster declaration. Governor Pawlenty has called the special session for Monday, October 18th, at 1:00 p.m. The legislature will be meeting to consider the bill that I and several other legislators have been involved in drafting over the past week. That bill will, as I mentioned earlier, provide the 25% cost share match for the FEMA public assistance. It will also provide flood relief aid for both homeowners and business owners, above the low interest SBA loans offered by the federal government. The state assistance for homeowners that will result from Monday’s special session will include the Minnesota “Quick Start” program. Although the details will be made by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency after the bill passes on Monday, I can share with you the details of the way the program worked with the 2009 floods in NW Minnesota, as the approach will be similar with this flood:

Homeowners are required to file any flood insurance claims they may have, and then apply for an SBA loan. Any gap between the amount of the total damage costs and the amount homeowners are eligible for from insurance + SBA loan is considered the ‘gap.’ The Quick Start program provides 10-year forgivable loans in amounts of $1,000 to $30,000 for these eligible homeowners. Borrowers are required by the government to accept the maximum loan that SBA offers them before they are deemed eligible for Quick Start.

Business owners will be eligible for Minnesota Investment fund program loans with or without interest or as forgivable loans. This program will be defined more locally, but is required to meet the requirements set out in statute at: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=12A.07 Details will be available sometime after the bill is passed on Monday, hopefully within a week or two.

You may have heard on the radio or read in the newspaper that a local Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) is going to open in Mazeppa, beginning tomorrow (Friday). The recovery center is located at the Mazeppa Community Center at 121 Maple St NE, Mazeppa (this is the main street in town). The DRC will be open from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. It is VERY IMPORTANT, if your family or business has been flooded, for you to check in at the DRC during these times. The DRC will be the single location where information about recovery efforts will be available. Singn-up for flood relief aid (both federal and state) and a variety of other information and assistance will be provided at the DRC. Please stop in as soon as possible, BEFORE the weekend is over, if you have been flooded. This DRC is for all flood victims in our region, including Wabasha, Goodhue, and Olmsted Counties.

That’s all I have for now. As always, feel free to contact me if you have additional questions. I will be sending out additional information after the special session on Monday.

If you are not a flooded resident of our communities, please consider reaching out to those in need. Stop in at the disaster recovery center in Mazeppa as volunteer and contribution information will be available there. Please continue to keep our friends and neighbors in your prayers.

Steve.

Yesterday Governor Pawlenty tentatively scheduled the special session for next Monday, October 11th at 1:00 p.m. The press release is available here: http://www.governor.state.mn.us/mediacenter/pressreleases/PROD010165.html

This date is tentative and will be pushed back on the calendar if we don’t receive the federal disaster declaration for our incident area by this Friday. I have been in communication with the Governor’s Office regarding the disposition of Minnesota’s application for federal disaster assistance. The application has cleared the regional office at Chicago and is confirmed to have been received by the proper office in Washington. While we are rather certain that our communities affected by this devastating event have met the the criteria necessary for public assistance (fixing of roads, bridges, municipal sewer and water systems), I am told that it is not clear whether or not we fit the criteria necessary for IA (Individual Assistance) to be included as a component of the federal disaster declaration.  While merely speculative, it may be this same uncertainty that is slowing the decision-making process in Washington as federal officials evaluate whether or not our areas meet the threshold for IA aid.

I am in contact with city leaders from our area’s affected towns and will continue to keep them as updated as I can regarding the declaration. As soon as the federal declaration is received, you can expect to hear and read about it extensively in the regional media. Of course, I will update you via email as well.

Flood victims that are veterans may want to learn more about aid available to flooded veterans, their families, and surviving spouses.  Details of this assistance are available in this press release on the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs website: http://www.mdva.state.mn.us/news/2010/MDVA28Sep10.htm Here are the County Veterans Service Officer phone numbers for our local counties:

Wabasha County (651) 565-3864 (Lisa Jaeger)
Goodhue County (651) 385-3256 (Bob Davis)
Olmsted County (507) 382-6355 (Brad Lindsay)

I’ll be in touch again soon.

Steve.

As you have likely heard, yesterday the Governor submitted a letter to the President for his consideration in declaring our region a federal disaster. The letter included 21 counties for public infrastructure (roads, bridges, city water and sewer) disaster support and 11 counties for individual assistance (homes and businesses) support. Both Wabasha and Goodhue Counties are included in both of those lists. You can read the Governor’s press release here:

http://www.governor.state.mn.us/mediacenter/pressreleases/PROD010164.html

The 14-page letter itself is available for download and reading/printing here:

http://mnhousegop.squarespace.com/storage/letterrequest.pdf

We can expect to hear from the federal government any day now, regarding the issuance of the federal disaster and the types of disaster aid categories included in the declaration. Upon receiving the federal disaster declaration, expect to see FEMA workers and federal disaster recovery centers in the region within a day or so of the announcement.

The special session of the legislature will be called by the Governor sometime soon after the federal declaration is issued.

I spent this afternoon volunteering and cleaning up the community of Zumbro Falls. The athletic fields were wrought with trash from the flood and many homes received help today. If you were not flooded, I urge you to volunteer and bring your neighbors with you. There is still a lot of work to do and more volunteers are needed throughout western Wabasha County. Call the volunteer hotline at 800-543-7709 or simply stop at the Lions Park in Mazeppa, right on highway 60, between 9 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to volunteer. The bus will take volunteers to the areas that need help, including Hammond, Zumbro Falls, Jarrett, Ryan’s Bay, and other areas of need.

Flooded families, please check out the Minnesota Recovers website:

http://www.minnesotarecovers.org

Please continue to keep our flood-affected neighbors in your prayers.

Steve.

First, a state website that is very helpful for flood recovery efforts:

http://www.minnesotarecovers.org

The flood emergency management phase is coming to an end in the flooded regions of Wabasha and Goodhue Counties. Although recovery efforts have been underway for days now in Pine Island and most of the rural Zumbro River communities, yesterday marked the first full day of flood recovery efforts in the cities of Zumbro Falls and Hammond. I joined Governor Pawlenty in Zumbro Falls yesterday a.m. as we were accompanied by Senator Dave Senjem, Representative Tim Kelly, state emergency management leaders, and Wabasha County leaders. The Governor brought a strong message of hope and pledge of the state’s continued assistance throughout the recovery period for our flooded friends and neighbors.

Wabasha County appears to be the hardest-hit portion of the 35-county flood incident area. The cities of Zumbro Falls and Hammond, as well as the rural areas of Jarrett, County Road 21, Ryan’s Bay, the Ponderosa, and Mac’s Place have extensive and acute flooding damage. Throughout Wabasha County, estimates are in the neighborhood of 300 homes that have received flood damage, while somewhere near 60% of those homes may be total losses. Additionally, the business districts in both Zumbro Falls and Hammond have been completely hammered by the flood. The banks of the Zumbro received massive erosion at Kellogg, endangering a number of homes when 40 feet of nearby homeowners’ yards were swallowed by the flood.

I also visited with homeowners yesterday in Pine Island, where somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 homes were flood damaged, with damage varying from water in basements to water over the main floor (extensive damage). The school athletic facilities received extensive damage, there’s at least one road washout, and a trail bridge received flooding damage. City leaders are busy preparing reports for FEMA’s public infrastructure assessment report.

Last night, I toured Wanamingo with city staff and elected leaders. An unknown (smaller) number of homeowners in Wanamingo have received basement damage. The Wanamingo wastewater treatment plant received some damage, as did their city park. City leaders have completed their FEMA public infrastructure report.

There are additional reports of slight damage in Zumbrota and Kenyon.

The FEMA damage assessment teams are finishing up most of their work in Wabasha and Goodhue counties today. This field work will allow FEMA to compile more complete estimates and report those damage estimates and observations to their colleagues in Washington. The results of these assessments will be used to help determine the categories of disaster relief assistance that will be included in the federal disaster declaration, which will be issues for the mostly damaged sub-group of the 35 counties in the flood incident area. Due to the severity of flooding and the high cost to families and property in our area, there are expectations that Wabasha and Goodhue Counties will be among the first group of counties for which a federal declaration is made, with other counties being added to the declaration, subsequently. The best guess/hope is that we will receive the federal declaration tomorrow or Saturday. Keep tuned to the news to learn about when the declaration is made, and what types of relief the declaration will contain.

