In 2008, the state legislature passed a law which established a framework for a uniform legislative and executive response to natural disasters declared by the President.

The bill assigns responsibility for
assisting communities to recover from a disaster to various state
agencies, establishes categories of state aid for communities within a
disaster area, defines criteria for the aid, and expectations for
receiving assistance.

Tom Emmer talks a lot about the
need to reform and redesign in “the delivery system” of government, so
why then was he one of only six
state legislators to vote against a bill that cuts the bureaucracy with
how Minnesota responds to natural disasters and streamlines aid to
affected individuals?

But Tom Emmer’s not only against
getting aid to the right places and quickly as possible — he even has a record of opposing the measures which would help those areas prepare for the disasters before they happened.

How we respond to natural disasters
is a test of who we are as Minnesotans.  Tom Emmer fails that test.