PAUL — Prompted by complaints from Rushford business owners, state lawmakers from both the House and Senate grilled a state commissioner Wednesday on why he insisted on attaching conditions to flood relief money in apparent defiance of the Legislature’s intent. Business leaders warned that those loan conditions could ultimately doom their efforts at flood recovery by burying them under mounds of debt. Rushford business leaders say the loan conditions and terms proposed by DEED would consign some city businesses to a slow death. Rushford business leaders argue that the uniquely devastating nature of the flood should weight the recovery assistance largely in the form of grants and forgivable loans. Ted Roberton, president of the Rushford State Bank, said DEED’s proposal essentially layers businesses, many of which were already in debt before the flood, in more debt. And Rushford city Administrator Windy Block said he believed the policies proposed by DEED move the city in the direction of long-term recovery. read more