Minnesota House passes $330 million COVID-19 aid bill
Steve Karnowski | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 7 months AGO
State senators keep their social distance in the gallery, other meeting rooms and the Senate chamber floor as the Minnesota State Senate met Thursday, March 26, 2020 at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. to take up bills related to the coronavirus in the state. Due to social distancing, the gallery and other rooms were used for the lawmakers with the Senate floor limited to members. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Lawmakers practice social distancing, Thursday, March 26, 2020 at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. before the body met to take up bills related to the coronavirus in the state. A limited number of members were allowed on the House floor. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Lawmakers doing social distancing in the Minnesota House take the Pledge of Allegiance, Thursday, March 26, 2020 at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. before the body met to take up bills related to the coronavirus in the state. A limited number of members were allowed on the House floor. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Lawmakers in the Minnesota House practice social distancing during prayer by the chaplain Thursday, March 26, 2020 at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. as they met to take up bills related to the coronavirus in the state. A limited number of members were allowed on the House floor. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Several Lawmakers in the Minnesota House practice social distancing from a gallery Thursday, March 26, 2020 at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. as representatives met to take up bills related to the coronavirus in the state. A limited number of members were allowed on the House floor. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
State Sen. John Marty waits in the gallery for the start of the Minnesota State Senate which met Thursday, March 26, 2020 at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. to take up bills related to the coronavirus in the state. Due to social distancing, the gallery and other rooms were used for the lawmakers with the Senate floor limited to members. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Lawmakers in the Minnesota House practice social distancing during prayer by the chaplain Thursday, March 26, 2020 at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. as they met to take up bills related to the coronavirus in the state. A limited number of members were allowed on the House floor while others gathered in the gallery. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addresses the media during news conference, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in St. Paul, Minn., where he gave an update on the state's effort to slow down the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Rachel Miner, 15, left, of Emmetsburg, Iowa, sits with Carlotta Haas, 15, a foreign exchange student from Duesseldorf, Germany, who had been living with Miner and her family but was called home, as they waited for her flight Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via AP)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Legislature was poised Thursday to pass a $330 million financial aid package to help soften the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic that has sickened more than 300 people and killed two in the state.
The Minnesota Department of Health said Thursday that the state's second COVID-19 death was a patient from Ramsey County who, like the first fatal case, was in their 80s. The state's count of confirmed cases jumped Thursday to 346, up 59 from a day earlier, with 44 patients hospitalized and 18 in intensive care. Their ages range from 5 months to 104 years,
The House passed the bill 99-4 and sent it to the Senate. Among the bill's highlights are a $200 million fund that state agencies can tap for responding to the pandemic. It also would provide $30 million in grants to groups that provide child care for children of essential workers. And it also includes $40 million in emergency grants and loan guarantees for small businesses,
“We have grave and difficult days ahead," Democratic House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler said just before the vote. ”We do not know — and probably not knowing is the most difficult part of what the course of this pandemic will take. ... We have much work to be done. This is just the beginning. But it is an important first step."
The bill was assembled via private conference calls to keep lawmakers from risking catching the disease, and the various proposals were rolled into one big bill to limit the number of votes that must be taken. Makeshift House and Senate procedures to maintain social distancing mean that lawmakers had to take turns for getting on the floors to vote or speak and wait elsewhere in the Capitol complex until their turn comes up. Many had to shout their votes from the door to the House chamber, then leave without entering.
Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman said in an interview that state residents deluged lawmakers with messages that were “incredibly helpful” in shaping the legislation, and offers of help that were passed to government agencies.
“There's been more public input into this legislation than anything I've worked on in my entire career in the Legislature,” she said.
Walz, who signed a stay-at-home order for Minnesota residents that takes effect Friday night, used his daily conference call with reporters to decry what he called an upsurge in hate speech directed against Asian-Pacific Islanders in the state. Across the country, Asian Americans have complained that President Donald Trump's habit of calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” puts them at risk of discrimination and hate crimes.
The governor said his administration is getting a lot of discrimination calls. He said he's even hearing from members of his staff about people turning away, “not social distancing but just clearly because of being Asian or Pacific Islander.”
“It's unacceptable," he said. “This virus doesn't discriminate. We're not going to either.”
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
Minnesota will also be getting money as part of the $2.2 trillion congressional relief package that the U.S. Senate passed late Wednesday and that the House is expected to pass on Friday. The bill includes nearly $2.2 billion for the state as part of a $150 billion stimulus package for state, local and tribal governments, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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Check out more of the AP's coronavirus coverage at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak