Dear Friends,
The 2020 Legislative Session, like most everything else during this pandemic, has been turned on its head. Bill deadlines are set side, as are the bills that were being ushered through committee on their way to a floor vote. The Governor’s office, state agencies and the legislature have turned their attention to aggressively addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, while attempting to keep our staff and legislators in a safe working environment. We are truly living in an historic moment and, from my point of view, we are rising to meet the challenges.
You won’t be seeing photos of visitors from home in my weekly updates any longer as the State Office Building has been closed while legislators and staff work from home. Yet, the work continues and communication lines remain open to you, our constituents. As events unfold, I will do my best to keep you informed of progress at the state level.
Here are a couple updates from this week:
Stay at Home Executive Order:
On Wednesday, Governor Walz issued a "Stay at Home" executive order similar to what we’ve seen in other states. He also took executive action to extend closures for bars, restaurants, and other public accommodations until May 1, and continued remote learning for schools until May 4.
The "Stay at Home" order runs two weeks and puts limits on movement outside homes beyond essential trips. It takes effect tonight - Friday, March 27 at 11:59PM - and is set to end Friday, April 10.
The goal is to delay the "peak" in total cases in order to allow Minnesota to improve hospital and ICU capacity, while also stockpiling personal protective equipment (PPE) for our clinics and hospital workers. The survival rate for severe cases is 10 times higher when patients have necessary ICU care.
The order permits Minnesotans to leave their homes to perform the following activities: health/safety activities, outdoor activities, purchasing necessary supplies and services like groceries and medicine, essential and interstate travel, care of others, displacement, and relocation to ensure safety. This list does not include every exception, and social distancing should be practiced while doing any of these activities.
Workers providing critical services are also exempt for the purposes of traveling to their jobs. These occupations include: healthcare and public health; law enforcement, public safety, and first responders; childcare, food, and agriculture; news media; energy, water and wastewater; and critical manufacturing. This is not a comprehensive list, and you can visit https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/covid/business-exemptions/ for additional guidance. There is also a state email address that businesses can contact if they have questions: criticalsectors@state.mn.us
If your business is currently considered non-essential, you are able to submit a request for an exemption from the "Stay at Home" order. Requests can be submitted to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development here.
I know many of you have questions about what this means for your businesses and day-to-day lives. Check out the following link for the governor’s full order, which explains the details and provides answers to many of the questions you likely have: https://www.leg.state.mn.us/archive/execorders/20-20.pdf.
COVID-19 Response Legislation
Legislators at the state and federal levels have been working together with the goal of providing assistance to families and businesses. Thursday the legislature was called to St. Paul in order to pass additional COVID-19 emergency response legislation. The package of bills was remotely put together by lawmakers from both parties and both legislative bodies over the last week in order to continue the state's pandemic response efforts. The legislation was passed nearly unanimously in the House and Senate Thursday afternoon and will be signed by the governor soon.
The legislation authorizes up to $330.6 million in special funding to provide financial support for workers, businesses and students that are being negatively impacted by the many emergency measures imposed in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Some or all of these dollars might be offset by funding provided in the more than $2 trillion economic recovery bill Congress has passed in Washington.
This package addresses many shared priorities and gives the governor and key state agencies increased flexibility to address the outbreak. It also includes multiple sunsets, reporting requirements, guardrails, and other accountability measures included in the bill. This bill will help every Minnesotan and provides needed flexibility and assistance to small businesses and their employees, childcare providers, veterans, and many others.
During these challenging times, it is gratifying to see our state government come together and take, quick, decisive action to address this unprecedented public health threat. While the future remains uncertain, we can be assured that competent officials are tracking the data and are working hard to reduce the negative impacts to Minnesotans. Locally, I am proud to see how our community is pulling together, helping each other and looking forward to coming out of this pandemic stronger than ever.
The Legislature is in a state of readiness and will reconvene when necessary to further address needs that arise during this emergency.
Please stay in touch and reach out with questions you may have regarding the pandemic or other concerns.
Stay well,
Sandy