Senate finance committee approves bill shifting NLX funds to school unemployment aid

The Minnesota Senate Finance Committee on May 17 approved House File 1143, a bill that cancels $77,232,000 from an existing Northern Lights Express (NLX) appropriation and directs a $100 million general‑fund transfer into a school unemployment aid account to cover unemployment costs for hourly K‑12 workers.

The measure, presented by Senator McEwen, passed by voice vote after roughly an hour of discussion and a failed recorded amendment that would have increased the NLX cancellation to $100 million and removed a provision reducing special education aid forecasts.

The bill responds to a 2023 change in state law that made hourly K‑12 workers — positions such as bus drivers, nutrition staff, clerical staff and education support aides — eligible for unemployment insurance. “This workforce, made up primarily of women and women of color, have been consistently undervalued, overlooked, and underpaid,” Senator McEwen said during the committee hearing, arguing the change “righted a decades long wrong.”

Nonpartisan fiscal analyst Jenna Hofer told the committee that the bill cancels $77,232,000 of the NLX appropriation in fiscal year 2026 and transfers $100 million to the school unemployment aid account in fiscal year 2026, with that special revenue transfer available through June 30, 2028. Hofer said the bill also changes how some costs are tracked in the state forecast, producing corresponding reductions in…