Lawmakers press House File 3030 to extend UI, set site standards after Iron Range layoffs

ST. PAUL, Minn. — House File 3030, called the Minnesota Miners Relief Act, was heard in the Minnesota House Labor Committee and laid over for possible further action after a bipartisan group of Iron Range lawmakers and union leaders pressed for immediate and long-term aid to workers affected by recent layoffs.

Representative Spencer Igoe, R-District 7A, told reporters that the bill would extend unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for workers at Cleveland-Cliffs facilities at Menorca and HIPTEC on the Iron Range, and would add two regulatory provisions intended to provide clarity for future mining operations. “The first part of the bill is extended UI benefits for the affected workers at Cleveland Cliffs facilities at Menorca, and Hiptac up in Minnesota's Iron Range,” Igoe said. “There was a little over 600 workers that were announced that they were going to be laid off.”

The bill’s UI extension is the largest immediate component: sponsors said three of the six pages cover benefit extensions, while the remaining pages would change state law to allow site-specific environmental standards and to set scientific standards for storage of reactive mine waste. “So the bill as a whole combines 3 things. UI benefits now to secure stability for the workers that have been laid off, but 2 provisions that give the promise and hope of a…