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Gov. Tim Walz said lawmakers should consider an economic relief package for northern Minnesota communities impacted by ongoing wildfires in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

Walz told MPR News the package could come forward as part of a special session next month. The governor would have to call lawmakers back for a special session if he opts to 

The declaration grants him additional authority. The special session is required to give lawmakers a chance to vote to end the emergency.

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Asked about the likelihood that the fires continue and a special session is needed, Walz said, “You shouldn't take that off the table if there's something to do here.”

“It’s something that the Legislature, I would encourage them to consider what does a relief package look like?” Walz said at an unrelated event on Friday. “We haven't done anything with that yet, but I think that's something to put out there. There’s a lot of economic damage.”

Leaders in the narrowly-split Minnesota Legislature said they’re open to a special session to take up a relief package. But Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said a proposal to issue relief for businesses and communities affected by the federal government’s immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota should also be part of the conversation.

“I really feel for the Iron Range area, the North Shore, the Arrowhead and what they're experiencing,” Murphy said in an interview. 

“We should think about economic relief. But from my perspective, it is important to think about the economic relief for parts of the state that have been injured, and we were not able to get across the line economic relief as a result of the injuries caused by (Operation) Metro Surge, and we want to talk about that as well.”

That proposal passed the DFL-led Senate during the last regular session but came up short in the tied House of Representatives. Democrats hold a one-vote edge in the House after a Republican member retired after the legislative session’s close. But they are still one vote short of what they’d need to pass a bill.

House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said it’s too soon to consider a special session and relief package.

“We know that there's been an economic impact, a negative economic impact in that area because of people not being able to be in the area and stay like they normally would. So we would have to look at where things are at before I would be able to say whether or not there is any type of resource or anything that we'd be looking at doing,” Demuth said.

Additional proposals could also be floated during a special session. And politics could be on full display as both major parties aim to highlight priorities in the leadup to the election. The special session’s timing could also coincide with Minnesota’s Aug. 11 primary.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says a special legislative session should be in play to consider economic help for communities affected by wildfires. He will be forced to call one if he extends a peacetime emergency to combat them.

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Walz says lawmakers should pursue economic relief for Boundary Waters communities

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