Relating to the organization, operation and financing of state government, appropriating money for jobs, housing and economic development purposes ARTICLE 1 APPROPRIATIONS Appropriating money to the commissioner of trade and economic development (DTED) for Minnesota investment fund grants, for grants to the rural policy and development center at Minnesota state university, Mankato, to the metropolitan economic development association, to nonprofit organizations for the startup and growth of self employment and microenterprise businesses, to the Blue Earth county rural advanced business facilitation program pilot project, to the city of St. Paul for the planning and design of the new Roy Wilkins auditorium and exhibit hall, to Minnesota rural partners, to the Albert Lea port authority for remodeling of a building in the Northaire industrial park, to the St. Paul port authority for the trout brook greenway corridor Trillium site, to a local government unit chosen as a site for a soybean oilseed processing and refining facility, to the city of Duluth for support of the development of the Duluth technology village, to the west central growth alliance for an economic development pilot project in Big Stone, Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Meeker, Renville, Stevens, Swift and Yellow Medicine counties, to the city of Ironton for Cuyuna range technology center planning costs and to the Neighborhood Development Center, Inc., for the Minnesota trade office, for the job skills partnership and pathways programs, for grants to Lifetrack resources for immigrant refugee collaborative job skills programs, to twin cities Rise for training for hard to train individuals and to WomenVenture for women's business development programs, for the office of tourism for development of maximum private sector involvement in tourism, for maximization of marketing grant benefits and for grants to the Mississippi River parkway commission to support the increased promotion of tourism along the great river road, to local government units and state or local nonprofit entities to plan and promote the grand excursion and to Koochiching county for a marketing feasibility study relating to construction of the big bear country education and logging center, for the film board, for operation of travel information centers, for information and analysis and for administrative support, to Minnesota Technology, Inc. for grants to Minnesota project innovation and to the Minnesota inventors congress, to the commissioner of economic security for workforce services including displaced homemaker, youth violence and truancy prevention and intervention, opportunities industrialization center and youthbuild programs, for extended employment services, for workplace HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) education, for grants to fund independent living centers for persons with disabilities, to programs providing employment support services to persons with mental illness and to the Minnesota employment center for deaf and hard of hearing people, for the vocational rehabilitation brain injury pilot program, for state services for the blind and for a report to the legislature on the costs and benefits of providing wage replacement during parental leave, to the housing finance agency (HFA) for the challenge program, for a grant to a nonprofit organization currently operating the CLEARCorps lead hazard reduction project, for rental assistance program for persons or families with mental illness, for the family homeless prevention and assistance and homeownership education, counseling and training programs, for full cycle home ownership services for non-English speaking persons, recent immigrants and historically underserved populations, for the housing trust, affordable rental investment and home ownership assistance funds, for the urban and tribal Indian housing programs, for capacity building grants, for the housing rehabilitation and accessibility and manufactured home park redevelopment programs, for the rental housing pilot program in Benton, Clay, Dakota, Hennepin, Olmsted, Ramsey, St. Louis, Sherburne and Stearns counties, for a grant for the development of supportive housing to provide independent living opportunities for adults with disabilities, for grants to section 8 administering agencies for establishment and operation of home ownership programs and for acquisition and rehabilitation or construction of homes for resale to eligible households and for homeless veterans housing loans or grants, to the commissioner of children, families and learning for emergency services grants, to the investment board for investment in Minnesota based startup businesses, to the commissioner of commerce for financial examinations, for the petroleum tank release cleanup board, for administrative services, for enforcement and compliance, for energy efficiency and weatherization programs, for telecommunications and for weights and measures, to the boards of accountancy, architecture, engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience and interior design and barber examiners, to the commissioner of labor and industry for workers compensation, for workplace services including labor education and advancement program grants and for general support, to the bureau of mediation services for mediation services and for labor management cooperation grants, to the workers compensation court of appeals, to the public utilities commission (PUC), to the Minnesota historical society for operating expenses at the Northwest fur company post and the Mill City museum at St. Anthony Falls, for preservation and access, for the Sibley house association, for the Minnesota international center, for the air national guard and military museums, for the institute for learning and teaching project 120, for Farmamerica and for the Little Elk heritage preserve, to the councils on black Minnesotans, Chicano-Latino affairs and Asian-Pacific Minnesotans and the Indian affairs council; specifying certain match requirements; providing for certain fund transfers and for the continued availability of certain appropriations; approving certain department and agency requests to spend federal grants and aids ARTICLE 2 POLICY PROVISIONSTerminating the authority of the Indian affairs council to adopt, amend or repeal rules or to adjudicate contested cases or appeals;expanding the purpose of the Minnesota investment fund relating to creation or retention of permanent private sector jobs; increasing and modifying the membership of the job skills partnership board and imposing certain term limits, requiring the department of trade and economic development (DTED) to provide office space and staff for the board, requiring the hiring of an executive director, requiring board development of performance standards for workforce development and job training programs receiving state funding, specifying certain legislative recommendation requirements, expanding the authorized uses of distance work grants, establishing a state dislocated worker program to be administered by the board and transferring administration of the workforce development fund from the commissioner of economic security to the board, eliminating certain allocation requirements; requiring and providing for paid leaves of absence for employees undergoing organ donation procedures; removing search firms from regulation as employment agencies; expanding the definition of qualified hydroelectric facility, modifying the definition of qualified wind energy conversion facility and defining and including qualified on-farm biogas recovery facilities