1M Minnesota residents qualify for bonus checks from COVID pandemic, $487 individual payments
MN frontline workers who chose direct deposit should get their money within 7 to 10 business days
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More than 1 million Minnesotans have qualified for bonus checks to frontline workers to recognize their work during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the payments will be for less than $500, the governor's office announced Monday.
The state will start sending out the payments on Wednesday. The Legislature approved a total of $500 million for eligible applicants, and Gov. Tim Walz signed it into law in April.
Nearly 1.2 million applications were submitted during the 45-day application period this summer. The state approved 1,025,655 of them, which means the individual payments will be $487.45.
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Frontline workers who chose direct deposit should get their money within seven to 10 business days; those who chose to get their payments via debit cards will get them within three to four weeks.
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State officials originally estimated the final pool of qualified workers would be around 667,000 with payments of about $750 apiece, but applications exceeded expectations.
Democrats pushed for $1 billion in payments but eventually compromised with Republicans for $500 million. The deal marked one of the few big bipartisan successes of the 2022 legislative session, which was marked mostly by stalemates over how to spend a $9.25 billion budget surplus.
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Eligible workers include those in the long-term care and home care industries, health care, the courts, child care, public schools, retail, food service, public transit and manufacturing.