The plan prioritizes healthcare workers and first responders who willingly entered COVID situations and kept people safe during the pandemic.  

Republican members of the Frontline Workers Bonus Pay Working Group today proposed their plan to provide meaningful bonuses to those who took the most risk to keep people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal includes $1200 in bonus pay for nurses, first responders, corrections officers, long-term care workers, and hospice providers. 

With only $250 million to work with, the Republican plan prioritizes the healthcare workers who donned PPE and cared for Covid-positive patients, first responders who doubled down on an already risky job when the work didn’t allow distancing or PPE, and hospice staff who were cared for Minnesotans when they were forced to be separated from their loved ones.

“Minnesota owes a tremendous debt to the men and women who put their own well-being on the line to keep us safe and healthy throughout the pandemic,” said Assistant Senate Majority Leader John Jasinski (R-Faribault). “I am especially glad to report that corrections officers will receive bonus pay under our plan. The largest correctional facility in Minnesota is located here in Faribault, and a number of officers shared their stories and challenges with me as they continued to show up to work, day in and day out. Their contributions and the risks they took are often forgotten, but they deserve our gratitude. Republicans are ready to come back right now to get this money in their pockets. We just need Gov. Walz and House Democrats to come to the table.”

To be eligible, the workers couldn’t work from home, need to have received less than one month of unemployment, and worked a minimum of 1200 hours between March and December of 2020, about 30 hours a week. There is no income cap on the proposal and an application process will be used to provide bonus pay as soon as the application is approved.   

The working group met eight times and heard from dozens of testifiers across many professions affected by COVID. The working group discussed at length the merits of each profession and what amount of bonus pay would be impactful to the recipients.