Legislature to act on new coronavirus bill with others in works
The Minnesota Legislature returns from an abbreviated holiday break this week with lawmakers keeping up their coronavirus precautions by holding hearings online and gathering on the floor only as needed.
Another COVID-19 package is set for a vote Tuesday.
The Legislature has already passed three bills with financial help for health providers, first responders and small businesses. The latest plan is more policy focused.
It offers more flexibility for those with commercial driver’s licenses and extra latitude for the state courts system given that many hearings are on hold. It would give couples the ability to obtain marriage licenses by mail, fax or electronic methods rather than requiring an in-person appearance.
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It would assure coronavirus care for people on public health insurance programs. A moratorium on new hospital construction would be eased as temporary facilities are brought online. Farmer-lender mediation time periods would be stretched out by up to 60 days.
The session is set to end on May 18. But there’s no telling when or if the Legislature can gather in typical fashion, with all lawmakers on the respective floors and several major bills churning along at once.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said there’s no question the agenda has been upended. He’s got a three-part test for which bills will get attention: Does it aid in the COVID-19 fight? Would it help fix economic damage by propping up small businesses? And for those that are unrelated to coronavirus, is there a price tag?
“If it costs more money right now, I’m telling our folks I don’t think we should be doing it because of the likely huge budget deficit next year,” Gazelka said in an interview last week.
House Speaker Melissa Hortman said it’s too soon to get the Legislature back to full speed. She expects the remote meetings and consensus-only consideration of bills on the floor to continue for the time being.
“There aren’t other reasons that are good enough to be there right now,” Hortman said. “Scoring political points, showing where we stand on things. We can do things like that via Zoom press conference. But calling staff and members into the building and putting them at some risk is only warranted when we’re passing a bill that will become law.”
Both Hortman and Gazelka said a construction borrowing plan is still in the mix. They say it could be viewed as a state-level stimulus initiative.
The key questions remain about the size and scope, however. The bill is trickier than other bills to put together and requires three-fifths majorities to pass.
That bill is trickier to put together and pass. Hortman raised the idea that it might have to be completed in a special session if the health crisis doesn’t settle down by the constitutional adjournment date.
“It would be my hope that we could that done within the May 18 regular session but I think that’s not necessarily a certainty at this point,” she said.
Some tensions have emerged between legislative Republicans and DFL Gov. Tim Walz over some of his executive actions.
It broke into the public view on Thursday in a big way. Just before a Walz press briefing, Gazelka tweeted out his objections to what he called the unilateral decision by Walz to stretch out the stay-at-home order through early May.
Gazelka said a more-tailored approach, perhaps keeping an order in place only for the most vulnerable populations, would be better. Walz shot back that he’s not about to go on hunches.
“One tweet does not equal dissent,” Walz said, adding that he hoped he was “as wrong as I can be” about the need for restrictions to hold down the strain on hospitals. “The data shows I cannot risk that at this time.”
The Legislature could overrule the governor with a vote by both chambers, which is unlikely given the DFL control of the House. How long the Walz orders are in place is a source of friction behind the scenes.
A bill with bipartisan agreement should reach a vote on Tuesday. It establishes both short- and long-term insulin safety net programs to help people whose life-saving medication is running short. They’d be able to access emergency supplies with a co-pay.
Drug manufacturers that fail to make affordable medicine available for the program would face steep fines.
COVID-19 in Minnesota
Health officials for weeks have been increasingly raising the alarm over the spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States. The disease is transmitted through respiratory droplets, coughs and sneezes, similar to the way the flu can spread.
Government and medical leaders are urging people to wash their hands frequently and well, refrain from touching their faces, cover their coughs, disinfect surfaces and avoid large crowds, all in an effort to curb the virus’ rapid spread.
The state of Minnesota has temporarily closed schools, while administrators work to determine next steps, and is requiring a temporary closure of all in-person dining at restaurants, bars and coffee shops, as well as theaters, gyms, yoga studios and other spaces in which people congregate in close proximity.