SF 1940

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

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the Metropolitan Airports Commission; 
  1.3             requiring senate confirmation of the chair; providing 
  1.4             a residency requirement and for terms of office; 
  1.5             creating a nominating committee; modifying a reporting 
  1.6             requirement; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, 
  1.7             sections 473.123, subdivisions 2a, 3; 473.604, 
  1.8             subdivision 1; 473.621, subdivision 1b. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 473.123, 
  1.11  subdivision 2a, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 2a.  [TERMS.] Following each apportionment of council 
  1.13  districts, as provided under subdivision 3a, council members 
  1.14  must be appointed from newly drawn districts as provided in 
  1.15  subdivision 3a.  At the time of appointment, each council 
  1.16  member, other than the chair, must reside in the council 
  1.17  district represented and must have resided in the council 
  1.18  district for at least six months and in the state for at least 
  1.19  one year immediately preceding the appointment.  Each council 
  1.20  district must be represented by one member of the council.  The 
  1.21  terms of members end with the term of the governor, except that 
  1.22  all terms expire on the effective date of the next 
  1.23  apportionment.  A member serves at the pleasure of the 
  1.24  governor.  A member shall continue to serve the member's 
  1.25  district until a successor is appointed and qualified; except 
  1.26  that, following each apportionment, the member shall continue to 
  1.27  serve at large until the governor appoints 16 council members, 
  2.1   one from each of the newly drawn council districts as provided 
  2.2   under subdivision 3a, to serve terms as provided under this 
  2.3   section.  The appointment to the council must be made by the 
  2.4   first Monday in March of the year in which the term ends.  
  2.5      [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective January 1, 2007.
  2.6      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 473.123, 
  2.7   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.8      Subd. 3.  [MEMBERSHIP; APPOINTMENT; QUALIFICATIONS.] (a) 
  2.9   Sixteen members must be appointed by the governor from districts 
  2.10  defined by this section.  At the time of appointment, each 
  2.11  council member must reside in the council district 
  2.12  represented and must have resided in the council district for at 
  2.13  least six months and in the state for at least one year 
  2.14  immediately preceding the appointment.  Each council district 
  2.15  must be represented by one member of the council. 
  2.16     (b) In addition to the notice required by section 15.0597, 
  2.17  subdivision 4, notice of vacancies and expiration of terms must 
  2.18  be published in newspapers of general circulation in the 
  2.19  metropolitan area and the appropriate districts.  The governing 
  2.20  bodies of the statutory and home rule charter cities, counties, 
  2.21  and towns having territory in the district for which a member is 
  2.22  to be appointed must be notified in writing.  The notices must 
  2.23  describe the appointments process and invite participation and 
  2.24  recommendations on the appointment.  
  2.25     (c) The governor shall create a nominating committee, 
  2.26  composed of seven metropolitan citizens appointed by the 
  2.27  governor, to nominate persons for appointment to the council 
  2.28  from districts.  Three of the committee members must be local 
  2.29  elected officials.  Following the submission of applications as 
  2.30  provided under section 15.0597, subdivision 5, the nominating 
  2.31  committee shall conduct public meetings, after appropriate 
  2.32  notice, to accept statements from or on behalf of persons who 
  2.33  have applied or been nominated for appointment and to allow 
  2.34  consultation with and secure the advice of the public and local 
  2.35  elected officials.  The committee shall hold the meeting on each 
  2.36  appointment in the district or in a reasonably convenient and 
  3.1   accessible location in the part of the metropolitan area in 
  3.2   which the district is located.  The committee may consolidate 
  3.3   meetings.  Following the meetings, the committee shall submit to 
  3.4   the governor a list of nominees for each appointment.  The 
  3.5   governor is not required to appoint from the list.  
  3.6      (d) Before making an appointment, the governor shall 
  3.7   consult with all members of the legislature from the council 
  3.8   district for which the member is to be appointed.  
  3.9      (e) Appointments to the council are subject to the advice 
  3.10  and consent of the senate as provided in section 15.066. 
  3.11     (f) Members of the council must be appointed to reflect 
  3.12  fairly the various demographic, political, and other interests 
  3.13  in the metropolitan area and the districts.  
  3.14     (g) Members of the council must be persons knowledgeable 
  3.15  about urban and metropolitan affairs. 
  3.16     (h) Any vacancy in the office of a council member shall 
  3.17  immediately be filled for the unexpired term.  In filling a 
  3.18  vacancy, the governor may forgo the requirements of paragraph 
  3.19  (c) if the governor has made appointments in full compliance 
  3.20  with the requirements of this subdivision within the preceding 
  3.21  12 months. 
  3.22     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective January 1, 2007.
  3.23     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 473.604, 
  3.24  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.25     Subdivision 1.  [COMPOSITION.] (a) The commission consists 
  3.26  of: 
  3.27     (1) the mayor of each of the cities, or a qualified voter 
  3.28  appointed by the mayor, for the term of office as mayor; 
  3.29     (2) eight members, appointed by the governor, one from each 
  3.30  of the following agency districts: 
  3.31     (i) district A, consisting of council districts 1 and 2; 
  3.32     (ii) district B, consisting of council districts 3 and 4; 
  3.33     (iii) district C, consisting of council districts 5 and 6; 
  3.34     (iv) district D, consisting of council districts 7 and 8; 
  3.35     (v) district E, consisting of council districts 9 and 10; 
  3.36     (vi) district F, consisting of council districts 11 and 12; 
  4.1      (vii) district G, consisting of council districts 13 and 
  4.2   14; and 
  4.3      (viii) district H, consisting of council districts 15 and 
  4.4   16. 
