The MN Legislature has passed a Coronavirus relief bill; Minnesota Citizens for the Arts advocated for specific inclusion of the nonprofit arts community in the bill and that includes the following benefit: Non-profit arts organizations and museums are eligible for relief grants to be administered by your county.

Please enjoy this update from Minnesota Council of Nonprofits about the Minnesota Legislature passing additional unemployment insurance relief and grants to nonprofits:

Dear MCN Members and Friends,

As we enter the final weeks of 2020, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) continues to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 on nonprofits and advocate on behalf of organizations, leaders and staff, and the communities you serve.

In this email, MCN would like to provide updates to keep your organization informed, as we prepare to embark on the new year ahead:

Minnesota Legislature passes additional unemployment insurance relief and grants to some businesses, including nonprofits

Additional unemployment insurance and grants available to some nonprofits

On Monday, December 14, the Minnesota Legislature met in a special session and took up Senate File 31, which ultimately passed both the House and Senate on Tuesday night. There are two important parts of this bill for nonprofits regarding Unemployment Insurance (UI) and county grants:

First, nonprofits who are reimbursing employers (about half of Minnesota nonprofits) will not be charged for the additional 13 weeks of UI benefits that the Legislature passed. The other half of Minnesota nonprofits, known as “tax-paying” or “contributing” employers for purposes of UI, will also not see additional cost on these 13 weeks.
Second, the bill that passed on Monday appropriates money to counties, and the counties will grant to local businesses that were impacted by an Executive Order related to COVID. We assume each county will create its own process to award these grants, and it will happen fairly quickly – all grants must be awarded by March 15, 2021. Keep an eye out or contact your county for more information!

Regarding the UI issue, MCN and many nonprofits quickly mobilized to head off an effort to remove reimbursing employers from the bill, sending over 50 individual, timely messages to key legislators in just a few hours. Your voices were heard and made a difference!

Read a full summary here.