and anaerobic digester systems under the renewable energy production incentive program; reducing the unemployment benefits federal income tax withholding percentage; requiring the executive committee of the workforce development council to develop performance standards and a strategic plan for the state workforce centers, specifying certain reporting requirements; authorizing and providing for the metropolitan council to establish a separate governing body to exercise delegated housing and redevelopment authority (HRA) powers; extending certain civil service pilot projects; requiring the job skills partnership board to operate a pilot project to provide training for certain low income workers; establishing the unemployment insurance technology initiative for unemployment insurance services enhancement purposes, temporarily suspending the special assessment for the workforce development fund and imposing a workforce enhancement fee on taxable wages to be divided between the workforce development fund and the unemployment insurance technology initiative account to be created in the special revenue fund, reducing the base unemployment tax on taxable wages, sunset; designating the Little Elk heritage preserve in Morrison county as a historic site; authorizing the city of Anoka to transfer the balance in the library fund to the Anoka county historical society; approving the proposed fee increase of the board of accountancy; requiring the department of labor and industry in developing an electronic reporting system for workers compensation to conform to a certain data dictionary; requiring the conservation investment obligation of municipal utilities to temporarily exclude revenues attributable to electricity purchased from certain public utilities or cooperative electric associations; providing for the retroactivity of contracts encumbered or grants awarded by state agencies before a certain date; repealing certain plant closing and dislocated worker provisions ARTICLE 3 REORGANIZATION OF DEPARTMENTSAbolishing the department of economic security and transferring the responsibilities of the department relating to employment, workforce and youth services to the department of trade and economic development and the responsibility for energy programs to the department of commerce; reorganizing DTED, creating a division of economic development and housing the job skills partnership program with a policy, research and evaluation unit within the department; creating a temporary workforce development reorganization transition advisory team to make recommendations to the governor and the legislature by a certain date on state government structure and department organization for the delivery of workforce development programs, specifying team membership and consultation requirements and duties, granting the team access to private or nonpublic data within the departments of economic security, labor and industry and trade and economic development, worker protection clause ARTICLE 4 HOUSING PROGRAM AND TECHNICAL CHANGESMaking technical amendments to certain provisions under the Minnesota housing finance agency law of 1971; authorizing the HFA to waive certain requirements relating to renting housing units to low income persons in certain smaller developments occupied by the owner; lengthening a certain rehabilitation loan forgiveness time limit; authorizing aggregation of investment earnings in the housing development fund and authorizing costs and expenses relating to the development and operation of programs funded by state appropriations to be paid from the aggregated earnings before periodic distributions of earnings to separate accounts; requiring the HFA to establish a manufactured home park redevelopment program for manufactured home park redevelopment grants or loans to cities, counties or community action programs, specifying certain authorized grant or loan uses and household eligibility requirements, requiring a preference for certain low income households and inclusion in the annual program assessment; clarifying certain elements of the rental housing assistance (bridges) program, authorizing project based rental assistance; authorizing the agency to spend money from the housing development fund for the family stabilization demonstration project and for the manufactured home park redevelopment program and to establish a disaster relief contingency fund for loans or grants to assist with the rehabilitation or replacement of housing in presidentially declared major disaster areas; requiring new construction of single family homes, duplexes, triplexes and multilevel townhouses financed by the agency to incorporate basic visitability into the design and construction, defining visitability; requiring the HFA to study inclusionary housing statutes and ordinances and report to the legislature by a certain date on implementation; expanding eligibility for the Bruce F. Vento year 2000 affordable housing program relating to the loss of eligibility for the Minnesota family investment program (MFIP); repealing certain redundant definitions ARTICLE 5 HOUSING PROGRAM CONSOLIDATIONConsolidating supportive housing related programs into the housing trust fund program; modifying a certain provision providing for housing finance agency grants for low income housing, requiring the housing trust fund account to be used for the benefit of certain low income persons and families and rental assistance to be provided by governmental units administering housing assistance supplements or by for-profit or nonprofit organizations experienced in housing management, specifying certain limits and priorities; reducing the frequency of and expanding the content requirements for the HFA report to the governor and legislature on the account; changing the full cycle home ownership services program to the homeownership education, counseling and training program and expanding program services and eligibility criteria, requiring the HFA to consider certain criteria in selecting organizations eligible for the funds, requiring designated program areas, communities or neighborhoods, providing for assistance and counseling to prevent mortgage foreclosures or cancellations of contracts for deed, requiring annual nonprofit organization reports to the agency and agency reports to the legislature; authorizing the HFA to spend money from the housing development fund for the economic development and housing challenge program and expanding the purposes of the grant and loan program, providing for gap financing, eliminating certain preference requirements and modifying certain income limits; repealing the housing trust fund account advisory committee, the mortgage foreclosure prevention and emergency rental assistance and entry cost home ownership opportunity programs and certain provisions under the economic development and housing challenge program ARTICLE 6 PUBLIC SERVICE CONSOLIDATIONCodifying a certain reorganization order transferring remaining powers, rights, duties and responsibilities of the commissioner of public service to the commissioner of commerce; increasing the number of free copies of Minnesota statutes required to be distributed to the department of commerce; making certain other technical corrections relating to the transfer of powers and duties from the department of public service to the public utilities commission (PUC) and the department of transportation (DOT); modifying inspection requirements for grocery stores and other retail food establishments; specifying certain word change instructions to the revisor of statutes (Ch. 4, 2001 First Special Session)