  4.5   At the time of appointment, each member shall be a resident of 
  4.6   the district represented and must have been a resident of the 
  4.7   district for at least six months and of the state for at least 
  4.8   one year immediately preceding the appointment.  The terms of 
  4.9   the members from districts A, B, F, and H expire on January 1, 
  4.10  2007.  The terms of the members from districts C, D, E, and G 
  4.11  expire on January 5, 2009.  The successors of each member must 
  4.12  be appointed to four-year terms.  Before making an appointment, 
  4.13  the governor shall consult with each member of the legislature 
  4.14  from the district for which the member is to be appointed, to 
  4.15  solicit the legislator's recommendation on the appointment; 
  4.16     (3) four members appointed by the governor from outside of 
  4.17  the metropolitan area to reflect fairly the various regions and 
  4.18  interests throughout the state that are affected by the 
  4.19  operation of the commission's major airport and airport system.  
  4.20  Two of these members must be residents of statutory or home rule 
  4.21  charter cities, towns, or counties containing an airport 
  4.22  designated by the commissioner of transportation as a key 
  4.23  airport.  The other two must be residents of statutory or home 
  4.24  rule charter cities, towns, or counties containing an airport 
  4.25  designated by the commissioner of transportation as an 
  4.26  intermediate airport.  The members must be appointed by the 
  4.27  governor as follows:  one for a term of one year, one for a term 
  4.28  of two years, one for a term of three years, and one for a term 
  4.29  of four years.  All of the terms start on July 1, 1989 one 
  4.30  member representing a key airport and one member representing an 
  4.31  intermediate airport for terms that expire on January 1, 2007; 
  4.32  and one member representing a key airport and one member 
  4.33  representing an intermediate airport for terms that expire on 
  4.34  January 5, 2009.  The successors of each member must be 
  4.35  appointed to four-year terms commencing on the first Monday in 
  4.36  January of each fourth year after the expiration of the original 
  5.1   term.  Before making an appointment, the governor shall consult 
  5.2   each member of the legislature representing the municipality or 
  5.3   county from which the member is to be appointed, to solicit the 
  5.4   legislator's recommendation on the appointment; and 
  5.5      (4) a chair appointed by the governor for a term of four 
  5.6   years.  The chair may be removed at the pleasure of the governor.
  5.7   Effective January 2007, the appointment of the chair is subject 
  5.8   to the advice and consent of the senate as provided in section 
  5.9   15.066. 
  5.10     (b) The commissioner of transportation shall create a 
  5.11  nominating committee, composed of 15 members appointed by the 
  5.12  commissioner.  The nominating committee consists of:  the 
  5.13  director of aeronautics, who is the chair; a representative of a 
  5.14  major airline at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport; a 
  5.15  representative of a major airline union at Minneapolis-St. Paul 
  5.16  International Airport; a representative of each reliever 
  5.17  airport; and a representative of each of the cities of 
  5.18  Minneapolis, St. Paul, Richfield, Bloomington, Mendota Heights, 
  5.19  and Eagan.  The nominating committee shall oversee the 
  5.20  nominating process for the 12 members of the commission 
  5.21  appointed by the governor.  Following the submission of 
  5.22  applications as provided under section 15.0597, subdivision 5, 
  5.23  the nominating committee shall conduct public meetings, after 
  5.24  appropriate notice, to accept statements from or on behalf of 
  5.25  persons who have applied or been nominated for appointment and 
  5.26  to allow consultation with and secure the advice of the public.  
  5.27  Following the meetings, the committee shall submit to the 
  5.28  governor the list of applicants, with comments, for each 
  5.29  appointment. 
  5.30     (c) In addition to the notice required by section 15.0597, 
  5.31  subdivision 4, notice of vacancies and expiration of terms must 
  5.32  be published in newspapers of general circulation in the 
  5.33  metropolitan area and the appropriate districts and in aviation 
  5.34  oriented publications published in the state.  The notices must 
  5.35  describe the appointments process and invite participation and 
  5.36  recommendations on the appointment. 
  6.1      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 473.621, 
  6.2   subdivision 1b, is amended to read: 
  6.3      Subd. 1b.  [ANNUAL REPORT TO LEGISLATURE.] The corporation 
  6.4   shall report to the legislature under section 3.195 and 
  6.5   specifically to the house of representatives and senate 
  6.6   committees with jurisdiction over aviation issues by February 15 
  6.7   of each year concerning operations at Minneapolis-St. Paul 
  6.8   International Airport each airport in the metropolitan airports 
  6.9   system.  The report must include the number of aircraft 
  6.10  operations and passenger enplanements at the airport in the 
  6.11  preceding year, current airport capacity in terms of operations 
  6.12  and passenger enplanements, average length of delay statistics, 
  6.13  and technological developments affecting aviation and their 
  6.14  effect on operations and capacity at the airport.  The report 
  6.15  must include information in all the foregoing categories as it 
  6.16  relates to operations at Wayne County Metropolitan Airport in 
  6.17  Detroit.  The report must compare the number of passenger 
  6.18  enplanements and the number of aircraft operations with the 1993 
  6.19  Metropolitan Airports Commission baseline forecasts of total 
  6.20  passengers and total aircraft operations.  The report must 
  6.21  include the commission's proposed operating and capital budgets, 
  6.22  capital improvement program, a review of rates and other charges 
  6.23  set by the commission, aircraft operations, based aircraft and 
  6.24  status of major development programs at each reliever airport.