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Dear Friends,
This week we met in session to pass a bill that makes a variety of smaller changes to help Minnesotans respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the highlights of the bill include:
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Protecting Minnesotans: This bill helps protect struggling farmers, expands access to telemedicine, and ensures that Minnesotans are covered as they normally would be if they receive care at an alternate treatment site.
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Flexibility During COVID Crisis: This bill includes changes to allow Minnesotans to apply for a marriage license remotely, ensures public officials can participate in remote meetings or hearings (similar to current law for military members), and eases certain deadlines in response to COVID-19. It also will ensure Commercial Drivers Licenses and out-of-state licenses will continue to be valid while in-person appointments are restricted.
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Implementing the CARES Act: The CARES Act passed at the federal level includes a number of provisions aimed at helping Minnesota respond to COVID-19. This bill implements provisions of the CARES Act including coverage of COVID-19 testing as part of our ongoing response to the pandemic.
In addition to these changes, the bill includes an important appropriation to provide $1.25 million dollars to Second Harvest Food Bank, which will provide needed funding for food shelves and allow them to purchase milk and other protein products from our farmers.
If you would like to see everything included in the bill, you can read it here.
New Executive Orders
The governor signed two more executive orders today. The first expands on a previous one regarding vehicle regulations, and suspends several weight-related provisions and allows vehicles operating with higher gross vehicle weights than currently allowed while providing direct assistance to emergency COVID-19 relief efforts, among other things. To read everything included, you can see the executive order here.
The second order opens certain outdoor recreation facilities and allows Minnesotans to engage in a range of outdoor activities, including golfing, boating, fishing, hunting, and hiking, as long as they follow guidelines including maintaining 6-foot social distancing, avoiding crowds, and staying close to home. The list of open facilities and allowed activities, as well as the guidelines required to participate, can be found in the order here.
National Flood Insurance Program Information
The Minnesota Department of Commerce released the following information regarding the National Flood Insurance Program. If you have questions not answered below, you can call the National Flood Insurance Program's national information line at 1-800-427-4661, or visit the Commerce Department's page on flood insurance here.
For those that purchased NFIP policies last year:
Please note, there is now an extended Flood Insurance Grace Period for Policy Renewals
- To help serve National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) customers who may be experiencing financial hardships due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, FEMA is extending the grace period to renew flood insurance policies from 30 to 120 days.
- This extension applies to NFIP flood insurance policies with an expiration date between February 13 and June 15, 2020.
- For more information about renewing flood insurance policies or resolving an underpayment, policyholders can contact their insurance carriers or call the National Flood Insurance Program Call Center at 1-877-336-2627.
For those that have not purchased NFIP policies in the past:
There are misconceptions about who is eligible for flood insurance, who needs it and the costs associated with it.
The below flyer has links to follow for help and facts that help dispel some of those misconceptions. Those include:
- If a property is outside of the high-risk flood zone, there is no need for coverage. Actually, between 1995 and now, 40% of flood claims have come from outside the high-risk zones.
- If a property is outside of the high-risk flood zone, property owners can’t purchase flood insurance. Actually, if someone lives in a community that has opted into NFIP (which your community has), anyone in that community can purchase a policy, regardless of location.
- A property owner can purchase flood insurance after a flood event. Actually, there is a 30-day waiting period from when the insurance is purchased to when coverage begins. So an NFIP policy that is purchased after a flood event will not cover the damage.
- If your area floods, federal disaster relief will cover the damage. Actually, the only time disaster relief is available is when there is a Presidential disaster declaration, which does not happen in the majority of flood events. Also, federal disaster assistance is a kick-start for recovery and will pay about one-fourth of what a flood insurance policy will pay.
Appointment Vacancies
If you are interested in serving on a state board, council, or committee, the latest list of appointment vacancies was sent out by the Secretary of State's Office this week. There are a number of current vacancies, and if you are interested, I would encourage you to apply online here!
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