Frontline Worker Reacts to Signing of Bonus Check Bill

(KNSI) — Members of Minnesota’s frontline worker community are expressing their gratitude to lawmakers and the governor for finally hammering out a deal for bonus checks.

Governor Tim Walz signed the bill on Friday to beat a deadline that would have raised taxes on employers across the state. On Monday, a public ceremonial bill signing was held as affected employees, and state officials surrounded Walz.

Brian MacNeill is a behavioral analyst with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he says it was highly challenging as workers at the VA didn’t have the proper tools to keep themselves safe.

“Protective equipment wasn’t as readily available. We were coming to work in cloth masks. We didn’t yet have eye protection.”

He says his team strives to provide one-on-one care for veterans. That brought extra stress about potentially getting them sick while staff carried out their mission.

The state says it is collaborating with a vendor to create an online portal for eligible workers to get their checks. MacNeill says it’s wonderful to see the recognition coming through.

“It took so many people to keep this state open, to keep it going, even to bring it to the surplus that we’re now facing and have as the state of Minnesota.”

Minnesota has a projected $9.25 billion budget surplus, which legislators say would not have been possible without people going to work every day pandemic or not. Lawmakers and the governor agreed to a $2.7 billion deal to issue $750 checks to a range of Minnesota’s 667,000 frontline workers and refill the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund.

The checks could still take a few months to make it into bank accounts. For now, workers should monitor details by clicking here.

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MNC Reporter Mike Moen contributed to this report.

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