1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to housing; creating the nursing home 
  1.3             facility conversion loan program; creating a nursing 
  1.4             home grant program; appropriating money; proposing 
  1.5             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 462A.
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [462A.34] [NURSING HOME FACILITY CONVERSION 
  1.8   LOAN PROGRAM.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [CREATION.] The nursing home facility 
  1.10  conversion loan program is created to be administered by the 
  1.11  commissioner.  The nursing home facility conversion revolving 
  1.12  loan fund account is created in the housing development fund.  
  1.13  The commissioner may make loans to nursing home facilities from 
  1.14  the nursing home facility conversion revolving loan fund account 
  1.15  for capital and other costs, including, but not limited to, 
  1.16  start-up and training costs, related to the conversion of a 
  1.17  nursing home facility to an assisted-living facility or other 
  1.18  living alternatives to nursing home facility care.  The 
  1.19  commissioner must seek the advisory recommendation of the 
  1.20  interagency committee created by section 144A.31 before making a 
  1.21  loan under this section.  
  1.22     A loan may not be used to expand a current building except: 
  1.23     (1) for additional space required to accommodate related 
  1.24  supportive services, such as dining rooms, kitchen and 
  1.25  recreation areas, or other community use areas; or 
  2.1      (2) if new construction of assisted living units, which 
  2.2   would expand parameters of the existing building, is more cost 
  2.3   effective than the conversion of existing space.  
  2.4   A facility seeking expansion must agree that a specified number 
  2.5   of existing nursing facility beds will not continue to be 
  2.6   licensed. 
  2.7      The commissioner shall establish an application process for 
  2.8   loans which may utilize other application processes administered 
  2.9   by the commissioner.  Denial of approval of an application in 
  2.10  one year does not preclude submission of an application in a 
  2.11  subsequent year. 
  2.12     Subd. 2.  [ELIGIBILITY.] A nursing home facility that is 
  2.13  currently enrolled as a nursing home facility provider with the 
  2.14  Medicaid program is eligible to apply for a nursing home 
  2.15  facility conversion loan. 
  2.16     Subd. 3.  [LOAN PREFERENCE.] Loan applications must be 
  2.17  considered in the following descending order of priority: 
  2.18     (1) nursing home facility conversion of all beds; 
  2.19     (2) nursing home facility partial conversion of beds; and 
  2.20     (3) nursing home facility for conversion to other 
  2.21  alternatives to nursing home facility care. 
  2.22     Subd. 4.  [LOAN TERMS.] Loans may be made at market rates 
  2.23  or below market rates for a term of up to 15 years.  Loans shall 
  2.24  be fully amortized and repayments must be made monthly over the 
  2.25  term of the loan.  Loans shall be secured or unsecured.  All 
  2.26  loan repayments, including interest, must be deposited in the 
  2.27  nursing home facility conversion revolving loan fund account and 
  2.28  are appropriated to the commissioner for the purposes of this 
  2.29  section.  
  2.30     Subd. 5.  [GRANTS.] The commissioner may use money in the 
  2.31  revolving fund to make grants of up to $100,000 to a facility to 
  2.32  plan for a project that would be eligible for a loan under this 
  2.33  section.  No more than five grants may be made in a calendar 
  2.34  year. 
  2.35     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.36     $....... is appropriated in fiscal year 2001 from the 
  3.1   general fund to the commissioner of the Minnesota housing 
  3.2   finance agency for transfer to the housing development fund for 
  3.3   the nursing home facility conversion revolving loan program 
  3.4   created in section 1.