REGIONAL- The last hope that the North Country would see any of the nearly $40 million in federal funding requests submitted by the state’s congressional delegation went up in flames Tuesday night when House Republicans pushed through a stopgap spending resolution to prevent a government shutdown.
The continuing resolution, passed narrowly by the Republican-led House, eliminates $13 billion earmarked for local projects requested by individual members of Congress. While competition for the funding is enormous – the Senate alone had over 19,000 requests submitted in fiscal year 2024– the elimination of the funding means that no local requests, even those that had been on track as of last fall, will see any appropriation.
Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate have made it clear they are adamantly opposed to the stopgap bill so Tuesday’s action may not be the final word. But with a government shutdown looming as early as Friday, pressure to pass the resolution in the Senate will be enormous.
Local effects
City officials in Ely were devastated by the latest development out of Washington. Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski said the city had survived the funding gauntlet and was still on the list for as much as $3.9 million to help finance the city’s replacement of its 1930s-era water line from Burntside Lake along with several bridges that support the line over wetlands. “It’s pretty catastrophic if we can’t get congressionally directed spending for this project,” said Langowski. Ely’s project was one of 15 in the state that had appeared headed for passage, but with the uncertainty in the nation’s capital in recent weeks, Langowski said he had grown increasingly nervous. “I was fearful this was going to happen,” he said. “I guess it’s part of the collateral damage of everything else going on in Washington.”
Langowski said the city will likely have to resort to more loan funding for the project and will now need to look at phasing of the work, which he said will lead to higher costs overall.
The nearly five-mile-long water line is Ely’s only source of drinking water and its age and poor condition makes it highly vulnerable to disruption that could prove disastrous for the community. Ely’s request had support from Rep. Pete Stauber as well as both of Minnesota’s U.S. senators, giving it excellent prospects in the funding competition.
But Ely’s wasn’t the only project to lose out. Also in need of repair are the city of Cook’s wastewater treatment stabilization ponds. Extensive erosion has created a risk for failure, which could result in flooding of nearby properties and significant health risks. Additional repairs to the wastewater treatment plant and replacement of lift station pumps would have been included. Stauber requested $3.15 million for the project, while Klobuchar and Smith each requested $315,000.
Another multimillion-dollar project in Cook supported by Smith and Klobuchar was the replacement of the aging steam boilers at Cook Hospital, which were installed in 1959. $3,360,000 was requested for upgrading to a more efficient hot water boiler system.
In Tower, two projects to provide better housing options will miss out on federal funding. Both Klobuchar and Smith had earmarked $1.75 million for the Marina Drive water and sewer extension. Klobuchar also requested $7.846 million for Vermilion Housing Corporation to rehabilitate 52 rental units in four buildings in Tower and Soudan that are nearly 50 years old and are deteriorating. Smith requested $2.6 million for the same project.
Two other Ely projects were also hopeful of receiving funding, and both were supported by Klobuchar and Smith. The Ely Area Community Foundation sought $600,000 to create an innovative community hub for individuals of all ages to provide healthy living services in partnership with a variety of nonprofits. Ely Community Health Center planned to increase access to medical and dental services if it had received $46,000 requested.
A final big-ticket item that’s been in the planning stage for years, a new wastewater treatment and collection system for the Ash River Sanitary District, received a nod from Smith for $4 million.
In total, the House action was the final straw for nine area projects supported by Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Stauber that could have brought as much as $39.572 million to the North Country if all been approved at the highest-requested amounts. Smith was the leading advocate for area projects, with requests for nine projects totaling $31.49 million, including a $14.9 million MnDOT request for road safety improvements in Morse Township. Klobuchar’s list of seven requests totaled $17.8 million, while Stauber requested funding for two projects totaling $7.07 million.
Smith voiced her opposition to the House action. “Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have decided to force a continuing resolution that sidelines critical investments in clean water infrastructure across St. Louis County, clean water in Ely, supporting rural health care for the Range and more— investments that help keep our communities strong and our economy growing,” she said.
The cuts are happening because of the House’s failure to pass the standard appropriations bills for FY 2025. Partisan fighting over the budget scuttled the normal process of passing a bill by Sept. 30, forcing the House to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government operating through December. The House has failed twice since then to pass a budget, in December and now in March, with the third continuing resolution on Tuesday intended to keep the government afloat through Sept. 30. As funding for member requests can only be included in an appropriations bill, the House killed that part of the budget by its action on Tuesday.
Alternatives for federal funding are likely going to be harder to tap as well with the Trump administration’s assault on spending through the activities of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE targeted over 2,600 federal agencies with its initial spending freeze in January and is looking to deeply slash funding in many departments while completely eliminating others. Even where grant program funding remains untouched, there will likely be delays in processing applications due to the massive reductions of federal employees being pursued by Trump and Musk.