Dear Neighbors,
We’re about a week into Governor Walz’s Stay at Home order — I hope you are staying healthy and safe. Minnesotans have done an excellent job social distancing, but we need to keep fighting to slow the spread of COVID-19, prevent our health care system from being overwhelmed, and save lives.
COVID-19 Public Dashboard
Today, Governor Walz unveiled a new State of Minnesota COVID-19 dashboard that tracks the spread of the virus in the state and provides current data on available ventilators, ICU beds, personal protective equipment, and testing. The dashboard will be updated daily and is available here.
During his video address, the Governor also highlighted the state’s priorities during the Stay at Home order, including efforts to collect data about COVID-19; increasing the number of ICU beds, ventilators, and personal protective equipment needed to care for a surge in patients; and developing strategies to address the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 in Minnesota — both now and after we come out of this crisis. You can watch the Governor’s comments here.
Grants open to child care providers
The application process for emergency grants for child care providers is now open. The funding for this program was included in legislation passed by the House and Senate on March 26th.
There are approximately 420,000 children under the age of 12 who live in a household of an essential worker within a critical sector. Of these, the state estimates that during this peacetime emergency, about 270,000 children will need care and approximately 120,000 are likely to need and use licensed child care settings.
These grants will provide about $10 million per month over the next few months to support basic infrastructure needed to keep child care capacity available.
Child Care Aware of Minnesota will administer and distribute these funds for emergency child care services. Grants can be found here.
Minnesota health plans waiving COVID-19 related expenses
On Thursday, Minnesota’s health plans announced that they had agreed to waive cost-sharing for treatment of COVID-19.
>Minnesotans with commercial insurance—including individuals, small businesses, and some large businesses—are now eligible for the following benefits:
- Minnesotans will have no cost-sharing charges for COVID testing.
- Minnesotans who are hospitalized will have no cost-sharing charges for in-network hospitalization.
- Minnesotans will have expanded access to telemedicine services. This will help people to stay home and access care if they need it.
Minnesota health plans that have agreed are Blue Cross and Blue Shield, HealthPartners, Hennepin Health, Medica, PreferredOne, and UCare.
Many Minnesotans that receive their coverage through their employer have self-insured plans. While the Minnesota Departments of Health and Commerce do not have regulatory authority over these plans, they are encouraging employers to work with their plan administrators to implement similar measures.
2020 Census is underway!
April 1st was Census Day, a day the Census uses to measure who lives where, and it is a national day to highlight the importance of the census.
Census results determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives as well as how funds are spent on roads, schools and hospitals. Remember everyone counts in your household.
Minnesota is at a 51.8 percent response rate, well ahead of the national rate of 42.8 percent. Most importantly, we’re beating Wisconsin, which is at a 50.0 percent rate. I think we can do even better though! It only takes a few minutes to respond online at http://my2020census.gov/.
Minnesota House of Representatives holds remote committee hearing
The Minnesota House of Representatives Rules and Legislative Administration Committee held a remote hearing on Wednesday to outline the new House remote committee process. House Rule 10.01, passed on March 26th, allows floor and committee procedures related to member debate and voting to occur by means of distance voting, remote electronic voting, or voting by other means designed to allow legislative operations while preserving the safety of the public, staff, and members.
While this committee hearing was audio-only, the House is working to quickly implement video committee meetings in the future. Audio — and future video — of remote hearings will be broadcast live on the House website, YouTube, and Facebook.
Members of the public interested in testifying in future committees should email committee staff. Detailed information will be provided in meeting notices and on the House website.
Members of the public are also encouraged to stay in touch with their State Representatives during the pandemic through email, phone, virtual town halls and public briefings, legislator newsletters, House committee listservs, and House Public Information.
Governor Walz’s second State of the State
Earlier this week, the Governor announced he will deliver his second State of the State address on Sunday, April 5, beginning at 7:00pm. The address will be delivered live from the Governor’s Residence and can be watched on YouTube Live.
COVID-19 Resources
State and Federal Resources
Our excellent House team has compiled a list of COVID-19 state and federal resources — you can find the full document here. The document is frequently updated with new information and resources, so check back often!
Small Business Resources
A number of state and federal programs have been established to help our small businesses during this pandemic. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has put together a guide for small businesses who need help so they can find the programs that might be right for their situation. Check it out here.
Federal Legislation
We’re still working through the details of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and what it means for Minnesota. A helpful overview is linked here. Notably, the new law extends unemployment insurance from three to four months and provides temporary unemployment compensation of up to $600 per week, which is added on to existing state level benefits. In a major change, part-time, self-employed and gig economy workers will now have access to UI benefits.
DEED is waiting for guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor on how to implement these changes and will provide updates as soon as they have details.
More information about COVID-19 can be found on MDH’s website. MDH also has a public hotline that you can call at 651-201-3920.
MDH has set up webpages in several languages. Please continue sharing these links to help keep Minnesotans informed.
As always, please contact me anytime with your input. I appreciate hearing from you! You can reach me at 651-296-4280 or rep.melissa.hortman@house.mn. You can also keep up with what’s happening at the Capitol by liking my legislative Facebook page and following the Minnesota House DFL on Twitter and Facebook. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Melissa Hortman