Hundreds of thousands of Minnesota first responders, hospital workers, meatpackers, and supermarket clerks are eligible for a $750 stimulus check for staying on the job during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Gov. Tim Walz signed a measure into law on Friday allocating $500 million to provide one-time compensation for an expected 667,000 frontline employees, who would get checks in 10 to 12 weeks, according to state officials. It also includes $2.7 billion to replenish the unemployment trust fund in Minnesota.
The additional “hero pay” checks were initially suggested in Minnesota last July, sparking months of discussion.
The $750 Stimulus Check Is Being Called ‘Hero Pay’
“This is one month’s rent. That equates to food. This is money that they can put into their bank deposits. So it’s critical, and I want to thank you all again for coming together on this “President of the Minnesota Nurses Association, Mary Turner. Employees must have worked 120 hours between March 15, 2020, and June 30, 2021, and have not received welfare payments for more than 20 weeks to be eligible for the Stimulus Checks, according to the state’s website.
Individuals earning more than $85,000 per year who did not work actively with COVID-19 patients are ineligible for the stimulus checks. Those who worked with COVID-19 patients and earned less than $175,000 per year are eligible for a payout. During the epidemic, several corporations in the United States briefly gave additional “hazard pay” to workers, although some grocery stores were offended when several localities on the West Coast imposed it on retail workers.
As per the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, COVID-19 has killed about one million Americans.
