House Passes Unemployment Fund Legislation

St. Paul, MN – Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund will now be repealed thanks to legislation that passed the House last Thursday and was signed by Governor Walz on Friday.

The legislation will provide $2.7 billion to fully repay the fund and eliminate the interest fee incurred by the federal government.

“It’s time that hope is restored among our job creators,” Representative Matt Grossell, R-Clearbrook, said. “Employers have been hit with staff shortages, supply shortages and inflation. It is time they get a break.”

Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund was depleted throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state then was forced to pay the federal government $50,000 a day in interest to continue unemployment payments. With the passage of this legislation, Minnesota job creators are no longer required to pay a 15% tax increase.

In February, Senate Republicans brought a bipartisan bill that would repay the Unemployment Trust Fund and fill it to solvency. House Democrats refused to bring the bill to floor, citing a deadline of April 30.

In addition to the $2.7 billion to repay the fund, the bill allocates $500 million in payments for frontline workers and $190 million for the Minnesota Management & Budget agency to provide for COVID-19 expenses.