As soon as the declaration is made, flooded property owners can expect to see FEMA personnel arrive in the area very quickly – LOTS of them. They will be wearing official FEMA blue clothing and jackets. FEMA workers carry with them ID badges that designate that they are federal emergency workers employed by the agency. There will also be disaster recovery centers deployed in each of the major affected areas of the flood zone. The governor initiated steps yesterday to expedite the development of earlier disaster recovery centers, so that flooded residents can have a point of contact with FEMA and state relief agencies. More information will be available regarding this soon.

There is a large amount of help for our flooded friends and neighbors assembling. For flood victims that could use some help on their property – or for those not flooded, who would like to volunteer to help, a volunteer assistance hotline has been established. Call 800-543-7709. Buses are bringing volunteers out to flooded cities and homes from the Lions Park, in Mazeppa, where the volunteers are staging.

Flooded residents are encouraged to use the clothing and supplies assistance being offered by friends and neighbors through donations. A collection area is set up in Mazeppa at 239 1st Avenue North. For more information, call the Mazeppa City Hall at 507-843-3687.

Legislators are waiting to hear from the Governor on his decision to call the legislator into special session. He will call the session as soon as we have firm estimates of the levels of damage in different categories. I have been active in working with legislative staff to prepare a flood relief bill that will help our families and businesses recover from this tragedy. Please feel free to share any thoughts or suggestions you may have (my cell is 651-564-0638).

Emergency management phone numbers:

Wabasha County 651-565-3069 Goodhue County: 651-267-2640 Olmsted County: 507-285-8103

Again, please check out the Minnesota Recovers website:

http://www.minnesotarecovers.org

Please keep our flood-affected neighbors in your prayers. I’ll be in touch soon.

Steve.

Although estimates have not yet been completed, the losses due to the flooding in Wabasha and Goodhue Counties are massive. Losses come in many forms: financial asset losses, emotional losses, opportunity losses, health losses, and what I would categorize as temporary loss of community. The floodwaters have receded in these two counties and many flood victims have begun the arduous and emotionally taxing process of assessing their damages and cleaning out the damaged items, flooring, walls, and fixtures in their homes and businesses.

On Sunday, I joined Governor Pawlenty as we surveyed the flood damage Hammond and Zumbro Falls. We offered reassurance to community leaders that Minnesotans will be out in force to help the people of our district recover. The Governor will be calling a one-day special session of the legislature that will convene on a yet to be determined date, between October 7^th and 12^th. This session will focus on the development of a flood relief package aimed at helping offset the financial losses to homes, businesses, and public infrastructure.

The cities of Zumbro Falls and Hammond have been especially hit hard, with early estimates that approximately two thirds of the homes and business structures are completely uninhabitable in each community. Each of these buildings will likely be deemed total losses. I have spent the past 4 days helping friends living on Wabasha County Road 21 clean out their flood damaged home and conducting onsite visits with several dozen flooded constituents, focusing on those people who are in the most remote areas – away from the center of activity around the cities of Hammond, Zumbro Falls, and Pine Island. I visited yesterday with homeowners in Jarrett (near Millville) and along other portions of Wabasha County Road 11. Their situations are the same – most appear to be total losses.

Now that the water has receded, and that most have been (or soon will be) allowed back into their flooded homes and businesses, the recovery work begins. FEMA arrived yesterday and is on the ground in our counties today, conducting damage surveys of the region. While these folks will not visit every home and business at this point, their aim is to gain an estimate of the types and amount of damage that has been incurred upon infrastructure, homes, and businesses. This survey will hopefully be completed today or tomorrow and the surveyors will report to their colleagues in Washington, characterizing the types and amounts of loss. Days later, we can expect to receive the federal disaster declaration and will then understand which components of assistance the federal relief package will contain. No later than the issuance of the federal disaster by the federal government, we can expect to see local FEMA operations centers deployed into our communities.  These FEMA centers will become the communication point for flooded families and business owners to access the relief offered through the federal package. They will also likely serve as the host to state flood relief teams who will be positioned to distribute information, take application, and offer assistance related to the state flood relief package that we will pass out of the legislature in early October.

