Thursday my colleagues and I returned to the State Capitol – practicing MDH’s
physical distancing guidelines– to enact a bipartisan, comprehensive package of
legislation addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill created a new $200
million COVID-19 Fund in the state treasury to enable state agencies to respond
to COVID-19 related challenges. It also included $9 million to the Department
of Human Services for emergency food shelf funding, $26.5 million for the
Emergency Service Grants program to provide shelter for Minnesota’s homeless
population, $30 million in one-time grants to child care providers, $10 million
for small business loans, financial relief for displaced workers, and the
necessary flexibility for state agencies to respond to the pandemic.
Below is a breakdown of the components of the legislation:
AGRICULTURE & FOOD
· Modifies the Rural Finance Authority’s disaster loan recovery program
to allow applications related to any highly contagious animal disease or an
infectious human disease such as COVID-19, for which the Governor has declared
a peacetime emergency.
· Temporary waiver of commercial pesticide applicator requirements.
COMMERCE
· Flexibility to modify deadlines, licensing registrations, continuing
education requirements, business filing deadlines, and other requirements for
regulated entities – like insurance agents and real estate brokers – if meeting
those requirements would be more difficult during a declared emergency.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
· Through Peacetime Emergency Child Care Grants, nearly $30 million will
be available in one time grants to child care providers who agree to remain
open throughout the peacetime public health emergency, prioritize spaces in
their program for the children of essential workers, and use health and safety
practices that prevent the spread of COVID-19 in a child care environment.
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
· Gov. Walz’s Food Security Supplemental Budget, which appropriates $9
million from the to address food security related to COVID-19. The measure
supports regional food banks, allows food shelves to purchase food, diapers,
toilet paper, and other necessary supplies, and supports a network of
transportation organizations to assist in the distribution of food and
supplies.
· Gov. Walz’s Homelessness Supplemental Budget, which includes $5.53
billion in housing supports and $26.5 million for Emergency Services Grants,
which includes shelter space, motel vouchers, and support staff.
· Modifications to the 2019 Opioid Response Bill.
HIGHER EDUCATION
· Gives the Office of Higher Education (OHE) the ability to modify or
waive requirements that apply to SELF loan programs, work study programs, the
state grant program, and other OHE aid and scholarships.
· Aligns state and federal work study guidelines to help students receive
payments, even during the COVID-19 emergency.
· Holds state grant recipients harmless to ensure best outcomes for
students.
· Provides flexibility to hold childcare grant recipients harmless if a
recipient fails to enroll or reduces enrollment because of COVID-19.
JOBS
· A Loan Guarantee Program loans from private banks to small employers
(up to 250 employees). This includes bars and restaurants and will allow them
to keep paying their workers, even when they shut down. $10 million from this
program will leverage $25 million to $30 million in private loans to 100-200
small businesses.
· Small Business Emergency Loans, a program launched after a Governor
Walz executive order last week, which provides 0% interest, forgivable loans to
small businesses that are impacted by orders to shut down.
· Temporary relaxation of restrictions on Minnesota Investment Fund
loans, allowing cities to make loans to restaurants, bars, lodging and
retailers.
· Codifying into law Governor Walz’s executive order which enabled
workers to receive immediate Unemployment Insurance benefits without affecting
the assessment paid by businesses.
PUBLIC SAFETY
· Giving the Dept. of Corrections’ medical director authority make health
care decisions for certain inmates lacking decision-making capacity and who are
placed in an outside facility on conditional medical release, if there is not a
documented health care agent already assigned.
· A provision allowing the DOC ability to place an inmate with 90 days or
less to serve in their prison sentence in a county jail for the remainder of
their term.
· Temporary delay of the fingerprint requirement for any background check
required for essential workers during a peacetime emergency. The state’s
LiveScan fingerprinting service is currently shut down due to COVID-19.
STATE GOVERNMENT
· A COVID-19 Emergency Fund of $200 million to be made available to state
agencies to assist with the response to the outbreak. Potential expenditures
would include increased staffing costs at prison facilities or costs associated
with activities by the Minnesota National Guard.
· $11 million in grants for Minnesota’s 11 tribal nations to help the tribal
nations mitigate the health and economic impacts of COVID-19
· Waivers for workforce and equal pay certificate requirements for emergency
purchasing.
TAXES
· Pushes back the deadline for petitioners with property tax appeals from
April 30th to May 30th of 2020.
