HF 61

1st Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; modifying use of personal
sick leave benefits; establishing an Internet-based
caregiver support program; establishing a home care
tax credit; appropriating money; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2004, sections 181.9413; 256B.0911,
subdivision 3; 256B.0917, by adding subdivisions;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 290.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 181.9413, is
amended to read:

181.9413 SICK OR INJURED CHILD CARE LEAVE BENEFITS; USE TO
CARE FOR CERTAIN RELATIVES.

(a) An employee may use personal sick leave benefits
provided by the employer for absences due to an illness of or
injury to the employee's child, spouse, sibling, parent,
grandparent, or stepparent for such reasonable periods as the
employee's attendance with the child may be necessary, on the
same terms upon which the employee is able to use sick leave
benefits for the employee's own illness or injury. This section
applies only to personal sick leave benefits payable to the
employee from the employer's general assets.

(b) For purposes of this section, "personal sick leave
benefits" means time accrued and available to an employee to be
used as a result of absence from work due to personal illness or
injury, but does not include short-term or long-term disability
or other salary continuation benefits.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective August 1, 2005,
and applies to sick leave used on or after that date.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 256B.0911,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Long-term care consultation team.

(a) A
long-term care consultation team shall be established by the
county board of commissioners. Each local consultation team
shall consist of at least one social worker and at least one
public health nurse from their respective county agencies. The
board may designate public health or social services as the lead
agency for long-term care consultation services. If a county
does not have a public health nurse available, it may request
approval from the commissioner to assign a county registered
nurse with at least one year experience in home care to
participate on the team. Two or more counties may collaborate
to establish a joint local consultation team or teams.

(b) The team is responsible for providing long-term care
consultation services to all persons located in the county who
request the services, regardless of eligibility for Minnesota
health care programs.

(c) For applicants for a credit under section 290.0676, the
team must certify in accordance with procedures established by
the commissioner that the care provided by the caregiver:

(1) qualifies as personal care assistant services under
section 256B.0627, subdivision 4;

(2) is needed and provided in person on a daily basis;

(3) is appropriate based on the service recipient's needs
and is likely to delay or avoid transferring the person to an
out-of-home placement; and

(4) has been given a score using the caregiver burden scale
under section 256B.0917, subdivision 6b.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 256B.0917, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:

Subd. 6a.

Internet-based caregiver support program.

The
Minnesota Board on Aging shall develop and implement an
Internet-based caregiver support program. The goal of the
program shall be to provide family caregivers with the
information and tools needed to self-manage, plan, purchase,
coordinate, monitor, and evaluate the day-to-day activities and
care outcomes of family members to whom they provide care. The
program must complement Internet-based information services that
are currently available. The program must include the following
components:

(1) direct connectivity to statewide systems, including,
but not limited to, Senior LinkAge Line, MinnesotaHelp.info,
RXConnect, and long-term care consultation and to vendors and
providers of goods and services, including, but not limited to,
respite care, coach services, pharmaceutical vendors, medical
supply vendors, grocers, personal care vendors, and electronic
assistive technology vendors;

(2) access to online resources, including connectivity to
daily living and clinical monitoring devices and audio and
visual contact between the care recipient, the caregiver,
services providers, and others for tracking or conducting
service visits, care meetings, and other service provisions;

(3) message boards related to caregiver news, information,
and events;

(4) data collection, including surveys, and reporting and
registration functions as required by state and federal
programs; and

(5) an individual data profile accessible by designated
parties to view, add, share, or edit information as needed to
support informal caregiving.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 256B.0917, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:

Subd. 6b.

Duties with respect to home care credit;
applications.

(a) The commissioner shall develop by December 1,
2005, a caregiver burden scale to score applicants for the home
care credit under section 290.0676. The score shall measure
hours per week of care provided, the volume and types of
assistance provided, and other criteria determined by the
commissioner to be pertinent.

(b) Each caregiver applying for a credit under section
290.0676 must apply to the commissioner. The commissioner shall
rank applicants on the score developed under paragraph (a). The
commissioner shall limit approvals under this paragraph in order
to keep the credit payments under section 290.0676 within the
limits of appropriations made specifically for this purpose.

(c) In each calendar year, the commissioner shall accept
until February 15 applications for a caregiver burden scale
score for the previous calendar year. By March 15 of each
calendar year, the commissioner must issue approvals for credits
under section 290.0676, based on each applicant's score on the
scale and the appropriations available for credits. The
commissioner may develop procedures to delegate to appropriate
organizations the responsibility to assign burden scale scores
to applicants.

(d) The commissioner shall be exempt from chapter 14 for
purposes of this subdivision.

Sec. 5.

[290.0676] MINNESOTA HOME CARE CREDIT.

Subdivision 1.

Definitions.

The terms used in this
section have the following meanings unless otherwise provided
for by text.

Subd. 2.

Caregiver.

"Caregiver" means an individual who
provides unpaid assistance on a daily basis that qualifies as
personal care assistant services under section 256B.0627,
subdivision 4, to a service recipient in either the individual's
home or the service recipient's home.

Subd. 3.

Service recipient.

"Service recipient" means an
individual age 65 or older who:

(1) is the spouse, parent, stepparent, sibling,
stepsibling, child, stepchild, grandparent, or stepgrandparent
of the taxpayer;

(2) does not reside in a setting licensed or registered by
the commissioner of health or human services; and

(3) has been screened by a county long-term care
consultation team and determined by that team to be eligible for
placement in a nursing home.

Subd. 4.

Credit allowed.

(a) An individual is allowed a
credit against the tax imposed by this chapter equal to $200 for
each month during the tax year that the individual is a
caregiver for a service recipient. The maximum credit in a tax
year shall be $2,400.

(b) The commissioner shall require individuals claiming the
credit to certify that the individual and the service recipient
satisfy all the requirements of this section.

(c) An individual may claim only one credit in any tax year.
Only one credit may be claimed for each service recipient in any
tax year.

(d) For a nonresident or part-year resident, the credit
must be allocated based on the percentage calculated under
section 290.06, subdivision 2c, paragraph (e).

Subd. 5.

Credit limitations.

(a) Eligibility for the
credit in subdivision 4 is limited to persons with total
household income, as defined in section 290A.03, subdivision 5,
that does not exceed the maximum household income level eligible
for a refund under section 290A.04, subdivision 2.

(b) Eligibility for the credit in subdivision 4 is limited
to persons who have been approved by the commissioner of human
services under section 256B.0917, subdivision 6b.

(c) The credit in subdivision 4 is reduced to $100 for any
month in which a service recipient receives more than four hours
per day on average of federal, state, or county-funded home care
services as specified in section 256B.0627, subdivision 2.

Subd. 6.

Credit refundable.

If the amount of the credit
under this section exceeds the individual's tax liability under
this chapter, the commissioner shall refund the excess amount to
the claimant.

Subd. 7.

Caregiver training.

For each year in which a
credit is claimed under this section, the caregiver must attend
at least eight hours of (1) caregiver training, education, or
counseling, or (2) caregiver support group sessions.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for taxable
years beginning after December 31, 2004.

Sec. 6. APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning July
1, 2005, for the purposes of section 2.

(b) $750,000 in fiscal year 2006 and $200,000 in fiscal
year 2007 are appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of human services for the purposes of section 3.

(c) $4,800,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of revenue for the biennium beginning July 1, 2005,
for purposes of section 5.