In addition to financial flood relief aid, flooded families can also expect to see a large wave of volunteers descending upon the area from all over Minnesota – and from other states.  I have already heard from some of the churches that make it part of their mission to go from disaster to disaster to provide expert help, equipment, tools, and supplies for cleaning up flooded buildings. Leaders in those cities that were flooded in the 2007 flood in Winona County have been contacting me about their intent to mobilize people.  Both groups are waiting for the signal from emergency management personnel.  That will happen soon.

If you know of a family that needs a place to stay over the weeks ahead, Woodland Camp, which is located south of Zumbro Falls, has indicated that they have cabin space available and would like to offer families in need a place to stay.  Owners Merl and Anna Mae Norman can be contacted at (507) 753-2987.

I am writing and will continue to write these email updates for the benefit of flooded families and business owners throughout our region.  Please help in distributing this information to any flooded families that you may know as they likely do not have access to email at this time. If there are flooded families that have not received visits or communication from law enforcement or emergency management staff, please call the emergency management numbers in your respective county and bring it to their attention:

Wabasha County 651-565-3069

Goodhue County: 651-267-2640

Olmsted County: 507-285-8103

Please keep our flood-affected neighbors in your prayers.

Steve.

As you are likely aware, many of our neighbors in Wabasha and Goodhue Counties have been hard-hit by the flooding of the past two days. Today, I met with Governor Pawlenty in Pine Island as we surveyed the flood damage in the area, spoke with flood victims, and met with local emergency management leaders. It’s estimated that over 150 families received varying degrees of damage to their homes and businesses from the flooding in Pine Island. The Zumbro has receded significantly in the City of Pine Island and the clean up by Pine Islanders is beginning.

I also met with emergency personnel, community leaders, and flood victims at the banks of the exploding Zumbro River at Zumbro Falls, Hammond, and Millville. The river crested in Zumbro Falls in mid-afternoon (about 3 p.m.) today at approximately 35 feet. I was told by the Zumbro Falls emergency management team that the gauge used to measure the flooding level at Zumbro Falls only goes as high as 31 feet and that they estimated the crest to have occurred another 4 feet above that mark. The city of Zumbro Falls has received (and is still receiving) extensive damage, with the entire business district completely consumed by rapidly-moving flood waters, and the majority of the buildings in the city appear to have received very extensive water damage.

In Hammond, I saw the same flood dynamics and damage that was present in Zumbro Falls. Only those structures furthest away and up hill from the raging Zumbro River excaped what appears to be massive destruction. Local leaders suggested that this flood is by far higher than the 1954 flood and that approximately 30 homes and businesses may have been destroyed. As of 5:00 p.m. today, the river had not yet crested, but was expected to reach its high point sometime soon.

Millville seems to have largely, due to its topographical advantage of being located on much higher ground, avoided very much flood damage. A few houses are reported to have received basement flooding, but more will be known soon.

As you may have heard, Governor Pawlenty has declared the 34-county flooded region of southern Minnesota to be a disaster and has applied for federal disaster aid. In the next few days federal flood evaluators will be visiting our communities to aid our friends and neighbors in determining the level of damage that they have received.

As flood waters continue to send area residents from their homes and businesses, many residents are wondering who they should be calling in order to receive assistance. I have listed some of the emergency management numbers below that you should contact if you are experiencing flooding problems.

Goodhue County: 651-267-2640

Wabasha County 651-565-3069

For additional information regarding flooding, visit:

www.mda.state.mn.us/en/protecting/floodinfo.aspx

Governor Pawlenty has already declared that we are in a disaster area, and it sounds like we may have a special session in the coming weeks so Minnesota can assist those who have been forced from their homes and places of employment. Please feel free to email me with any ideas or questions that you may have.

If you don’t live in one of the flooded communities, please keep our hurting neighbors who are flood victims in your thoughts and prayers. I expect that a call for assistance in cleaning up homes and businesses in these communities will be coming out soon. I’ll be sure to keep you up to date as more information becomes available.

Steve.

Tom Hauser, from KSTP, talks to Steve Drazkowski about the debate.

http://kstp.com/article/stories/s1678922.shtml?cat=1