TRANSPORTATION
· With the federal deadline on the horizon, the legislation modifies the
minimum standards to obtain a REAL ID including documents to be permitted such
as a high school transcript, debit card statement, cell phone bill and more. It
also extends the timeline from 90 days to one year for them to be accepted. The
federal government has also extended the REAL ID deadline to October 1, 2021.
· $2.4 million to pay for a temporary increase in license staff to reach
a 45-day turnaround time.
· A provision allowing individuals with driver’s licenses, permits, or
disability parking permits that are set to expire at least two months in which
to renew them following the end of our peacetime emergency.
VETERANS
· $6.2 million for the Minnesota Dept. of Veterans Affairs Soldier
Assistance program, which will provide financial assistance to any veterans or
surviving spouse of a veteran needing assistance as a result of the COVID-19
disaster.
. You can access the entire bill here and read a recap from nonpartisan House
Public Information Services here.
What didn’t get done
We still have more work to do for Minnesotans during this pandemic. I was very
disappointed Senate Republican leaders chose to block efforts that would
protect hourly workers’ pay in K-12 schools, and various other K-12 education
measures to keep Minnesota’s education system intact, and the state’s teachers
and students whole. In the Minnesota House we worked on a bipartisan basis to
develop a proposal that anticipated the needs of schools, staff, students, and
families for a clear path in confusing times. Multiple attempts over the past
week to engage the Senate GOP in a productive exchange were met with silence.
School staff and their families deserve to know if they are going to be paid
during this distance learning period. Schools need to know if they are going to
receive the anticipated revenues, they need to pay those staff. High school
seniors need to know if they are going to be allowed to graduate and younger
students if they are going to progress to the next grade. Teachers and
administrators need to know if they are going to be able to renew their
licenses and everyone needs to know if state testing is on for this year or
not.
Senate Republicans also failed to work with the House to secure workers
compensation coverage for first responders who contract the COVID-19 virus.
These are the folks who are on the front lines, responding to emergency calls
and putting their health at risk. We should have their backs and assure them
of workers compensation coverage if they become sick.
A public health crisis is not a time for silence. I will continue to do all I
can to get the Senate on board for reasonable and swift action for first
responders and Minnesota students and families.
Housing
Governor Walz announced this week Executive Order 20-14 Suspending Evictions
and Writs of Recovery during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency. The suspension
went into effect at 5:00 p.m. on March 24, 2020.
I was hoping we could provide more assistance to renters, but a House measure
to deliver $100 million in relief was thwarted by Senate Republicans. Despite
agreement from housing advocates & landlords, it did not gain the bipartisan
support it needed. We must keep working to get this done- financial future of
renters & landlords depend on it
The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency has prepared a helpful list of resources
at their website to help answer questions related to COVID-19. Additionally,
homeless providers and local public health agencies are urged to connect with
each other about COVID-19 preparation and response. Local public health
agencies may download a list of all shelter and drop-in programs operating
within their jurisdictions.
Update for Small Business Owners, independent contractors, and gig workers
The economic crisis provoked by efforts to manage the COVID-19 virus has
exposed how our system of social supports has not kept up with changes in the
way we work. The federal government acknowledged this with important changes
in the stimulus bill that the U.S House passed and the president signed the
$2.2 trillion federal stimulus package that provides various types of
assistance to states, workers and businesses dealing with the pandemic. To get
a sense of what is included in this package, you can check out the following
excellent sources:
https://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-dc/publications-and-resources/coronavirus-stimulus-bill-states.aspx
https://www.forbes.com/sites/advisor/2020/03/27/your-guide-to-the-federal-stimulus-package/#2eb1ed9d2711
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/25/whats-in-stimulus-package-coronavirus-149282
The federal bill does a couple significant things regarding unemployment
insurance. First, the benefit period is extended from 26 weeks to 39 weeks,
which helps those whose benefits are about to expire. Second, it provides
additional benefits of $600 per to week to unemployed workers, which are added
to existing state level benefits (currently up to $740 per week in MN).
Unemployed workers would be able to receive these additional benefits for up to
four months. Importantly, this $600 per week in federal benefits is available
to independent contractors, self-employed individuals, and gig workers who are
otherwise not eligible for unemployment benefits.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/27/airbnb-uber-lyft-unemployment/
Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions, or if I can be
of assistance.
Sincerely,
Jim Davnie
State Representative
Cooper resident