Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: April 3, 2020

Weekly Review Video

ImageA weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

While the legislature is currently still meeting on an on-call basis, know that talks continue through emails, phone calls, and Zoom meetings to ensure that we are addressing those who need relief most due to COVID-19. In the upcoming weeks, the legislature is planning to meet again to include those missed in the first COVID relief bills including school hourly workers, grants for disability and mental health services, and additional protection for first responders and healthcare providers.

The legislature has been working to be more responsive and open to public input, so this week we tested committee meetings through Zoom. Below you can find more information about how to follow along with the legislature as we test out ways to virtually open up meetings and include public input, which is a necessary component of crafting legislation.

With daily changes in how we as Minnesotans are responding to the ongoing pandemic, below are resources to help you stay up to date on the latest COVID-related news. If you need help looking for a resource not included below, please reach out to melisaf@senate.mn or 651-296-6238. We are here to help!

Sincerely,

Melisa

COVID-19 relief package signed into law

Governor Walz signed a comprehensive COVID-19 package (HF 4531) into law last week, which allocates $330 million in aid to help our state care for our most vulnerable in the face of an unprecedented crisis. The Legislature passed the bill with broad bipartisan support on March 26.

Although we are in the early stages of Minnesota’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, this legislation will help ensure we have the right supports in place to prepare for what’s to come.

Of the $330 million, $200 million will go to a COVID-19 fund the state can use to respond quickly to issues related to the virus, with some legislative oversight. Another $30 million will go to childcare for essential workers. If those workers cannot get their children cared for, they cannot fulfill their duties. Another $40 million is earmarked for emergency grants and loans for small businesses to help avoid business closures and cause even more workers to become unemployed.

Additional funds will go to provide financial support to veterans, to keep food shelves open, and to create more shelters for the homeless. There is also funding for tribal nations, which have had to close the casinos that are a primary means of revenue. This assistance will hopefully help people stay home, help businesses survive while they are forced to remain closed and to keep infection rates as low as possible.

It’s important to note, several issues remain unresolved and legislators are continuing their work to address them. One important provision that remains unresolved is workers’ compensation coverage for essential workers who contract the disease. This is important because these are the folks on the front lines of trying to protect us – we should do what we can to protect them.

This funding package is just the first step in responding to the needs of workers, health care providers, and families who are facing unprecedented challenges during the pandemic. We are continuing our work to solve other unresolved issues to protect our citizens, including:

  • Paying E12 hourly workers
  • Housing and homelessness assistance
  • MFIP funding for families at the lowest income levels
  • Anti-discrimination measures
  • Repayment mechanism to the 21st Century Mineral Fund

Legislature shifts to virtual meetings for committee business

As Minnesotans across the state are adhering to Governor Walz’s Stay-at-Home order, the Legislature has been shifting gears to accommodate epidemiological best practices for social distancing. Though the full Legislature is currently adjourned and isn’t expected to meet in-person again until mid-April, legislative work has begun to occur through the use of telecommuting applications in order to maintain the level of transparency Minnesotans expect from their elected representatives as members continue their valuable legislative work amidst this crisis.

The Senate held its first virtual meeting this week for a bipartisan COVID-19 Response Working Group focused on the legislative response to the virus. Steps are being taken to ensure the public is able to provide input and feedback on any proposed legislative solutions as they are crafted. Holding these hearings virtually will protect the health and safety of members, staff, and the public. If you are interested in watching any virtual meetings, the public live stream will be available on the Senate’s live video page in addition to the Minnesota Senate’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MnSenate/videos.

Minnesota health plans to waive COVID-19-related expenses

Minnesota’s health plans have agreed to waive cost-sharing for treatment of COVID-19. This change will ensure that every Minnesotan will have access to the health care they need while dealing with COVID-19. Under the agreement, 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. The health care plans’ commitment to waive COVID-19-related expenses will help alleviate uncertainty over what is covered by our health insurance plans. This change will ensure no Minnesotan will have to sacrifice paying rent or buying groceries to cover a hospital bill from COVID-19.

The following Minnesota’s non-profit health plans have committed to this framework:

  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
  • HealthPartners
  • Hennepin Health
  • Medica
  • PreferredOne
  • UCare

Many Minnesotans that receive their coverage through their employer have self-insured plans. The state does not have regulatory authority over these plans but is encouraging employers to work with their plan administrators to implement similar measures.

Employment and economic development resources for businesses & workers

Federal Resources
Small Business Resources – you can find a guide here. 

