ear Neighbors,

I hope you and your family are safe and healthy during this difficult time. While COVID-19 has led to struggles for all of us, it’s highlighted the deep, systemic inequities that people of color face that are exacerbated during this pandemic. Local media have highlighted some of these areas, including the education opportunity gap, health care, and pregnancy care.

Here are some updates on our COVID-19 response.

New Testing Breakthrough

Last week, Governor Walz announced a major breakthrough that will significantly boost our state’s COVID-19 testing capacity. In cooperation with Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota, Hennepin Healthcare and other providers, the new strategy aims to test every symptomatic Minnesotan; as many as 20,000 per day.

The new COVID-19 testing website shows Minnesotans where they can find their closest testing site, and has an interactive screening tool to help Minnesotans determine if they need a test. The plan was funded in part by $36 million from the COVID-19 Minnesota Fund approved by the Legislature earlier this spring. This is an exciting development that will help us isolate the disease and lead to the safe reopening of our society.

Increasing PCA Wages

Our most vulnerable Minnesotans – including older adults and people with disabilities – deserve to live in their communities with dignity. Many of them receive services from Personal Care Attendants (PCAs), who are dedicated professionals who do challenging work. Unfortunately, the low wages they earn has made it difficult to recruit and retain people in these positions. Moreover, by going into homes to provide critical services, these front line workers are also vulnerable during the pandemic.

This week, the House Health and Human Services Finance Division – on which I serve – approved legislation to deliver a temporary 15 percent rate increase for PCA services. Additionally, the bill would allow PCAs to be paid for 310 hours of services per month, up from 275. Finally, the bill allows parents or legal guardians of a minor PCA recipient or a spouse of a PCA recipient to earn wages for providing PCA services during the peacetime emergency. A summary of the legislation is available here.

While the increase is important during our current situation, we know this doesn’t solve our state’s long-term problem in recruiting and retaining PCAs. I will continue to advocate to ensure these dedicated workers in our communities earn the compensation they deserve.

Investing in Housing

In this unprecedented time, many Minnesotans are struggling with rent and mortgage payments as a result of tremendous economic hardship. While there’s currently a moratorium on evictions under an executive order from Governor Walz, more needs to be done to protect housing security.

House DFLers are working to invest $100 million in aid for renters and homeowners. The funding, to be administered by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, will assist renters with their monthly payments, will be used to help Minnesotans pay utility bills and property taxes, and help homeowners pay their mortgages. The initiative is significant because it’s supported both by the Homes for All Coalition, representing 250 Minnesota housing organizations, and the Minnesota Multi-Housing Association, which represents landlords throughout the state.

The bill would also:

• prohibit landlords from charging late fees and terminating leases or failing to renew leases during the peacetime emergency, until Jan. 15, 2021;
• require landlords of residential units to provide notice before initiating eviction actions, after the peacetime emergency ends;
• allow defendants to request that any actions against them be dismissed if their landlord violates the provisions of the bill;
• prevent the initiation of a foreclosure during the peacetime emergency, until Jan. 15, 2021;
• make anyone who lies while attempting to claim relief under the bill guilty of public assistance fraud; and
• establish grant distribution and reporting requirements.

Unfortunately, so far the Senate Republican Majority has only committed to $30 million, a woefully inadequate amount to ensure Minnesotans economically impacted by the pandemic can keep a roof over their head. Hopefully they can join us soon to deliver this urgent relief at a much more meaningful level.

Next Steps to Reopen Businesses

I know many folks want to get back to normal as soon as possible. Many businesses are struggling, and while the Trump administration has worked hard to take care of large corporations, our small local businesses deserve a fair chance to make it through this pandemic too. House DFLers are working to deliver targeted, forgivable loans to our small and minority-owned businesses so they can keep operating as part of their communities when this is all over.

Steps are underway to reopen some businesses in non-critical sectors, and this week, workers in certain manufacturing, industrial, and office settings (without customer interaction) could return to work. This will be a gradual process and as we proceed, health and safety for employees and the general public must be the top priority. When determining the next steps, workers, businesses, and public health experts will all have to be at the table.

The Department of Employment and Economic Development has crafted some guidance here. In short, it would be irresponsible to “flip a switch” and remove all guardrails which have been enacted so far to protect against further spread of the disease. Instead, an approach “gradually turning the dials” will be most effective in ensuring businesses can reopen, workers can get back on the job, and most importantly, Minnesotans can be safe. Today at 2 p.m., Governor Walz will provide an update on the next steps. You can watch the briefing live on his YouTube channel.

For the latest news and up-to-date information, please visit the state’s COVID-19 Dashboard. For more information about actions the Legislature has taken to address the pandemic, please visit the Minnesota House’s COVID-19 webpage. Finally, if I can be of assistance, don’t hesitate to contact me directly at rep.rena.moran@house.mn or call me at 651-296-5158.

Please take care of yourself and your family. As resilient Minnesotans, we will get through this together.

Sincerely,

Rena Moran
State Representative