Minnesota Senate has passed a bill to help rural communities get COVID-19 relief money. | Pixabay
Minnesota Senate has passed a bill to help rural communities get COVID-19 relief money. | Pixabay
Sen. Torrey Westrom (R-Elbow Lake) said a bill passed in the Minnesota State Senate "was worth the hard fight" to bring federal COVID-19 relief money to communities all over the state, according to the Minnesota Senate Republic Caucus website.
The legislation would create an equation to fairly distribute the money to include areas in Greater Minnesota. The federal government gave the state more than $2 billion to help local governments, health professionals and other businesses with costs associated with the coronavirus pandemic.
Republicans had expressed concerns about how the money would be given out and transparency since Gov. Tim Walz was the decision-maker as to how it would be divided amongst communities.
Westrom called the bill's passage a win for rural areas.
"The Democrats and governor wanted to steer the majority of the funds towards the metro — namely Hennepin and Ramsey Counties — but it was important to me that our rural communities were treated fairly," Westrom said in a statement.
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