ST. PAUL 鈥� Minnesota lawmakers are considering bills to extend unemployment insurance for steelworkers affected by recent layoffs.
The 鈥淢innesota Miners Relief Act,鈥� / , would extend 26 weeks of unemployment insurance for steelworkers laid off between March 15 and June 15, according to bill language. The bill does not have an official fiscal note, but authors estimated in a Wednesday, April 2, press release that it would cost $10 million to $12 million.
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House sponsor of the bill Rep. Spencer Igo, R-Wabana Township, said at a press conference Wednesday the bill is motivated by Cleveland Cliffs announcing in late March plans to steelworkers as a result of temporarily closing its Minorca Mine in Virginia, and also partially idling part of Hibbing Taconite.
The Minnesota Miners Relief Act stalled in committee Wednesday. Democrat members said they were concerned the bill would also seek to amend site-specific standards for sulfites and safe storage for reactive mine waste, on top of unemployment benefits.
A separate bill, , authored by Rep. Pete Johnson, DFL-Duluth, proposes the same unemployment insurance benefits but without the extra environmental provisions of the Minnesota Miners Relief Act. HF3023 passed unanimously through the House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee on Thursday and now heads to Ways and Means.
鈥淲e saw today that there is broad bipartisan support behind extending unemployment insurance benefits to the impacted workers on the Iron Range. The environmental policies brought before the committee this week are important too, but these proposals should stand on their own,鈥� Johnson said in a statement. 鈥淢oving this bill forward is the process working as it should. Working together, we can deliver this support to the Iron Range soon.鈥�
Sen. Robert Farnsworth, R-Hibbing, co-author of the bill in the Senate, said at a press conference Wednesday that the extra provisions in the Minnesota Miners Relief Act are aimed at supporting mining in the long term in addition to the short-term effects of the layoffs.
鈥淲e really need to take care of this sulfide standard,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey need to get this done, because it's a bleak picture if we don't do this. There are six taconite mines, one currently being built on the Iron Range, and I don't see a future for any of them.鈥�
Rep. Dave Pinto, DFL-St. Paul, said during the bill鈥檚 hearing Wednesday that his Democrat colleagues support extending unemployment benefits to steelworkers but that the extra provisions on sulfite standards and safe storage in the bill raise 鈥渟ignificant environmental concerns.鈥�
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鈥淚'm troubled by and confused by the combination of issues here,鈥� he said, recommending that the bill move through the House鈥檚 Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
The Minnesota Miners Relief Act received its first hearing Wednesday morning in the Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Committee and was laid on the table.
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