Latest News from St. Paul
Yesterday, the governor announced that industrial, manufacturing, and office-based businesses will be allowed to reopen if they have a safety plan in place effective this Monday, April 27. I am encouraged to hear that up to a hundred thousand Minnesotans will be able to get back to work this week. I hope that this will lead to even more of our businesses being allowed to reopen safely.
In order to reopen, businesses must create and share a plan for keeping employees safe, conduct daily health screenings of employees upon their arrival, and continue teleworking whenever possible. The Department of Labor and Industry will have an optional template plan available to use as a starting point. The Department of Employment and Economic Development will be hosting two webinars to discuss this process - more information on those can be found here.
The governor also announced yesterday that schools will continue distance learning through the end of this school year. He has not yet made a decision on whether to continue distance learning through the summer and into fall.
Small Business Support from the Legislature
Since all this began, the legislature has been working to pass bills that help Minnesotans. I've been hearing in particular from small business owners asking what has been passed by the legislature to support small businesses, so I have compiled a list of some of the bigger provisions here:
- Emergency child care grants for eligible family childcare providers or childcare centers (HF 4531)
- Expanding telemedicine coverage to include mental health practitioners, and requiring that private insurers must cover telemedicine care (HF 4556)
- Expanding workers compensation for front line workers who contract COVID-19 (HF 4537)
- $1.25 million to Second Harvest Heartland to purchase milk and other protein sources for Minnesota food shelves (HF 4556)
- Allowing bars and restaurants to sell beer, wine, hard seltzer, and cider with take-out orders of food (SF 4489)
Of course, each bill has many more provisions than can be listed here. If you would like to see the COVID-19 -related Legislative activity, you can visit the dedicated page on the MN House website here.
Guidance on Resorts, RV Resorts, and Campgrounds
This week, we received guidance from the governor's office on resorts, RV resorts, and campgrounds. That information is below:
Resorts
- The hotel portions of resorts (including rented cabins) can open as planned and can accept guests.
- Guests do not have to be members of a critical sector to stay at a resort.
- Communal amenities may not be open for use, except for the following that may be open provided social distancing and enhanced cleaning protocols are followed:
- Retail food stores
- Laundry facilities
- Fish cleaning stations and docks
- While resorts can accept visitors, the Stay at Home Order continues to discourage unnecessary travel, and the Order asks people to remain close to their homes.
- Resorts do not have to open if they are not comfortable doing so.
RV Resorts
- People who rely on their campsite as a primary residence, or that are seasonal renters and who maintain personal property at their site, can continue to utilize the RV resort.
- Camp sites can be used on a short term or temporary basis by people who require necessary shelter for the purposes of work or required social distancing.
- Camp sites that are reserved for temporary or rotating use for purely recreational and short term purposes are not allowed.
- Communal amenities may not be open for use, except for the following that may be open provided social distancing and enhanced cleaning protocols are followed:
- Bathrooms/shower buildings
- Retail food stores
- Laundry facilities
- Fish cleaning stations and docks
- While people can visit RV resorts as outlined above, the Stay at Home Order continues to discourage unnecessary travel, and the Order asks people to remain close to their homes.
- RV resorts do not have to open if they are not comfortable doing so.
Private and Public Campgrounds
- All private and public campgrounds and dispersed camping sites are closed to recreational camping. This means that camp sites that are reserved for temporary or rotating use for purely recreational and short term purposes are not allowed. This closure does not apply to:
- People who rely on their campsite as a primary residence, or that are seasonal renters and who maintain personal property at their site.
- Camp sites used on a short term or temporary basis by people who require necessary shelter for the purposes of work or required social distancing.
- Communal amenities may not be open for use, except for the following that may be open provided social distancing and enhanced cleaning protocols are followed:
- Bathrooms/shower buildings
- Retail food stores
- Laundry facilities
- Fish cleaning stations and docks
- While people can continue to visit campgrounds as outlined above, the Stay at Home Order continues to discourage unnecessary travel, and the Order asks people to remain close to their homes.
- Campgrounds do not have to open if they are not comfortable doing so.
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