The Minnesota House on a vote of 75-58 Thursday night passed a COVID-19 emergency package that includes 100 million dollars in state assistance for renters, homeowners and landlords… and 27 million dollars to improve broadband access — which International Falls Democrat Rob Ecklund likes. “We have made great strides in the past few years in broadband delivery…. We have more to do, and this COVID-19 pandemic has shown that we are not quite there yet,” Ecklund says.
Personal care attendants would get a temporary 15-percent pay increase, which Mankato Democrat Jack Considine calls “a disgrace.” He says, “Not only is the raise woefully inadequate but, to add insult to injury, it’s temporary.”
There’s also 55 million dollars for small business emergency loans — but Delano Republican Joe McDonald contends the real way to help is, reopen Minnesota’s economy. “I can go up to Coborn’s 10 times a day [and] be safe, but you can’t go to a local mom-and-pop store?… Does that make any sense, Minnesota?” McDonald asks.