Small Business Administration: Two SBA emergency capital programs are available today and more will be coming soon

Low interest, long term Economic Injury Disaster Loans for up to $2 million: The first payment is deferred for 12 months. The application has been simplified and can be completed 100% online through our improved web portal at www.sba.gov/disaster. These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. The interest rate is 3.75% for small businesses. The interest rate for non-profits is 2.75% and the loans can be extended over 30 years.

Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance for up to $10,000: The form to apply is part of the economic injury disaster loan application. If approved, these funds can be used for payroll and other operating expenses and will be forgiven. This Advance may be available even if your EIDL application was declined or is still pending and will be forgiven.

Paycheck Protection Program is designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on payroll by providing each small business a loan up to $10 million for payroll and certain other expenses.  If all employees are kept on payroll for eight weeks, SBA will forgive the portion of the loans used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. Up to 100 percent of the loan is forgivable.  This program is coming soon – and has not yet been rolled out by the SBA.  Available for nonprofits.

Tax Provisions

Here are the tax provisions in the stimulus bill relevant for small businesses. Note that neither of these are available to business receiving assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program.

Employee Retention Credit for Employers Subject to Closure or Experiencing Economic Hardship

  • This provides a refundable payroll tax credit for 50 percent of wages paid by eligible employers to certain employees during the COVID-19 crisis.
  • The credit is available to employers, including non-profits, whose operations have been fully or partially suspended as a result of a government order limiting commerce, travel or group meetings or who have experienced a greater than 50 percent reduction in quarterly receipts, measured on a year-over-year basis.
  • The credit is not available to employers receiving assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program. The credit is provided through December 31, 2020.

Delay of Payment of Employer Payroll Taxes

  • Allows taxpayers to defer paying the employer portion of certain payroll taxes through the end of 2020, with all 2020 deferred amounts due in two equal installments, one at the end of 2021, the other at the end of 2022.
  • Payroll taxes that can be deferred include the employer portion of FICA taxes, the employer and employee representative portion of Railroad Retirement taxes (that are attributable to the employer FICA rate), and half of SECA tax liability.
  • Deferral is not provided to employers receiving assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program.

Assistance with filling out these applications:

State resources for businesses and workers

Small Business Emergency Loans which can be obtained from a local lender – you can find FAQs, application materials and lenders at the link. These loans are for $2,500 to $35,000 and at 0% interest rate. There is a total of $30 million available for this program.

Small Business Loan Guarantee Program which can be obtained from a local bank lender.  This program was part of the state COVID package and provided a loan guarantee for loans made by a Qualified Economic Development Lender who can lend up to $200,000 within this program. This program is intended to incentivize the private market to make loans to small businesses and provides a 80% guarantee for those loan dollars.  The state is providing a loan guarantee of $10 million with is likely to leverage between $20 and $25 million in lending by private banks.

City Loan Funds: Cities also have more flexibility due to the executive order and state COVID package with their own loan funds to support retail and service providers – businesses can reach out to their own city’s economic development departments to see if they have resources to assist as well.  Cities choose their own loan terms but can follow the state’s lead in making loans with low or 0% interest rates and forgivability.

Visit this website for questions about unemployment insurance or to apply for UI benefits. MANY people want to access the new PUA program because they need funds now to pay for basic necessities. Here’s a quick guide of those programs and how they will roll out:

  • Self-Employed/Independent contractors: Congress authorized a new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program that covers those who do not qualify for regular UI benefits.  The program was authorized but must be created by the states (each state must build such a program).  The program is based on one that MN has run before, the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program, but we are still waiting for federal guidance on some of the nuance of the program including who will qualify for the benefits and how those benefits will be calculated.  Benefits will be backdated to eligibility.  DEED will share more information as we receive it, but our UI team is working hard on figuring out next steps and a roll out plan.  This is likely to happen as the second component of the federal UI changes.
  • Additional Benefits – Top up:  The federal legislation “topped up” UI benefits, PUA benefits and extended UI benefits by $600/week until July 31, 2020.  The UI team is working on how we will implement this and the timeline.  This will likely happen as the first component of the federal UI changes.

For jobseekers: DEED noted the top job vacancies right now: transportation/material moving, sales and grocery, office/computer, healthcare. The state’s career force network is important for people trying to find work and has moved to virtual service model (remote services, video conferencing) at careerforcemn.com.

Additional State-level resources for Minnesotans during the COVID-19 pandemic

MNsure enrollment: Governor Walz and MNsure announced a 30-day special enrollment period (SEP) for qualified individuals who are currently without insurance. The SEP opened on March 23 and runs through April 21. It will allow uninsured individuals 30 days to enroll in health insurance coverage through MNsure.org

The Department of Human Services has a number of updates and resources that can be accessed on their website, available here. If you are receiving services or would like to see what is available, go online to learn more about the programs and services administered by DHS.

