Committee hears Iron Range bill combining UI extension with mine permitting changes; moves to ways-and-means tied and laid on table

Summary

Lawmakers and union leaders urged an unemployment insurance extension for Iron Range workers affected by recent Cleveland-Cliffs layoffs while the bill’s environmental permitting provisions prompted agency concerns and member debate. The committee tied on a motion to advance the bill and laid it on the table.

The House Workforce, Labor, Economic Development and Policy Committee on April 2 heard House File 3030, a three-article bill that would extend unemployment insurance for miners laid off after Cleveland-Cliffs’ recent action and add statutory direction for site-specific sulfide standards and rules for safe storage of reactive mine waste.

Committee members and a long line of union and local officials testified that the UI extension is urgent for workers and their communities. “This is a bill of hope for our community,” said Al King, president of Local 6115, Menoka, who testified that his local faced potential layoffs of roughly 300 people. Representative Spencer Igoe, the bill’s author, told the committee the UI extension would provide “an additional 26 weeks” after current benefits run out, and that the bill’s additional articles are intended to preserve long-term mining jobs on the Iron Range.

The bill drew pushback over Articles 2 and 3, which direct the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to undertake rulemaking…

Committee hears Iron Range bill combining UI extension with mine permitting changes; moves to ways-and-means tied and laid on table

Summary

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