June 15, 2020
Dear Friends, I hope you are healthy and at home.
The legislature was called into special session on Friday June 12 by the governor. The purpose of this session is to continue the state’s ongoing work in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, public safety, the state budget, and an unfinished bonding bill.
My office is open to you and I am happy to visit on the phone. You can reach me by phone (651.296.1253) or email.
Fraud in Unemployment claims in MN
Recently, we have been receiving communications from constituents who have received Unemployment Insurance enrollment letters, even though they are still employed and have never applied for UI benefits.
These letters include information related to weekly benefit amounts payable, as well as, accurate personal identifying information such as mailing addresses.
It should be noted that employees initiate unemployment claims – not employers. If you received a letter, but didn’t apply for benefits, it is likely that someone else has filed for benefits using your information.
DEED has directed individuals who receive such letters to treat it as identify theft. This means the recipient should file a police report and check their credit report. They should also be sure to report any potential fraud to the UI Program.
The UI Program has a fraud unit that continuously investigates these situations and, according to the UI staff, they have been seeing an uptick over the past few weeks.
The UI staff has assured us that there has been no recent breach of information, however, they believe this could be the result of the major Equifax breach that took place about a year ago. Here are four steps to follow if you receive one of these letters:
1. Check with the credit bureau: Equifax, Experian, Trans-Union
2. File a police report
3. Contact DEED – Commissioner Steve Grove – 651-254-7114
4. Check your tax filings
Law Enforcement Accountability Bills for One-Week Special Session
Senate Republicans reviewed several proposals on public safety and enforcement, including some from the proposed by the DFL House Caucus for the one-week special session. The senate plans to pass several police accountability bills and will include:
S.F. 1 (Limmer): Peace officers standards and training (POST) board prior appropriation modification.
S.F. 3 (Ingebrigtsen): Law enforcement use of force reporting requirements.
S.F. 5 (Ingebrigtsen): Public safety peer support activity admissibility of statements and critical incident stress management services limitations.
S.F. 49 (Ingebrigtsen): Law enforcement hiring information access expansion.
S.F. 104 (Limmer): POST Board Use of Force Policy Update & Uniform Adoption by LEAs
Some of the issues included and discussed:
- Requiring the reporting of use of deadly force to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
- Providing more support for law enforcement after a potentially traumatic experience to protect their mental health
- Banning chokeholds and neck restraints
- Requiring a “duty to intervene and report” for officers on the scene of an excessive force incident
- Instructing officers to preserve the sanctity of life and use non-deadly force whenever possible
- Body Cam issues
- Police Union arbitration required
“The Senate is committed to passing several measures to improve the accountability of our law enforcement agencies, including some supported in a bipartisan manner by the House DFL caucus and Gov. Walz,” said Limmer. “The focus of Minnesota is on law enforcement accountability and building trust between the police and the community right now. This package of bills is intended to attract bipartisan support and include the good ideas from both sides of the aisle. More work can be done in the long-term on this important topic.”
Senator Chamberlain and Minnesota Senate approve bill to support small businesses in Crisis
On the first day of the 2020 special session, the Minnesota Senate passed legislation to appropriate over $60 million for small businesses who are in crisis due to the stay at home orders and the coronavirus pandemic. The bill takes $60 million from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund and $2.5 million from the Small Business Guarantee Loan program to provide relief grants to Minnesota small businesses. At least $18 million of the funds would be designated for microbusinesses of 6 or fewer employees. A minimum of $15 million must be distributed as follows – $10 million to minority-owned businesses, $2.5 for veteran-owned businesses, and $2.5 million for women-owned businesses.
“This is a good bill that will help small businesses who need it, but businesses need more,” said Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes). “Nobody wants to put Minnesotans’ health in jeopardy. Over the last few weeks and months, it has become crystal clear that the virus is not what it was expected to be at the outset of the pandemic. We know how to resume our lives safely. It is time to fully reopen Minnesota.”