Legislative Update- March 27, 2020

Dear Neighbors,

I hope this finds you and your loved ones well. I hope while you are social (more like, physical) distancing, you are still able to stay socially connected with your loved ones near and far.

I will be holding two virtual town hall meetings on Monday, March 30. One will be at 10 am and one at 6 pm. You can join each live event here. This will be an opportunity to connect and ask questions with your neighbors online. We will discuss what we’re doing at the legislature and the state to help Minnesotans, especially those affected and impacted by the COVID-19 virus. Please send your questions to me in advance of the town hall by replying to this email.

Rep. Kunesh-Podein and I both represent New Brighton and we are holding a virtual town hall meeting on Facebook, Monday, March 30 at 10:00 a.m.

That same evening, I’ll be hosting my own virtual town hall meeting on Facebook for my Fridley, New Brighton, and Spring Lake Park constituents at 6:00 p.m. I encourage you, especially my constituents to join either of the meetings that work out for you.

Here’s an update from the Capitol, well actually from my home make shift office.

Yesterday, my colleagues and I returned to the State Capitol – practicing Minnesota Department of Health physical distancing guidelines – to pass a bipartisan package of bills 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 food security, $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.

I served as the lead negotiator in the House on a compromise to find relief for our college and university students. Our bipartisan consensus to aid post-secondary students impacted by the global pandemic include:

• Allowing college students employed through work study to continue to get paid 
• Providing flexibility to administer SELF Loans to meet the needs of students, borrowers and cosigners
• Enabling the Office of Higher Education to provide temporary payment relief to students/borrowers or to allow students to remain in school status and complete their coursework
• Holding state grant recipients harmless 

You can access the entire bill here and read a recap from nonpartisan House Public Information Services here.

Governor Walz has issued a series of executive orders since I last wrote, and took action to put a moratorium on evictions, mobilize the Minnesota National Guard to deliver Personal Protective Equipment, ban price gouging of goods during a peacetime emergency, and give the Department of Human Services flexibility to help ensure services for people with disabilities, mental health support, childcare, food support, housing, and other critical public health programs and services can continue. You can access the full list of the Governor’s executive actions here.

Workers

In an effort to support the many Minnesotans unable to work due to COVID-19, the Governor signed Executive Order 20-05 to strengthen Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. This will ensure that workers who are part of the unemployment insurance system have unemployment benefits available. I strongly encourage those impacted to apply for Unemployment Insurance (UI) under the state’s program. For more information and to apply, visit www.uimn.org or call 651-296-3644. Information is available in English, Spanish, Hmong, and Somali. 

Small Business Owners

One Executive Order of note that recently went into effect was the Governor’s authorization to create an Emergency Small Business Loan program in Minnesota. The program will make loans available of between $2,500 and $35,000 for qualifying small businesses which will be 50% forgivable, and offered at a 0% interest rate. Small business owners can send questions about this emergency loan program to ELP@state.mn.us  or read about it at DEED’s website.

Informational Resources

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is the best source for accurate, up-to-date information about the COVID-19 pandemic. If you have questions, please visit their website, which also has COVID-19 information in Hmong, Spanish, and Somali. You can also call their hotline, staffed by public health professionals from 7am-7pm daily, at 651-201-3920. MDH has also released several informational documents on the coronavirus in various languages:

COVID-19 in Amharic (PDF)

COVID-19 in Arabic (PDF)

COVID-19 in Chinese (PDF)

COVID-19 in Hmong (PDF)

COVID-19 in Karen (PDF)

COVID-19 in Russian (PDF)

COVID-19 in Somali (PDF)

COVID-19 in Spanish (PDF)

COVID-19 in Vietnamese (PDF)  

Keep in Touch

These are challenging times, but I know we can get through it together. Please contact me any time with questions, ideas, or to let me know how I can assist you.

I am honored and proud to represent our Fridley, New Brighton, and Spring Lake Park communities. 

Sincerely,

Connie Bernardy

State Representative