MDH coronavirus webpages:

o   Hmong: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/materials/hmong 

o   Spanish: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/materials/spanish

o   Somali: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/materials/somali

Seniors:

If you need help finding alternative services, the Senior LinkAge Line is 1-800-333-2433. Senior LinkAge Line specialists assist seniors in finding the resources and services they need.

Alzheimer’s Association of Minnesota-North Dakota

  • 24/7 helpline: 800-272-3900
  • Online resources, virtual community programs, and caregiver tips are available here.

Leading Age Minnesota has a number of tools & resources for caregivers to utilize, including visitation guidance, information on state and federal funding, and other resources for prevention and monitoring, all of which can be found here.

K-12 Education and Childcare:

Minnesota K-12 students will not be required to take the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) in 2020 due to school closures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools have been closed since March 16, although distance learning began on March 30.

The test waiver was received from the federal government this past week after the Minnesota Department of Education requested the waiver. The testing window runs from March 8-May 8, but Governor Walz issued a school closure order until May 4.

March 30 began the first week of distance learning for Minnesota schools and school children. There were a few glitches on day one as a website used to help deliver information to students experienced problems. MDE has been working with school administrators and superintendents to find trouble spots and solutions to mitigate them.

From March 18-March 27, school districts and charters served over 1.2 million meals, and an average of 3,270 students per day are receiving school-age care.

The Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) held an emergency online meeting last week to address student teaching experience requirements (currently 12 weeks) which were interrupted by the pandemic. At the meeting PELSB approved several variance changes recommended by the Teacher Preparation Committee, including:

  • 10 weeks or more of face-to-face student teaching will suffix for the 2019-2020 school year
  • 6-9 weeks of face-to-face student teaching supplemented by online or distance learning student teaching for a total of 10 weeks of student teaching (weeks do not have to be continuous)
  • 6-9 weeks of face-to-face student teaching supplemented by replacement experiences or verification of preparedness (weeks do not have to be continuous)

All variances are limited to candidates completing student teaching in the spring of 2020, and teacher preparation providers must document for each candidate the number of weeks of face-to-face student teaching completed; the number of weeks of student teaching completed through an online or distance learning format (if applicable); replacement experiences (if applicable); and other verification of preparedness (if applicable). Providers must have evidence demonstrating that candidates are prepared to teach prior to recommending them for licensure.

PELSB is meeting again on April 3 to discuss what to do with students who completed fewer than six weeks of teaching and also how to approach completion of the EdTPA, a national teacher preparation test that consists of three tasks.

Updates about K-12 education from the Minnesota Department of Education can be found online here.

Information on childcare for families and providers can be found online here.

Meals for kids: MDE announced a new app/website that can be used to locate free meals for kids, in addition to what districts are doing: www.hungerimpactpartners.org.

Grants for childcare providers and those seeking care now available

The COVID-19 emergency has created difficulties for families who continue to need childcare as well as childcare providers who may be struggling with lower enrollment numbers or closures. The state has several resources available.

  • Grants for childcare providers: Last week, the legislature passed and Gov. Tim Walz signed new legislation that included $30 million in grants for licensed childcare providers serving essential workers during the public health emergency. That system is now up and running at www.childcareawaremn.org/providers/emergency-child-care-grants. Monthly grants begin at $4,500 and are available to qualified providers who can show they are reserving spaces for children of essential workers.
  • Other resources for providers: Several state agencies are working together to provide updated resources for childcare providers. They also are maintaining a statewide map of available providers to connect with critical employees who are seeking care for their children. That is continually updated at mn.gov/mmb/childcare/providers.
  • Resources for families: Minnesota is committed to maintaining quality childcare options for critical workers that are vital to Minnesota’s economy and health care system during this crisis. A map of available providers and other information is continually updated for families seeking care at this link: mn.gov/mmb/childcare/families

Housing and Employment:

Hotline for workers and employers: 651-259-7114 or 800-657-3858, or visit www.mn.gov/deed

Hotlines for housing questions:

  • For single-family residences: 651-296-8215
  • For multi-family residences: 651-297-4455

Available Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 5:00pm

Apply for unemployment insurance at this website.

Metro Transit: stay up to date on transit changes due to COVID by visiting their website.

COVID-19 Update

Hotline for Health Questions:
651-201-3920 or 1-800-657-3903 (7am-7pm daily)
Visit the website for more questions

Questions for workers and employers:
651-259-7114 or 800-657-3858
Visit www.mn.gov/deed

Hotline for School and Childcare questions:
Call 651-297-1304 or 1-800-657-3504 (7am-7pm daily)

Hotline for Childcare Providers with questions: 1-888-234-1268