ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Now that Minnesota lawmakers have freed up $250 million for COVID-19 pandemic bonus pay, frontline workers are scrambling for a cut of the money.
As Gov. Tim Walz signed the bill into law last week, labor unions were already asking that their members be included. Among those that have made requests: grocery store workers, food service staff, nurses and educators.
"I implore them to move quickly to get the money into the hands of the essential hourly workers who urgently need it--and please, please, please do whatever you can to make this an easy process," Bill Schwandt, president of the Bloomington Federation of Paraprofessionals, said last week.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Pandemic bonus pay: Who makes the cut?
Bonus pay is on the way for workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, Minnesota lawmakers have freed up $250 million for COVID-19 pandemic bonus pay. Now, a nine-member panel is tasked with deciding who gets a check and who doesn't.
The process will hardly be quick. Lawmakers have delegated the tough decision of who receives a bonus and who doesn't to a nine-member work group that's tasked with making recommendations by Labor Day. Top lawmakers then expect to have a September special session to make the final decision.
The nine-member panel will have three members appointed by the House, three from the Senate and three by Walz. Seven of the nine must agree on a formal recommendation, meaning the six DFL-appointed members will have to win the backing of at least one Republican-appointed member.
"I think the hope is that all nine will agree. That would be a real win," said Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake.
The size of the pool will determine how large a bonus each worker will get. If lawmakers and Walz put 250,000 workers on the eligibility list--a fraction of those who work in essential industries as designated by the federal government--each person would get $1,000.
But, if the eligibility expands to 1 million workers, each person will get a slimmer $250 check.
Gazelka said Senate Republicans will prioritize workers at long-term care facilities. Meanwhile, Walz and House Democrats favor including a wider pool of workers, such as those whose jobs put them at the most personal risk of infection and others who were forced to quarantine without paid leave.
Lawmakers struck an agreement on the $250 million pot during budget negotiations in June. Walz said he originally proposed a larger amount and said he feared leaving workers out.
"I think this is a real concern, who's going to be left out? We need to be very thoughtful about that," Walz said, adding that he expected the process to be "complicated."
Lawmakers are using federal stimulus money to pay for the bonuses.
No one has appointed their members to the panel yet. When asked by reporters, Walz and House Speaker Melissa Hortman said they hadn't decided on their appointees, though Hortman said she expected all six of the House and Senate members to be lawmakers themselves.