Next job for Minnesota lawmakers: Spend $250 million on front-line worker aid

The budget is set and the state of emergency over the pandemic has ended, but Minnesota lawmakers aren't quite done with working groups and special sessions.

The next big job on their agenda is to dole out $250 million in federal aid to workers who were on the front lines responding to COVID-19. To do that, Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders last week appointed nine members to a working group that will spend part of July and all of August working out the details.

It's funding everyone agrees is needed, but the challenge is figuring out exactly who will get a check — and how much they will get.

"That's going to be the big part of the conversation. Outside of long-term care workers — who sacrificed much during the pandemic — who should be eligible for this money?" said Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove, appointed by Walz to the working group. "Two-hundred and fifty million dollars is a lot of money, but it goes pretty quickly when you think about all these categories of workers it could touch and how many workers are in each of those categories."

Along with Grove, Walz appointed Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Roslyn Robertson and Department of Revenue Commissioner Robert Doty to serve on the working group.

From the Minnesota Senate, Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, and Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, will serve on the group. House Reps. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, and Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, will join Rep. Anne Neu Brindley, R-North Branch, on the panel.

Neu Brindley said front-line medical staff, such as long-term care, personal care attendants, nurses and first responders should be prioritized in the funding because they cared for COVID-19 patients. But people such as grocery store workers and restaurant staff also went into work every day when the pandemic was at its scariest, she said.

"It's going to be tricky," she said. "There are so many people who sacrificed. We have the very difficult job of figuring out how to monetize that and reward that, but it's a good job to have."

Murphy said the group needs to consider who hasn't been touched by previous rounds of federal aid.

"There are a lot of people who stepped into this space in all sorts of ways to make sure that Minnesotans stayed healthy, stayed alive and our economy kept moving," she said.

Democrats have six appointees to the working group and Republicans have three members. Seven votes are needed to approve a plan, meaning any final deal must have bipartisan support. The group has a Sept. 6 deadline to send a plan to the full Legislature, which will then meet in special session.

The group can either agree to a single plan or send three options to the Legislature. Murphy says she's optimistic the group can come together around one proposal.

"I've heard a number of people say, 'Wow it's going to be gridlock right away,' " Murphy said. "We've all been through a lot in the last 18 months. I want to step into this space and say we can rise to this moment."