1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to economic development; providing for an 
  1.3             educational grant program; appropriating money; 
  1.4             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.5             chapter 126. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [126.58] [INTERNATIONAL CLASSROOM CONNECTION 
  1.8   GRANT PROGRAM.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [POLICY.] The legislature finds that a 
  1.10  policy of encouraging and fostering contacts between Minnesota 
  1.11  school children and people from other nations through classroom 
  1.12  connections helps to achieve several important goals including: 
  1.13     (1) increasing student sensitivity to issues of cultural 
  1.14  diversity; 
  1.15     (2) providing students with primary sources for the study 
  1.16  and understanding of the humanities, including history, 
  1.17  anthropology, geography, economics, peace, and other related 
  1.18  disciplines; and 
  1.19     (3) increasing awareness of the economic interdependence of 
  1.20  nations in the modern world, leading to long-term benefits for 
  1.21  Minnesota. 
  1.22     Subd. 2.  [GRANT PROGRAM.] An international classroom 
  1.23  connection grant program is established to provide grants to 
  1.24  organizations with ongoing international classroom connection 
  1.25  programs.  The commissioner shall set criteria to determine 
  2.1   eligible organizations and the size and distribution of the 
  2.2   grants. 
  2.3      Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.4      $75,000 is appropriated in fiscal year 1997 to the 
  2.5   department of children, families, and learning for the purposes 
  2.6   of section 1.