1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to agencies of state government; abolishing 
  1.3             the department of public service; establishing a 
  1.4             successor agency; proposing coding for new law as 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 216E. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE ABOLISHED; 
  1.8   RESPONSIBILITIES TRANSFERRED.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [DEPARTMENT ABOLISHED; RESPONSIBILITIES 
  1.10  TRANSFERRED.] The department of public service is abolished.  
  1.11  The responsibilities held by the department are transferred to 
  1.12  the public utilities agency, unless otherwise specified in this 
  1.13  act.  Except as otherwise provided by this act, the 
  1.14  responsibilities of the department must be transferred under 
  1.15  Minnesota Statutes, section 15.039.  For the purposes of this 
  1.16  act, "responsibilities" means the powers, duties, rights, 
  1.17  obligations, rules, court actions, contracts, records, property 
  1.18  of every description, unexpended funds, personnel, and authority 
  1.19  imposed by law of the department of public service. 
  1.20     Subd. 2.  [SPECIFIC POSITIONS ABOLISHED.] The following 
  1.21  positions in the department of public service are not 
  1.22  transferred to a receiving agency and are specifically abolished:
  1.23     (1) commissioner; 
  1.24     (2) deputy commissioner; 
  1.25     (3) assistant commissioner; and 
  2.1      (4) executive assistant. 
  2.2      Subd. 3.  [ATTORNEY GENERAL.] The responsibility for 
  2.3   intervention as a party in all public utility and 
  2.4   telecommunications matters before the public utilities 
  2.5   commission is transferred to the attorney general's office. 
  2.6      Subd. 4.  [RULES.] All rules adopted by the department of 
  2.7   public service before the effective date of this section become 
  2.8   rules of the public utilities agency. 
  2.9      Sec. 2.  [UNIFIED REGULATORY AND ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE.] 
  2.10     By October 15, 1995, the commissioner of the department of 
  2.11  public service and the chair of the public utilities commission 
  2.12  shall jointly submit to the legislature a plan for a unified 
  2.13  regulatory and administrative structure incorporating the 
  2.14  remaining functions and responsibilities of the department of 
  2.15  public service and public utilities commission.  The plan shall 
  2.16  provide for: 
  2.17     (1) the transfer of the public utilities commission to the 
  2.18  public utilities agency; 
  2.19     (2) an administrative structure which will provide for the 
  2.20  greatest possible independence of the public utilities 
  2.21  commission within the public utilities agency; 
  2.22     (3) the assignment to the public utilities commission of 
  2.23  such duties and responsibilities as are quasi-judicial in 
  2.24  nature; 
  2.25     (4) the joint provision of, administrative and support 
  2.26  services including, but not limited to, personnel, purchasing, 
  2.27  budgeting, information systems, and other such services; 
  2.28     (5) a reduction in staffing levels, from the existing staff 
  2.29  of both the department and the commission, to achieve the 
  2.30  expected savings from the unified structure; 
  2.31     (6) a recommendation for changes in the statutory 
  2.32  provisions, and recodification of such provisions in chapter 
  2.33  216E, regarding the department and the commission necessary to 
  2.34  carry out the policies of this act, including the identification 
  2.35  of obsolete, redundant, or unnecessary functions that are 
  2.36  currently required of the department or the commission; and 
  3.1      (7) recommendations regarding the appropriate number of 
  3.2   commissioners on the public utilities commission within the 
  3.3   agency. 
  3.4      Sec. 3.  [216E.01] [THE PUBLIC UTILITIES AGENCY.] 
  3.5      There is hereby created and established the public 
  3.6   utilities agency, which shall have and possess all of the rights 
  3.7   and powers and perform all of the duties vested in it by this 
  3.8   chapter. 
  3.9      Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.10     Sections 1 and 3 are effective on July 1, 1996.  Section 2 
  3.11  is effective on the day following final enactment.