Minnesota lawmakers still at odds over how to dole out $250M in pandemic pay

Nearly a month after missing a deadline to come up with a bipartisan plan for distributing $250 million in pandemic front-line worker bonus pay, state lawmakers remain divided on which workers should qualify for that aid.

Republicans on Thursday offered up their proposal: $1,200 in bonus pay for nurses, first responders, corrections officers, long-term care workers and hospice providers.

"We've said from the beginning, these bonuses need to be an amount that is meaningful, prioritized for those who took the most risk, and recognizes the workers who kept us safe," said Sen. Karin Housley, a Stillwater Republican who is vice chair of the Frontline Worker Pay Working Group.

But Democrats criticized the plan as leaving out thousands of other workers and urged payments to a broader range of recipients.

"I think that we can figure out how to distribute $250 million together, but the sense of urgency needed to reach an agreement I don't feel is there from the Republicans at this point," said DFL House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, who chairs the working group.

The group Winkler and Housley are leading missed a Sept. 6 deadline for a bipartisan accord on how to dole out the funds. Even if it had reached a deal then, the chance that Senate Republicans could use the occasion to also fire Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm over objections to the state's COVID-19 response has kept Gov. Tim Walz from calling a special session required to sign off on the money.

Republican members of the working group on Thursday accused Walz and Democrats of making excuses and holding up the release of pandemic worker aid.

Winkler said that about 670,000 people are eligible for the money. He suggested that lawmakers could add more money to the bill next year or set up a targeted fund for people who directly care for patients or work in jobs particularly hard-hit by the pandemic.

Representatives from industries such as building services and food processing followed Thursday's GOP news conference at the Capitol with expressions of dismay at not being included in the Republican proposal.

"My co-workers and I were deemed essential, so we kept showing up for work so all of us would have food available to buy for our families," said Nancy Carabantes, a Worthington meatpacker. "You and other Minnesotans required this of us. We are proud we did our part. Now we are not considered essential enough?"

Rep. Anne Neu Brindley, R-North Branch, said that with just $250 million available, lawmakers "must prioritize those who showed up to work every day knowing they were encountering positive COVID-19 patients."

Meanwhile, Democrats say the GOP is leaving out "thousands" of front-line workers. Still, said Sen. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, it was "useful to finally see a counter proposal from our GOP colleagues."

"It is past time to finish this work for those who went to work, kept us healthy, alive, and our economy moving," she said.

Staff writer Jessie Van Berkel contributed to this report.