SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Monday night, the Minnesota House approved a new economic assistance package designed to help small businesses, workers, and other Minnesotans struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation includes direct financial assistance to the hardest hit businesses and helps protect economic security for workers by extending unemployment benefits.
“As efforts to protect the health and wellbeing of Minnesotans from COVID continue, we need to deliver the urgent economic assistance displaced workers and struggling small businesses are counting on right now,” said Rep. Jen Schultz (DFL – Duluth). “We can see the light at the end of the tunnel with a vaccine being distributed now and through 2021. Unfortunately, this bill doesn’t address all of the needs Minnesotans are facing–federal funds are required for more comprehensive assistance. But this relief package will give many Minnesotans a better opportunity to recover from the economic consequences related to the pandemic.”
“All Minnesotans deserve the opportunity to succeed and thrive, but COVID-19 has put workers, businesses, and families into an impossible situation,” said Rep. Liz Olson (DFL – Duluth). “Small businesses like bars, restaurants, and breweries make our communities vibrant, but they are facing difficult odds to simply hang on. We have to do anything we can, no matter how small it may seem, to help them through this crisis.”
To help workers displaced as a result of the pandemic, the bill provides a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits. Without action from the Legislature, over 100,000 Minnesota workers could lose benefits on December 26 when funding under the federal CARES Act is set to expire.
The bill also delivers a $216 million package of economic assistance to small businesses. Of this, $88 million comes in the form of direct financial aid to businesses experiencing economic harm due to the pandemic. Those eligible businesses include restaurants, bars, coffee shops, breweries, wineries and distilleries with taprooms or tasting rooms, caterers, bowling alleys, and some gyms and fitness centers. The legislation also includes $14 million worth of grants to movie theaters and large convention centers. The remaining $114.8 million will be made available to counties for grants to other affected businesses, including hotels, museums, arcades and live theater venues.
Rep. Olson crafted a provision in the legislation waiving and delaying a number of fees for the hospitality industry. Among the fees waived include 2 a.m. liquor licenses for bars, caterers that serve alcohol, wastewater permitting fees for small breweries, and certain late payment penalties from the Dept. of Agriculture for food manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.
Finally, the legislation extends the deadline for families to apply for free and reduced-price lunch.
The House also passed a bill with various technical changes and other measures to provide flexibility during the pandemic which includes two authored by Rep. Schultz. The legislation extends certain modifications, enacted early in the state’s COVID-19 response, to expand telemedicine delivery. The bill also updates the state’s new assisted living licensure law to prohibit retaliation, update minimum standards, and changes to the licensure process and fee structure.
Information and resources, including bill language, are available on the Minnesota House’s COVID-19 webpage.