Gov. Mark Dayton
Governor Mark Dayton wants a special legislative session before the end of the year or early next year to extend unemployment benefits for about 600 steelworkers. The governor in a letter to legislative leaders says of about 14-hundred mine workers affected by Iron Range layoffs, over 800 are still requesting unemployment benefits and nearly 600 of those will exhaust them by February or March. The legislature goes back into regular session March 8th. A spokewoman says Senate Democrats will consider the governor’s request for a special session at a meeting next Monday. Dayton also wanted a special session earlier this year to help businesses affected by the early close of the Lake Mille Lacs walleye season, but lawmakers would not agree to it.