Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signs $330 million COVID-19 relief bill

(FOX 9) - Saturday morning, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a bill to allocate $330 million in COVID-19 aid in Minnesota, bringing the state’s total response to more than $550 million to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bill was passed by the legislature on March 26. Lawmakers in the House, which voted 99-4, said it was the most bipartisan effort they’d seen in years. The Senate followed suit hours later, voting 67-0 to send the bill to Walz’s desk.

The bill includes the following actions:

•    Establishes the COVID-19 Minnesota Fund to support further action
•    Creates peacetime emergency child care grants
•    Provides COVID-19 assistance for veterans
•    Supports food shelves and food banks
•    Expands resources for emergency services and homeless shelters
•    Expands support available to small businesses
•    Extends disaster assistance for farmers to include losses due to COVID-19

“The swift, bipartisan passage of this bill is One Minnesota in action,” Gov. Walz said in a release. “Legislators put aside politics to fight the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of Minnesotans. We’re only in the early stages of Minnesota’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic – but this law will help ensure we have the right supports in place to prepare for what’s to come.”