Idea to extend unemployment benefits to Iron Range workers advances through workforce committee

Minnesota lawmakers are moving to give laid off Iron Range miners more breathing room as the steel industry downturn drags on.

Rep. Spencer Igo

Rep. Spencer Igo (R-Wabana Township) sponsors HF3393 that would extend unemployment benefits an additional 26 weeks for iron ore mining workers laid off between Jan. 15, 2026, and March 15, 2026. Igo was made aware a few weeks ago of 45 new layoffs in Hibbing, about a year after more than 600 Iron Rangers were laid off.

Hibbing Mayor Pete Hyduke said the six-month extension is needed to help ensure a highly skilled workforce is ready to return when operations stabilize. “Without this bridge, we risk losing workers permanently. And once that workforce is gone, it is difficult to rebuild.”

As amended, the bill was approved on a voice vote Wednesday by the House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee and sent to the House Ways and Means Committee. 

The bill is comparable to legislation passed last year that extended benefits an additional 26 weeks to workers laid off between March 15, 2025, and June 16, 2025. About 600 Iron Range steelworkers were laid off last March as Cleveland-Cliffs idled operations at Hibbing Taconite Co. in Hibbing and Minorca Mine in Virginia.

Things haven’t gotten much better on the Range since then, said United Steelworkers District 11 Representative John Arbogast, but the industry will rebound. The extended benefits would help workers bridge the gap before they must sell their houses and move.

He said Cleveland-Cliffs especially is dependent on the auto industry, which is slow because consumers may be reluctant to spend $100,000 on a new truck. “People are making the decision to drive their old beater. Eventually those old beaters will die, and we’ll need more steel.”