Signed by Governor Tim Walz

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that appropriates emergency funds for a response to the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Highlights:

• Authorizes the commissioner of human services to distribute funds to the organization designated to administer a child care resource and referral program for Child Care Aware to administer emergency grants to eligible programs, beginning April 1, 2020 (Article 1, Sec. 2).

• Appropriates $29.96 million for the fiscal year 2020 for the above-highlighted grants (Article 1, Sec. 2).

• Appropriates $6.2 million for the fiscal year 2020 to the commissioner of veteran affairs to provide financial assistance to any veteran or a surviving spouse of a veteran in need of assistance as the result of COVID-19 (Article 1, Sec. 3).

• Appropriates $9 million for the fiscal year 2020 for food shelf programs to address food bank, food shelf, and transportation needs in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic (Article 1, Sec. 4).

• Authorizes $5.53 million for the fiscal year 2020 to increase room and board limits, rates, and supplementary services limits by 15 percent for 3 consecutive months for maintaining access to room and board from March 1, 2020, through May 31, 2020, including activities necessary to comply with federal and state health and safety guidance, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Article 1, Sec. 5).

• Appropriates $26.54 million for the fiscal year 2020 for emergency services grants (Article 1, Sec. 6).

• Appropriates $15.21 million from the above appropriation for providing additional shelter space and funding other housing options (Article 1, Sec. 6).

• Establishes the COVID-19 Minnesota fund to pay expenditures related to the peacetime emergency related to COVID-19 (Article 1, Sec. 7).

• Appropriates $200 million for the fiscal year 2020 to the COVID-19 Minnesota fund (Article 1, Sec. 9).

• Appropriates $11 million for the fiscal year 2020 for tribal nation grants to fund emergency response activities in response to COVID-19 (Article 1, Sec. 10).

• Appropriates $30 million for the fiscal year 2020 to make loans for providing immediate relief to small businesses during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency (Article 1, Sec. 11).

• Appropriates $10 million for the fiscal year 2020 for the small business loan guarantee program (Article 1, Sec. 12).

• Expands the disaster recovery loan program to help farmers cover the loss of revenue when the revenue loss is due to an infectious human disease for which the governor has declared a peacetime emergency (Article 2, Sec. 1).

• Amends the definition of “small business” to include businesses that employ the equivalent of 250 full-time persons (Article 2, Sec. 3).

• Repeals certain limitations and regulations associated with opiate or narcotic pain relievers listed in Schedules II through IV (Article 2, Sec. 8).

• Amends required forms of identification to prove an applicant’s residence in Minnesota (Article 2, Sec. 9).

• Authorizes the commissioner of corrections to contract with a county for placement of an individual in a county jail or detention center for the remainder of the individual’s term if the remaining term of imprisonment for the individual upon commitment is 90 days or less (Article 2, Sec. 11).

• Authorizes temporary powers to the commissioner of the Office of Higher Education to protect the financial stability and academic standing of students, grantees, and borrowers (Article 2, Sec. 13).

• Extends the expiration date for any valid driver’s license, provisional license, operator’s permit, limited license, farm work license, any Minnesota identification card, and any disability certificate or permit that would otherwise expire during the peacetime public health emergency period (Article 2, Sec. 15).

• Specifies that for an applicant applying for unemployment insurance benefits between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020, employment is not considered suitable if (Article 2, Sec. 20):

• The employment puts the health safety of the applicant at risk due to potential exposure of the applicant to COVID-19; or

• The employment puts the health and safety of other workers and the general public at risk due to the potential exposure of the other workers and the general public to COVID-19.

• Specifies that the one-week nonpayable waiting period to receive unemployment benefits is waived for applicants for unemployment insurance benefit accounts established between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020 (Article 2, Sec. 21).

• Specifies that the 5-week limitation for receipt of unemployment benefits for business owners is suspended for applicants for unemployment insurance benefit accounts established between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020 (Article 2, Sec. 21).

• Specifies that a leave of absence is presumed to be an involuntary leave of absence for an applicant applying for an unemployment insurance benefits account under various circumstances, including, but not limited to (Article 2, Sec. 23):

• When a quarantine or isolation order has been issued to the applicant;

• When a determination has been made by health authorities or by a health care professional that the presence of the applicant in the workplace would jeopardize the health of others; and

• When the applicant has been instructed by the applicant's employer not to come to the business due to an outbreak of a communicable disease.

Full Bill Text