Rep. Igo’s Amended Bill to Extend Unemployment for Miners Fails to Pass Committee

An effort to secure extended unemployment benefits for around hundreds of miners who are being laid off on the Iron Range advanced at the state legislature this week.

In March, Cleveland-Cliffs announced they would be idling or partially idling mines this spring. On Wednesday, Itasca County and District 7A Republican Rep. Spencer Igo introduced a bill that would extend benefits for 26 weeks past their current unemployment benefits.

But the legislation also included modifications to sulfate water quality standards and mine waste storage that Igo says would support the future of the mining industry.

“When we had conversations with the steelworkers and with our communities, what we needed to do, the conversation that came forward was that we needed to add something that actually looked at the sustainability and the future of jobs for the Iron Range,” said Igo at a committee meeting. “Inside the bill, there’s two separate provisions. One is for the safe storage of reactive mine waste, and the other is for … a site-specific standard for sulfides. These two important provisions are critically important to the future of not just taconite mining, but copper-nickel mining as well.”

Rep. Igo’s amended bill did not have enough support to pass on Wednesday. But a benefits-only bill offered by DFL Rep. Pete Johnson of Duluth passed in the House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Finance Committee on a 14-0 vote.