ST. PAUL, MN –  Today Senate Republicans responded to the late night House vote on the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Bill. House Democrats, who had 10 weeks to pass the Senate version of the bill and immediately send it to the governor for his signature, instead amended the bill and triggered a conference committee to work out the differences. 

“The Senate made refilling and repaying the Unemployment Insurance trust fund a priority, passing a clean bill 10 weeks ago with strong bipartisan support,” Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller (R- Winona) said. “While I’m happy to see the House take action, they loaded up the bill with other items making it more difficult to find agreement. I remain committed to working towards a compromise agreement.”

Governor Tim Walz, Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove, and Senate Republicans agreed the deadline to avoid any increased cost to business was March 31, 2022. House Democrats refused action before then, sending businesses into a tailspin. Today, many businesses have started to pay their UI bills at the higher rate. 

“The Senate had broad, bipartisan support to a clean Unemployment Insurance fix bill. We pay off the debt and refill the fund to hold small businesses harmless and protect future claims to the fund,” Senate Jobs Committee Chair Eric Pratt (R- Prior Lake), who authored the Senate UI bill said. “This doesn’t need to be complicated; it just needs to get done. The House could have passed a clean bill and sent it to the Governor. Instead, the actions by the House instead will lead to a conference committee meeting and bring us dangerously close to missing the Speaker’s deadline.”