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Minnesota has made it through a period of historic uncertainty thanks to the dedication of health care workers, first responders and people in a variety of other professions and jobs that require direct contact with other people. These workers kept our state running during the long months of the pandemic before the first COVID vaccines became available.

Many of these Minnesota workers were eligible to submit applications for frontline worker bonuses that are scheduled to be paid out this fall. Our state representative, Peggy Bennett, wanted to exclude many of them from eligibility at first.

Bennett initially wanted to shut out essential workers in public health and social work, courts, child care centers, schools, food processing and distribution, grocery stores, hotels, public transportation, postal, custodial and manufacturing from getting these bonuses. She voted “no” on the house version of the bill but then voted yes on the conference committee version after it passed the senate nearly unanimously.

DFL leaders negotiated hard to ensure that a broader group of people were included in frontline bonus pay, and thanks to their efforts, many more people in our community will benefit from the program. It is an acknowledgment of the risks these workers took to carry us through the early stages of the pandemic.

The risks were real and deadly. According to a report from the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on COVID last fall, at least 59,000 meatpacking workers across the country caught COVID and 270 died.

Please vote for Mary Hinnenkamp, the DFL candidate for state representative. She will be a reliable voice for working people in District 23A.

Diane Hanson

Albert Lea