SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Tonight, the Minnesota House approved legislation to replenish the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and deliver $1,500 bonus checks for more than 600,00 frontline workers, including health care workers, first responders, child care providers, food service and retail workers, and more. Additionally, the bill makes hourly school employees like paraprofessionals, classroom assistants, bus drivers and others eligible for unemployment benefits in the summer.
Representative Kaela Berg (DFL - Burnsville) voted for the legislation and released the following statement:
“We have a problem that needs solving, and the means to easily solve it; I am proud to support legislation to both replenish the UI trust fund and lift up our critical workers. Our frontline workers put Minnesota in a position to get through the COVID pandemic, and we owe them a debt of not only gratitude, but a financial debt as well. Our businesses, which are just now getting on their feet, deserve our support and gratitude, and we can show this by ensuring they don’t face avoidable tax hikes. It’s time to put our historic budget surplus to good use by supporting the workers and businesses that make our economy work.”
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