Bipartisan successes are alive and well in St. Paul

As Mark Twain might say, reports of the death of bipartisanship are greatly exaggerated … at least in the Minnesota Legislature!

Republicans and Democrats in the Minnesota Senate and House have proven our ability to get things done by having the backs of the businesses and workers who got our state through the darkest days of the pandemic.

Recently, Governor Walz signed into law the legislation we negotiated to protect businesses from a tax hike by replenishing the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and provide “hero pay” checks to frontline workers.

Background on bipartisan agreement

From the beginning of session, it’s been clear to me that the UI trust fund and frontline worker bonuses were two important issues that shared a similar origin. When COVID-19 first hit our state, a historic number of Minnesotans used our UI safety net at the same time, depleting the fund. Meanwhile, a group of workers continued to go into work to keep our state functioning throughout the pandemic, risking the wellbeing of themselves and their families.

Two things became apparent: Our state had a duty to not only replenish the UI trust fund and help businesses who were facing a tax hike just as they were getting back on their feet, but to also give meaningful thanks to the workers upon which our current economic recovery is built. We had to do both.

All session long, I stayed in touch with leadership from the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as local business owners and workers to bring their perspectives to the negotiating table. Thanks to their input and collaboration, our work paid off and we got the job done for both businesses and workers.

Here are the specifics of the legislation:

Protecting businesses from a tax hike

We allocated $2.73 billion to replenish the UI Trust Fund, which ensures these benefits are available to workers while protecting businesses from a burdensome tax hike. Any businesses who already paid the higher tax rate are entitled to a refund or a credit on their next payment.

For more information on how to get your refund or credit, visit mn.gov/uimn and reach out to me if you have any questions or need help in navigating the process.

$750 checks to frontline workers

We allocated $500 million for $750 checks to be sent to 667,000 frontline workers.

These are the professions of frontline workers who are eligible for checks: Emergency responders, health care, education, food service, retail, janitorial and security, long-term care and home care, public health, social service, and regulatory service, courts and corrections, building services including maintenance, public transit, transportation services, manufacturing and vocational rehabilitation.

For information on how to apply for a frontline worker $750 check, visit frontlinepay.mn.gov, and reach out to me if you have any questions or need help in navigating the process.

Final weeks of session

I’m proud of how we’ve been able to overcome our partisan differences to get things done, and we must continue cooperating to tackle the many challenges facing our community.

We need to work together to ensure families can take on rising costs, police departments can hire more officers, students can excel in school, and that we continue to support the businesses and workers who are driving our economic recovery.

As we enter the final weeks of session, I’m focused on utilizing my position as Assistant Majority Leader to partner with my Republican colleagues across the aisle to deliver results for our community.

I work for you, so always feel free to contact me at 651-296-6612 or rep.dan.wolgamott@house.mn to let me know how I can best serve you and your family.

— State Representative Dan Wolgamott is serving his second term in the Minnesota House for District 14B. A Democrat, Rep. Wolgamott serves as the assistant majority leader and lives in east St. Cloud.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Bipartisan successes are alive and well in St. Paul