Ewald at the Capitol | February 11

Second Week in Session

This marked the second week of the 2022 legislative session. The Senate and the House are continuing hybrid floor sessions, with masks required at the House. Committee hearings began in full this week. The House is conducting its committee hearings fully virtual, and the Senate is using a combination of hybrid and virtual hearings. Each body is moving forward with hearings for bills relating to frontline worker bonus pay, public safety, teacher licensure, and refilling the unemployment insurance trust fund.

Frontline Worker Bonus Pay Moves along in the House

Rep. Cedrick Frazier (DFL–New Hope) is sponsoring a bill to deliver $1 billion in bonuses for frontline workers. The bill would send $1,500 checks to every one of the 667,000 Minnesotans who qualify under the bill’s definition of a frontline worker. Last year, frontline worker bonuses were halted by disagreements among the working group in charge of distributing the $250 million approved by the legislature. While the GOP wants to stick to last year’s appropriation that would primarily focus on health care workers, this bill would expand the bonuses to child care, health care, school, grocery store, food service, transportation, long-term care, building service, public safety, retail, and manufacturing workers.child care, health care, school, grocery store, food service, transportation, long-term care, building service, public safety, retail, and manufacturing workers.

HF 2900 received a hearing in the House Workforce and Business Development Committee on Wednesday. It passed with a 9-4 vote and is now headed to the House Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committee. In the Senate, the companion bill SF2650 is waiting on a hearing with the Senate Jobs and Economic Growth Finance and Policy Committee.

Senate GOP Prioritizes Peace Officer Recruitment

Last Thursday, Senate Republicans unveiled their $65 million “Creating Opportunities in Public Safety” (C.O.P.S.) Program. The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee passed the bill with a 7-2 vote; it now heads to the Finance Committee.

The proposal aims to bolster recruitment efforts in response to a statewide peace officer shortage. In 2021, Minnesota saw 32 police chiefs retire. In Minneapolis and St. Paul alone, there were 300 positions to be filled in January. Sixty-five agencies across the state have openings for licensed peace officers.

The proposal would include:

$1 million in advertising dollars for the Department of Public Safety.
$1.5 million for the Pathways to Policing program, which supports training and education for non-traditional candidates.
$20 million for the Workforce Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to law enforcement associate degree programs.
An additional $20 million in grants for eligible students pursuing law enforcement degrees.
$20 million for peace officer hiring bonuses (up to $10,000).

Unemployment Trust Fund Bills Advance

The high volume of unemployment claims during the earlier days of the pandemic has drained Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Both the House and the Senate are looking at different solutions to acquire $2.7 billion needed to restore the fund and pay back the federal government.

In the House, Rep. Barb Haley (R–Red Wing) is sponsoring HF2728 which will replenish the fund by using a combination of funds from the budget surplus and the American Recovery Plan Act. Its companion bill, SF2665, is sponsored by Senator Rich Draheim (R–Red Lake).

Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn (DFL–Eden Prairie) is sponsoring HF3000, which would also appropriate $2.7 billion to restore the fund. It also adds more workers to be covered by unemployment insurance including hourly school workers, bus drivers, paraeducators and lunchroom staff. HF3000 does not have a companion bill in the Senate.

Frontline Worker Bonus Pay Moves along in the House

Rep. Cedrick Frazier (DFL–New Hope) is sponsoring a bill to deliver $1 billion in bonuses for frontline workers. The bill would send $1,500 checks to every one of the 667,000 Minnesotans who qualify under the bill’s definition of a frontline worker. Last year, frontline worker bonuses were halted by disagreements among the working group in charge of distributing the $250 million approved by the legislature. While the GOP wants to stick to last year’s appropriation that would primarily focus on health care workers, this bill would expand the bonuses to child care, health care, school, grocery store, food service, transportation, long-term care, building service, public safety, retail, and manufacturing workers.

Teacher Licensure Pay

The pandemic-induced labor shortage has created a crisis in education, particularly manifesting as a lack of substitute teachers. Rep. Hodan Hassan (DFL–Minneapolis) sponsored HF2950 that hopes to increase the supply of substitute teachers through mechanisms that would make teacher licensure more flexible and accessible. These would include a pilot program for short call substitute teachers, allowing those with a lapsed license to accept a teaching position, and allowing conditional teaching licenses for those who haven’t yet passed a licensure exam. The bill also would allow school districts and charters to adopt a crisis online learning plan when necessary. On Monday, the House Education Policy Committee approved the bill and it now heads to the House floor without a Senate companion.

Dates to Remember

Legislators and the public officially know the timeline for getting bills through the committee process this session.

Here are the three deadlines for the 2022 session:

Friday, March 25 — Committees must act favorably on bills in the house of origin.
Friday, April 1 — Committees must act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that met the first deadline in the other body.
Friday, April 8 — Committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.
Friday, April 8–Monday, April 18 — Easter/Passover/Spring Break for legislature.
May 23 — Legislature must complete its work.