1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; removing expiration of 
  1.3             commissioner's referendum date authority; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 126C.17, subdivision 
  1.5             11. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 126C.17, 
  1.8   subdivision 11, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 11.  [REFERENDUM DATE.] In addition to the referenda 
  1.10  allowed in subdivision 9, clause (a), the commissioner may 
  1.11  authorize a referendum for a different day.  
  1.12     (a) The commissioner may grant authority to a district to 
  1.13  hold a referendum on a different day if the district is in 
  1.14  statutory operating debt and has an approved plan or has 
  1.15  received an extension from the department to file a plan to 
  1.16  eliminate the statutory operating debt.  
  1.17     (b) The commissioner may grant authority for a district to 
  1.18  hold a referendum on a different day if:  (1) the district will 
  1.19  conduct a bond election under chapter 475 on that same day; and 
  1.20  (2) the proceeds of the referendum will provide only additional 
  1.21  operating revenue complementing the purpose for which bonding 
  1.22  authority is sought.  The commissioner may only grant authority 
  1.23  under this paragraph if the district demonstrates to the 
  1.24  commissioner's satisfaction that the district's ability to 
  1.25  operate the new facility or achieve efficiencies with the 
  2.1   purchases connected to the proceeds of the bond sale will be 
  2.2   significantly affected if the operating referendum is not 
  2.3   conducted until the November general election.  Authority under 
  2.4   this paragraph expires November 30, 1998. 
  2.5      (c) The commissioner must approve, deny, or modify each 
  2.6   district's request for a referendum levy on a different day 
  2.7   within 60 days of receiving the request from a district.