St. Cloud Sun

Rep. Lisa Demuth recently provided an update on legislation enacted in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Among these updates are the extension of the stay-at-home order in Minnesota. The order has been extended until May 4 so that the state will be able to push out the virus’ peak and be prepared to have enough hospital capacity, and medical equipment and supplies to care for COVID-19 patients. As part of the extended order, Gov. Tim Walz agreed to be flexible on what businesses can remain open.

“I support this loosening of some restrictions and look forward to the day our businesses are back up and running as a whole because the damage they are feeling is real,” Demuth said on the Minnesota’s Legislature website. “I continue to receive feedback from local businesses and I share their concerns.”

Demuth is also a proponent of a newly approved bill that would provide full workers’ compensation benefits and coverage to first responders and health care workers who test positive for coronavirus.

“Our front-line workers have enough concerns without having to wonder if their workers’ compensation will be there should they contract this virus,” Demuth said in a press release. “We can’t wait for a pile of denied COVID-19 claims to accumulate before we act. There is urgency to this issue and I am pleased we passed this bill to protect the people we are counting on to help us combat this virus.”

Other things Demuth mentioned in the legislative updates were the authorization of the first additional unemployment compensation payments, the availability of disaster recovery loans for farmers suffering from coronavirus-related financial damages, a new, low-cost insulin option from Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceuticals and the development of two programs for veterans who have been financially affected by the coronavirus outbreak.