Benefits extension could help up to 80K Minnesotans

The U.S. Senate and House are expected to pass measures extending unemployment benefits, and if the measure becomes law, some 80,000 Minnesotans could see their unemployment checks keep coming.

Lee Nelson, the state's chief unemployment benefits attorney, said the extensions will vary depending on the individual and the benefit tier they're already in. Nelson said those collecting unemployment benefits won't need to do anything differently.

"They won't notice any difference, they'll just know more is available to them," Nelson said.

The maximum duration of benefits will be 86 weeks.

According to Nelson, about 160,000 Minnesotans are currently collecting unemployment. Roughly 1,000 of them exhaust all regular benefits and extensions each week.