HF 4104

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to veterans; adding a lawful purpose for the use of lawful gambling
revenues; amending Minnesota Statutes 2007 Supplement, section 349.12,
subdivision 25.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2007 Supplement, section 349.12, subdivision 25,
is amended to read:

Subd. 25.

Lawful purpose.

(a) "Lawful purpose" means one or more of the
following:

(1) any expenditure by or contribution to a 501(c)(3) or festival organization, as
defined in subdivision 15a, provided that the organization and expenditure or contribution
are in conformity with standards prescribed by the board under section 349.154, which
standards must apply to both types of organizations in the same manner and to the same
extent;

(2) a contribution to or expenditure for goods and services for an individual or
family suffering from poverty, homelessness, or disability, which is used to relieve the
effects of that suffering;

(3) a contribution to a program recognized by the Minnesota Department of Human
Services for the education, prevention, or treatment of problem gambling;

(4) a contribution to or expenditure on a public or private nonprofit educational
institution registered with or accredited by this state or any other state;

(5) a contribution to an individual, public or private nonprofit educational institution
registered with or accredited by this state or any other state, or to a scholarship fund of a
nonprofit organization whose primary mission is to award scholarships, for defraying the
cost of education to individuals where the funds are awarded through an open and fair
selection process;

(6) activities by an organization or a government entity which recognize military
service to the United States, the state of Minnesota, or a community, subject to rules
of the board, provided that the rules must not include mileage reimbursements in the
computation of the per diem reimbursement limit and must impose no aggregate annual
limit on the amount of reasonable and necessary expenditures made to support:

(i) members of a military marching or color guard unit for activities conducted
within the state;

(ii) members of an organization solely for services performed by the members at
funeral services;

(iii) members of military marching, color guard, or honor guard units may be
reimbursed for participating in color guard, honor guard, or marching unit events within
the state or states contiguous to Minnesota at a per participant rate of up to $35 per diem; deleted text begin or
deleted text end

(iv) active military personnel and their immediate family members in need of
support services; new text begin or
new text end

new text begin (v) a newsletter published periodically by the organization for the purpose of
providing news and information to members of the organization;
new text end

(7) recreational, community, and athletic facilities and activities intended primarily
for persons under age 21, provided that such facilities and activities do not discriminate on
the basis of gender and the organization complies with section 349.154;

(8) payment of local taxes authorized under this chapter, taxes imposed by the
United States on receipts from lawful gambling, the taxes imposed by section 297E.02,
subdivisions 1, 4, 5, and 6, and the tax imposed on unrelated business income by section
290.05, subdivision 3;

(9) payment of real estate taxes and assessments on permitted gambling premises
owned by the licensed organization paying the taxes, or wholly leased by a licensed
veterans organization under a national charter recognized under section 501(c)(19) of the
Internal Revenue Code;

(10) a contribution to the United States, this state or any of its political subdivisions,
or any agency or instrumentality thereof other than a direct contribution to a law
enforcement or prosecutorial agency;

(11) a contribution to or expenditure by a nonprofit organization which is a church
or body of communicants gathered in common membership for mutual support and
edification in piety, worship, or religious observances;

(12) payment of the reasonable costs of an audit required in section 297E.06,
subdivision 4, provided the annual audit is filed in a timely manner with the Department of
Revenue and paid prior to June 30, 2006;

(13) a contribution to or expenditure on projects or activities approved by the
commissioner of natural resources for:

(i) wildlife management projects that benefit the public at large;

(ii) grant-in-aid trail maintenance and grooming established under sections 84.83
and 84.927, and other trails open to public use, including purchase or lease of equipment
for this purpose; and

(iii) supplies and materials for safety training and educational programs coordinated
by the Department of Natural Resources, including the Enforcement Division;

(14) conducting nutritional programs, food shelves, and congregate dining programs
primarily for persons who are age 62 or older or disabled;

(15) a contribution to a community arts organization, or an expenditure to sponsor
arts programs in the community, including but not limited to visual, literary, performing,
or musical arts;

(16) an expenditure by a licensed fraternal organization or a licensed veterans
organization for payment of water, fuel for heating, electricity, and sewer costs for a
building wholly owned or wholly leased by and used as the primary headquarters of the
licensed veterans organization or fraternal organization;

(17) expenditure by a licensed veterans organization of up to $5,000 in a calendar
year in net costs to the organization for meals and other membership events, limited to
members and spouses, held in recognition of military service. No more than $5,000 can be
expended in total per calendar year under this clause by all licensed veterans organizations
sharing the same veterans post home;

(18) payment of fees authorized under this chapter imposed by the state of Minnesota
to conduct lawful gambling in Minnesota; or

(19) a contribution or expenditure to honor an individual's humanitarian service
as demonstrated through philanthropy or volunteerism to the United States, this state,
or local community.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), "lawful purpose" does not include:

(1) any expenditure made or incurred for the purpose of influencing the nomination
or election of a candidate for public office or for the purpose of promoting or defeating a
ballot question;

(2) any activity intended to influence an election or a governmental decision-making
process;

(3) the erection, acquisition, improvement, expansion, repair, or maintenance of real
property or capital assets owned or leased by an organization, unless the board has first
specifically authorized the expenditures after finding that (i) the real property or capital
assets will be used exclusively for one or more of the purposes in paragraph (a); (ii)
with respect to expenditures for repair or maintenance only, that the property is or will
be used extensively as a meeting place or event location by other nonprofit organizations
or community or service groups and that no rental fee is charged for the use; (iii) with
respect to expenditures, including a mortgage payment or other debt service payment,
for erection or acquisition only, that the erection or acquisition is necessary to replace
with a comparable building, a building owned by the organization and destroyed or
made uninhabitable by fire or catastrophe, provided that the expenditure may be only
for that part of the replacement cost not reimbursed by insurance; (iv) with respect to
expenditures, including a mortgage payment or other debt service payment, for erection or
acquisition only, that the erection or acquisition is necessary to replace with a comparable
building a building owned by the organization that was acquired from the organization by
eminent domain or sold by the organization to a purchaser that the organization reasonably
believed would otherwise have acquired the building by eminent domain, provided
that the expenditure may be only for that part of the replacement cost that exceeds the
compensation received by the organization for the building being replaced; or (v) with
respect to an expenditure to bring an existing building into compliance with the Americans
with Disabilities Act under item (ii), an organization has the option to apply the amount of
the board-approved expenditure to the erection or acquisition of a replacement building
that is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act;

(4) an expenditure by an organization which is a contribution to a parent
organization, foundation, or affiliate of the contributing organization, if the parent
organization, foundation, or affiliate has provided to the contributing organization within
one year of the contribution any money, grants, property, or other thing of value;

(5) a contribution by a licensed organization to another licensed organization unless
the board has specifically authorized the contribution. The board must authorize such a
contribution when requested to do so by the contributing organization unless it makes an
affirmative finding that the contribution will not be used by the recipient organization for
one or more of the purposes in paragraph (a); or

(6) a contribution to a statutory or home rule charter city, county, or town by a
licensed organization with the knowledge that the governmental unit intends to use the
contribution for a pension or retirement fund.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin Section 1 is effective July 1, 2008.
new text end