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Minnesota Now with Nina Moini
Cathy Wurzer

Minnesota working group stalls on $250M payout to front-line workers

Ryan Winkler
House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, held a news conference with front-line pandemic workers on Oct. 6 at the Minnesota Capitol to call on Republicans to reach an agreement on bonus pay.
Tim Pugmire | MPR News file

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Minnesota lawmakers set aside $250 million in bonus pay for front-line workers last summer. The nine-member working group had met since July to decide who would get the bonus pay and how much.

The monthslong effort concluded Wednesday without a deal, greatly reducing the chance any checks will go out this year.

“If legislators performed like front-line workers, we would be done with this today,” Ryan Winkler, House DFL majority leader, said. “And if front-line workers performed like legislators, Minnesotans would be in terrible shape today in this pandemic.”

Brian Bakst, MPR News political reporter, joined host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the proposed plan and what’s at stake.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.