(KNSI) – Members of Minnesota’s frontline worker community express their gratitude to lawmakers and the governor for finally reaching a deal for the bonus checks.
Governor Tim Walz signed the invoice Friday to beat a deadline that would have raised taxes for employers across the state. On Monday, a public bill-signing ceremony was held as affected employees and state officials surrounded Walz.
Brian MacNeill is a behavioral analyst at Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he says it was very difficult because VA workers didn’t have the proper tools to protect themselves.
“Protective equipment was not as readily available. We came to work with cloth masks. We didn’t have eye protection yet.
He says his team strives to provide one-on-one care to veterans. This led to additional stress about the possibility of making them sick while the staff were carrying out their mission.
The state says it is working with a vendor to create an online portal for eligible workers to get their checks. MacNeill says it’s wonderful to see the recognition coming.
“It’s taken so many people to keep this state open, to keep it going, even to bring it to the surplus that we now face and have as a state of Minnesota.”
Minnesota has a projected budget surplus of $9.25 billion, which lawmakers say wouldn’t have been possible without people going to work every day pandemic or otherwise. Lawmakers and the governor agreed to a $2.7 billion deal to issue $750 checks to a range of 667,000 Minnesota frontline workers and fill the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund. State.
Checks could still take a few months to arrive in bank accounts. For now, workers should monitor the details in by clicking here.
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MNC reporter Mike Moen contributed to this report.
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