Deadline approaching to allocate Minnesota American Rescue Plan dollars

Photo by: Minnesota House of Representatives
Photo by: Minnesota House of Representatives

(St. Paul, MN) -- A deadline is approaching for Minnesota lawmakers to decide how to spend the state's remaining American Rescue Plan money.

If state legislators can't reach a deal to allocate the approximately one billion dollars left by June 15th, Democratic Governor Tim Walz will get to decide how the funds are spent.

GOP lawmakers say the dollars show go toward repaying the federal government for unemployment benefits covered during the height of the COVID-19 shutdown. Republicans also want to rebuild the unemployment insurance trust fund.

Democrats say the money should be used on a combination of unemployment insurance and payments to frontline workers.