Flood coverage bill sent to Pawlenty despite questions over cost

The Minnesota House has overwhelming passed a $3.7 million flood-cleanup plan despite questions about where the money will come to pay for it.

The measure approved Saturday by a 110-24 vote and sent to Gov. Tim Pawlenty will assist 24 Minnesota counties hit hard by spring floods.

But Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, questioned the expenditure when the budget deficit was still not solved and the state's cash-flow account is drying up.

"In the next 24 hours we're going to see more tragedy and crisis than you can imagine," she said. "But we're carving out this one little thing to get money from what we say is the bottom line, when we all know there is no money on the bottom line."

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Kent Eken, DFL-Twin Valley, said federal money will cover 75 percent of the local cleanup costs.

The Senate passed the bill earlier this month.

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