Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Legislative News and Views - Rep. Mike Sundin (DFL)

Back to profile

RELEASE: Rep. Sundin votes to provide bigger bonus checks to all frontline workers

Friday, February 25, 2022

Saint Paul, Minn. — Thursday, the Minnesota House advanced a proposal to use a historic budget surplus to provide at least 667,000 frontline workers bonus checks of up to $1,500, a top legislative priority. The bill will put money into the pockets of first responders, nurses, child care providers, janitors and so many others who have sacrificed their health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rep. Mike Sundin (DFL – Esko) voted in favor of the bill.

“Throughout the state and throughout the pandemic, our frontline workers have kept our society moving during troubled times for all of us. We need to come together to not just talk about how much we appreciate them, but actually show it,” Rep. Sundin said. “As many Minnesotans are struggling with higher costs every day, these hardworking folks deserve an economic boost and that’s exactly why House DFLers are making frontline worker bonus checks such a big priority.” 

During the June 2021 special session, the DFL House and Republican Senate passed a compromise budget that included $250 million for frontline worker bonus pay and created a working group to make recommendations to the Legislature on how to distribute those resources. When Minnesota announced a historic $7.7 billion budget surplus in December 2021, Democrats quickly beefed up their proposal to deliver $1 billion in order to provide bigger bonus checks to all frontline workers. 

The House’s bill includes the following occupations in the definition of a frontline worker: 1) long-term care and home care; 2) health care; 3) emergency responders; 4) public health, social service, and regulatory service; 5) courts and corrections; 6) child care; 7) public schools, including charter schools, state schools, and higher education; 8) food service, including production, processing, preparation, sale, and delivery; 9) retail, including sales, fulfillment, distribution, and delivery; 10) temporary shelters and hotels; 11) building services, including maintenance, janitorial, and security; 12) public transit; 13) ground and air transportation services; 14) manufacturing; and 15) vocational rehabilitation.

In order to receive a bonus check, workers must meet the following individual eligibility requirements:

  • was employed in one of the frontline sectors in MN for at least 120 hours from 3/15/20 to 6/30/21
  • was not able to work remotely due to the nature of their work, and worked in close proximity to other individuals (not in the same household);
  • meet income restrictions. For workers providing direct care to COVID patients, max income is $350,000 (joint filers) and $175,000 (single). For all other workers, the limits are $185,000 (joint) and $85,000 (single); and
  • did not collect more than 20 weeks of unemployment benefits from 3/15/20 to 6/30/21.

Senate Republicans have yet to introduce a single piece of legislation that delivers bonus checks to frontline workers after the Legislature promised to do so as part of budget negotiations during the June 2021 special session.