By Rep. Paul Anderson
During what is supposed to be a festive time of year, the pandemic and resulting business shutdowns have left us concerned about the future.
We all know that Covid-19 is real, and can be life-threatening. But many are wondering if some of the strategies being used to slow the virus make sense. For example, are our children better off in school or at home with distance learning? And our small businesses have borne the brunt of being shut down, but does the data show they are where the greatest chance of community spread occurs?
Will these mostly mom-and-pop operations be able to financially make it through these difficult times? And, when will our lives get back to whatever the new normal is going to be? Some businesses have been hit especially hard. Bars and restaurants, after being shut down once, are closed again during the holiday season and seeing one of their busiest times of the year disappearing. Others, too, are suffering. Theaters, fitness and bowling centers are among those facing challenges.
There is some financial assistance coming from the state. The Legislature passed an aid package during the December special session that, hopefully, will help these businesses survive. There are three pockets of money, with bars and restaurants, along with fitness and bowling centers, set to receive funding from the first. If they had at least a 30 percent loss of business during the second and third quarters of this year compared to last year, they are eligible. The Dept. of Revenue will use sales tax figures to determine qualification and send the money out by year-end.
Theaters and convention centers will get assistance from a second pot. They will receive payment based on the number of screens a theater has.
The third and largest source of funding will go to the counties. Based on population, they will receive money to distribute in their jurisdictions. Stearns County will get around $3 million, Douglas around $760,000, and Pope County $255,000. Those businesses that didn't qualify because of the 30 percent loss criteria will be eligible for this source of funding and should be given priority.
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Nearly lost in the news cycle last week was the announcement from the Pollution Control Agency that it intends to move forward with rulemaking to align Minnesota with the California Clean Car Standards. After a series of informational meetings around the state and if an administrative law judge approves the plan, our state would join 14 others in mandating that auto manufacturers sell low- and zero-emission vehicles here. The rule would limit the amount of greenhouse emissions new vehicles could emit.
I am very much opposed to this plan for a number of reasons. First of all, we are not California and have totally different weather conditions and population numbers here. This new rule will, in all probability, raise the price of bigger vehicles such as pick ups and SUV’s that we need for winter driving is these parts. California also has an executive order in place saying they will not allow the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by the year 2035. Although it’s not certain if we’d have to follow that order, the PCA website mentions that we would follow California standards “verbatim.”
In addition, because of the peacetime emergency in place and the governor issuing orders without the approval of the Legislature, this is not the time to go around the legislative body yet again and issue such a sweeping order as this California car rule.
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