(St. Paul, MN) — The Republican-controlled Minnesota House of Representatives today passed legislation on a vote of 104-25 to extend unemployment benefits for impacted and eligible out-of-work Iron Range employees by an additional 26 weeks. The extension would be made retroactive to the start of the recent steel-industry downturn. It remains to be seen what the Senate will do with the bill, which includes tax relief for businesses that pay into an unemployment insurance trust fund. Senate Majority leader Tom Bakk has said he would not accept the bill with the that provision included and says “linking things on to must-pass emergency bills is a terrible precedent.”