A special panel is now working on deciding which front-line workers will share in 250 million dollars of COVID bonuses approved by the legislature.  House Democratic Majority Leader Ryan Winkler suggests all front-line workers be eligible for a meaningful amount of money, say $1,500, but they might not get all of it right away because only 250 million dollars is appropriated so far: “Send those checks out based on how much we have and say that any amount that we are not able to send out, the next legislature should consider… providing the last round of checks.”

Republicans have a different approach:  narrow the field of those eligible for bonuses to fit the available money. Republican Representative Ann Neu Brindley, from North Branch, states: “I want to make sure that those folks who we know assumed so much risk… I want to make sure that what we’re doing is meaningful for them.”