1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to state government; classifying certain data 
  1.3             of the economic security department; modifying plain 
  1.4             language requirements; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.5             1994, section 268.0124. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 268.0124, is 
  1.8   amended to read: 
  1.9      268.0124 [PLAIN LANGUAGE IN WRITTEN MATERIALS.] 
  1.10     (a) To the extent reasonable and consistent with the goals 
  1.11  of providing easily understandable and readable materials and 
  1.12  complying with federal and state laws governing the programs, 
  1.13  all written materials relating to services and determinations of 
  1.14  eligibility for or amounts of benefits that will be given to 
  1.15  applicants for or recipients of assistance under a program 
  1.16  administered or supervised by the commissioner of economic 
  1.17  security must be understandable to a person who reads at the 
  1.18  seventh-grade level, using the Flesch scale analysis readability 
  1.19  score as determined under section 72C.09 of average intelligence 
  1.20  and education. 
  1.21     (b) All written materials relating to determinations of 
  1.22  eligibility for or amounts of benefits that will be given to 
  1.23  applicants for or recipients of assistance under programs 
  1.24  administered or supervised by the commissioner of economic 
  1.25  security must be developed to satisfy the plain language 
  2.1   requirements of the plain language contract act under sections 
  2.2   325G.29 to 325G.36.  Materials may be submitted to the attorney 
  2.3   general for review and certification.  Notwithstanding section 
  2.4   325G.35, subdivision 1, the attorney general shall review 
  2.5   submitted materials to determine whether they comply with the 
  2.6   requirements of section 325G.31.  The remedies available 
  2.7   pursuant to sections 8.31 and 325G.33 to 325G.36 do not apply to 
  2.8   these materials.  Failure to comply with this section does not 
  2.9   provide a basis for suspending the implementation or operation 
  2.10  of other laws governing programs administered by the 
  2.11  commissioner. 
  2.12     (c) The requirements of this section apply to all materials 
  2.13  modified or developed by the commissioner on or after July 1, 
  2.14  1988.  The requirements of this section do not apply to 
  2.15  materials that must be submitted to a federal agency for 
  2.16  approval, to the extent that application of the requirements 
  2.17  prevents federal approval. 
  2.18     (d) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit a 
  2.19  lawsuit brought to require the commissioner to comply with this 
  2.20  section or to affect individual appeal rights granted pursuant 
  2.21  to section 268.10. 
  2.22     (e) The commissioner shall report annually to the chairs of 
  2.23  the health and human services divisions of the senate finance 
  2.24  committee and the house of representatives appropriations 
  2.25  committee on the number and outcome of cases that raise the 
  2.26  issue of the commissioner's compliance with this section.