Dear Neighbor,
A column I submitted to area newspapers this week touched on some state resources that are available to farmers who have suffered damage from natural disasters. This is in response to a disaster declaration has been issued for 36 counties in our state, including two – Stearns and Stevens – from our immediate area.
In an effort to further raise awareness, here is some more information on the Disaster Recovery Loan Program available through the Rural Finance Authority, courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture:
Due to the Governor's emergency declaration due to severe weather and flooding, the MDA has made zero-interest loans available to farmers for flood recovery costs. The program helps farmers cover flood clean-up, repair, and replacement costs not covered by insurance. The funds can be used to help clean up, repair, or replace farm structures and septic and water systems, as well as replace seed, other crop inputs, feed, and livestock, when damaged by high winds, hail, tornado, floods or excessive rainfall.
The severe summer storms, which began on June 9, 2018, have caused significant flooding and damage to farm property in the Red Lake Nation and 36 counties including Aitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Blue Earth, Brown, Carlton, Cass, Clearwater, Cottonwood, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Jackson, Kittson, Lake, Lyon, Mahnomen, Martin, Mille Lacs, Mower, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pine, Pipestone, Polk, Red Lake, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Sibley, Stearns, Stevens, St. Louis, Waseca, and Watonwan.
Click here for complete details.
On a separate topic, we received good news yesterday showing that our economy continues to grow. Minnesota Management & Budget released an updated report of the state’s economy and it shows that, through the first six months of this year, the state has taken in $348 million (1.6 percent) more than projected in the February 2018 Budget and Economic Forecast. MMB indicates General fund revenues for FY 2018 are now estimated to be 4.7 percent greater than in FY 2017. This growth can be attributed, in part, to tax relief at both the state and federal levels, which has left more money in people’s pockets and resulted in an infusion of dollars benefitting the local economy. It is nice to see continued growth and I am proud of the work we have done in St. Paul to get our state’s economy on the right path.
We are approaching 60 days since the legislative session ended, at which point legislators are unable to send email updates such as this until after the November election. My work to represent the people of this area will continue, however, and I welcome your correspondence on a personal, one-on-one basis.
Until next time, I hope to see you around this summer’s remaining community events, or feel free to use my contact information in this email to pass along any notes.
Sincerely,
Paul