Although Gov. Mark Dayton is in Milwaukee for a governors’ meeting, his staff has been working with legislators to decide if — and when — a special session should be called to deal with disaster relief after the June storms.
Last month, the federal government declared 18 Minnesota counties eligible for disaster aid, but the state will need to chip in part of the money.
Last year, the governor called a special to provide storm disaster aid after the flooding in Duluth and other areas.
The Forum newspapers say the trick now is confining a special session to storm relief. While the governor’s office and top legislators don’t want to open the session to other issues — such as minimum wage or the warehouse tax — there are legislators who’d like to tackle those issues.
The story quotes gubernatorial aide Bob Hume:
“From our perspective, there will be no tolerance for political grandstanding on either side of the aisle when disaster relief [is] at stake in any special session.”
