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Minnesota Agencies

Information on Minnesota State Agencies, Boards, Task Forces, and Commissions

Compiled by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library


Legislative COVID-19 Response Commission

Also known as:
LCRC
Active dates:March 29, 2020 -
Function:

The commission is established to review expenditures from the COVID-19 Minnesota fund. The commissioner of management and budget must provide reports on the spending from the COVID-19 flexible response account to the Legislative COVID-19 Response Commission on the last day of each month. The report must include the total amount of each expenditure, the purpose of each expenditure, and any additional information the commissioner of management and budget determines is necessary to properly document each expenditure.

History:

A novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was first detected in China in late 2019 and the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, rapidly spread through most countries of the world in the first months of 2020. Minnesota reported its first case of COVID-19 on March 6, 2020. On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization declared the spread of this disease a global pandemic. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz declared a peacetime state of emergency in Minnesota on March 13, 2020. On that same day, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency.

The legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government in Minnesota quickly began to respond to the spread of COVID-19 in the state. On March 26, 2020 the Legislature passed HF4531 to create a COVID-19 response fund, and along with it a legislative commission with some oversight over that fund.

The "COVID-19 Minnesota fund" is created in the state treasury to pay expenditures related to a peacetime emergency declared by the governor in Executive Order 20-01 that relates to the infectious disease known as COVID-19. Money in the fund is appropriated to the commissioner of management and budget and may be disbursed or transferred to state agencies as necessary to (1) protect Minnesota citizens from the COVID-19 outbreak, and (2) maintain state government operations throughout the duration of the peacetime emergency.

Originally, any money in the fund that remained unobligated on May 11, 2020, canceled to the general fund. Laws of Minnesota 2020, chap. 81 extended that date to December 31, 2020.

More details about the commission's oversight role are described in Laws of Minnesota 2020, chap. 71, art. 1, sec. 7, subd. 2.

Membership:

The majority leader of the senate, the minority leader of the senate, the president of the senate, the chair of the senate Finance committee, the ranking minority member of the senate Finance Committee, the speaker of the house, the minority leader of the house of representatives, the majority leader of the house of representatives, the chair of the house of representatives Ways and Means Committee, and the ranking minority member of the house of representatives Ways and Means Committee, or their designee, are members of the commission.

The following individuals, or their designee, serve on the commission: Senators Paul Gazelka, Susan Kent, Jeremy Miller, Julie Rosen, and Richard Cohen; Speaker Melissa Hortman, and Representatives Kurt Daudt, Ryan Winkler, Lyndon Carlson, and Pat Garofalo.

Note: The Legislative Reference Library may have additional reports on or by this group available through our catalog.
Documents/Articles:
COVID-19 has even changed the way the Minnesota Legislature appropriates money. MinnPost, 4/21/2020.
News clippings and documents. Agencies Notebook Collection, 2020.
Record last updated: 05/09/2022
 

All information on this group from the Library’s collection of agency notebooks has been digitized. These materials are incorporated into the “documents/articles” section of the record. Please contact a librarian with any questions. The Minnesota Agencies database is a work in progress.

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