Buoyed by the prospect of a massive influx of federal money to help fight the coronavirus pandemic — and empowered by what they believe is a political victory for their party — a group of Minnesota’s top Democrats gathered at Mall of America Monday to trumpet the passage of the latest federal COVID relief legislation known as the “American Rescue Plan.”
Estimates put the amount of money headed to Minnesota well into the billions of dollars.
From grants for businesses shuttered by the pandemic’s closures to payments for government mass vaccination sites — like the one where they gathered at the Bloomington megamall — Gov. Tim Walz and Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation said the funds will not only help combat the pandemic and its effects, but also energize the economic recovery to follow.
Those gathered with Walz were U.S. Sens Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and state Reps. Betty McCollum, of St. Paul, and Angie Craig, of Dakota County, as well as Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and state Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm.
Not invited were Minnesota’s four Republican members of Congress, all of whom voted against passage of the $1.9 trillion plan on the grounds that much of the funds were unrelated to the pandemic. Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents Duluth and the Iron Range, for example, called it “wasteful provisions and far-left giveaways.”
But in what amounted to a low-fanfare victory lap before the local media, the Democrats who gathered Monday said the provisions of the plan, which President Joe Biden signed into law last week, were widely popular not only for the direct COVID matters, but also progressive measures that seek to reduce poverty and inequality.
“The only Republicans who didn’t seem to support it live in the D.C. zip code,” Craig said, citing feedback from her constituents. Craig’s district that stretches south from the metro includes large swaths of Republican strongholds.
WHERE THE MONEY GOES
Here are some examples of estimates for how much money will flow into Minnesota from the federal plan, based on figures from multiple non-governmental institutions, as well as the Congressional Research Service and various Senate Committees:
- $4.88 billion for state and local governments, including $2.6 billion for the state, $1.1 billion for counties, and $595 million for metro cities. Some examples of estimated direct payments are $171.8 million for St. Paul, $281.5 million for Minneapolis and $5.96 million for Woodbury.
- $1.9 billion for education, including $1.32 billion for elementary and high schools, $37.7 million for private elementary and high schools, and $552.3 million for colleges and universities.
- Roughly $110 million — per week — to pay for $300 weekly enhancements to unemployment checks.
- $6.33 billion for so-called stimulus checks to 2.4 million eligible Minnesota households.
- $297 million for emergency rental assistance.
- $590 million for child care programs.
- $270 million to fund Federal Emergency Management Agency programs in the state, including some vaccination and testing operations.
- $11.8 million for the early childhood Head Start program.
- $8.8 million for various transit programs, including $313 million for Minneapolis and St. Paul, tens of millions for the state’s other large cities and $11 million for rural transit.
Estimates were not readily available for how much Minnesotans, in total, would receive for one of the most significant — and liberal — features of the legislation: a $300-per-child monthly check for all but the wealthiest parents. The plan would affect an estimated 1.1 million Minnesotans younger than 18, or about 88 percent of that population.
Yet despite the far-reaching aspects of the plan, not everyone will see money. After Monday’s news conference, officials with Mall of America buttonholed Walz to remind him that, while tenants have received aid, the megamall itself has not yet found a way to be eligible for relief funds under existing programs.
