1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to employment; modifying state dislocated 
  1.3             worker program provisions; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.4             2002, sections 116L.01, subdivision 1; 116L.05, 
  1.5             subdivision 4; 116L.17, subdivisions 1, 4, 5, 6; 
  1.6             176.011, subdivisions 15, 16; Minnesota Statutes 2003 
  1.7             Supplement, section 116L.17, subdivisions 2, 3; 
  1.8             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.9             chapter 116L; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2002, 
  1.10            sections 116L.04, subdivision 4; 116L.17, subdivision 
  1.11            7. 
  1.12  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.13     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116L.01, 
  1.14  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.15     Subdivision 1.  [GENERALLY.] For the purposes of this 
  1.16  chapter sections 116L.01 to 116L.17, the terms defined in this 
  1.17  section have the meanings given them. 
  1.18     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116L.05, 
  1.19  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.20     Subd. 4.  [LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS.] By January 15 of 
  1.21  each odd-numbered year, the board must submit recommendations to 
  1.22  the house and senate committees with jurisdiction over workforce 
  1.23  development programs, regarding modifications to, or elimination 
  1.24  of, existing workforce development programs under the board's 
  1.25  oversight and the potential implementation of new programs.  The 
  1.26  recommendations must include recommendations regarding funding 
  1.27  levels and sources. 
  1.28     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116L.17, 
  2.1   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.2      Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) For the purposes of this 
  2.3   section, the following terms have the meanings given them in 
  2.4   this subdivision. 
  2.5      (b) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of employment and 
  2.6   economic development. 
  2.7      (c) "Dislocated worker" means an individual who is a 
  2.8   resident of Minnesota at the time employment ceased or was 
  2.9   working in the state at the time employment ceased and: 
  2.10     (1) has been terminated permanently separated or has 
  2.11  received a notice of termination permanent separation from 
  2.12  public or private sector employment, and is eligible for or has 
  2.13  exhausted entitlement to unemployment benefits, and is unlikely 
  2.14  to return to the previous industry or occupation; 
  2.15     (2) has been terminated or has received a notice of 
  2.16  termination of employment as a result of any plant closing or 
  2.17  any substantial layoff at a plant, facility, or enterprise; 
  2.18     (3) has been long-term unemployed and has limited 
  2.19  opportunities for employment or reemployment in the same or a 
  2.20  similar occupation in the area in which the individual resides, 
  2.21  including older individuals who may have substantial barriers to 
  2.22  employment by reason of age; 
  2.23     (4) (3) has been self-employed, including farmers and 
  2.24  ranchers, and is unemployed as a result of general economic 
  2.25  conditions in the community in which the individual resides or 
  2.26  because of natural disasters, subject to rules to be adopted by 
  2.27  the commissioner; or 
  2.28     (5) has been self-employed as a farmer or rancher and, even 
  2.29  though that employment has not ceased, has experienced a 
  2.30  significant reduction in income due to inadequate crop or 
  2.31  livestock prices, crop failures, or significant loss in crop 
  2.32  yields due to pests, disease, adverse weather, or other natural 
  2.33  phenomenon.  This clause expires July 31, 2003; or 
  2.34     (6) (4) is a displaced homemaker.  A "displaced homemaker" 
  2.35  is an individual who has spent a substantial number of years in 
  2.36  the home providing homemaking service and (i) has been dependent 
  3.1   upon the financial support of another; and now due to divorce, 
  3.2   separation, death, or disability of that person, must find 
  3.3   employment to self support; or (ii) derived the substantial 
  3.4   share of support from public assistance on account of dependents 
  3.5   in the home and no longer receives such support. 
  3.6      To be eligible under this clause, the support must have 
  3.7   ceased while the worker resided in Minnesota.  
  3.8      (c) (d) "Eligible organization" means a state or local 
  3.9   government unit, nonprofit organization, community action 
  3.10  agency, business organization or association, or labor 
  3.11  organization. 
  3.12     (d) (e) "Plant closing" means the announced or actual 
  3.13  permanent shutdown of a single site of employment, or one or 
  3.14  more facilities or operating units within a single site of 
  3.15  employment. 
  3.16     (e) (f) "Substantial layoff" means a permanent reduction in 
  3.17  the workforce, which is not a result of a plant closing, and 
  3.18  which results in an employment loss at a single site of 
  3.19  employment during any 30-day period for at least 50 employees 
  3.20  excluding those employees that work less than 20 hours per week. 
  3.21     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 
  3.22  116L.17, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.23     Subd. 2.  [GRANTS.] The board shall make grants to 
  3.24  workforce service areas or other eligible organizations to 
  3.25  provide services to dislocated workers. as follows: 
  3.26     (a) The board shall allocate funds available for the 
  3.27  purposes of this section in its discretion to respond to large 
  3.28  substantial layoffs and plant closings.  
  3.29     (b) The board shall regularly allocate funds to provide 
  3.30  services to individual dislocated workers or small groups.  
  3.31  The initial allocation for this purpose must be at least 35 
  3.32  percent and no more than 50 percent of the actual collections, 
  3.33  including penalty and interest accounts, interest, and other 
  3.34  earnings of the workforce development fund during the period for 
  3.35  which the allocation is made deposits and transfers into the 
  3.36  workforce development fund, less any collection costs paid out 
  4.1   of the fund and any amounts appropriated by the legislature from 
  4.2   the workforce development fund for programs other than the state 
  4.3   dislocated worker program.  The board shall consider the need 
  4.4   for services to individual workers and workers in small layoffs 
  4.5   in comparison to those in large layoffs relative to the needs in 
  4.6   previous years when making this allocation. 
  4.7      (c) Following the initial allocation, the board may 
  4.8   consider additional allocations to provide services to 
  4.9   individual dislocated workers.  The board's decision to allocate 
  4.10  additional funds shall be based on relevant economic indicators 
  4.11  including:  the number of substantial layoffs to date, notices 
  4.12  of substantial layoffs for the remainder of the fiscal year, 
  4.13  evidence of declining industries, the number of permanently 
  4.14  separated individuals applying for unemployment benefits by 
  4.15  workforce service area, and the number of individuals exhausting 
  4.16  unemployment benefits by workforce service area.  The board must 
  4.17  also consider expenditures of allocations to workforce service 
  4.18  areas under paragraph (b) made during the first two quarters of 
  4.19  the fiscal year and federal resources that have been or are 
  4.20  likely to be allocated to Minnesota for the purposes of serving 
  4.21  dislocated workers affected by substantial layoffs or plant 
  4.22  closings. 
  4.23     (d) The board may, in its discretion, allocate funds 
  4.24  carried forward from previous years under subdivision 9 for 
  4.25  large, small, or individual layoffs. 
  4.26     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 
  4.27  116L.17, subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  4.28     Subd. 3.  [ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.] The board, in consultation 
  4.29  with local workforce councils investment boards and local 
  4.30  elected officials, shall develop a method of distributing funds 
  4.31  to provide services for dislocated workers who are dislocated as 
  4.32  a result of small or individual layoffs.  The board method shall 
  4.33  consider current requests for services and the likelihood of 
  4.34  future layoffs when making this allocation.  The board shall 
  4.35  consider factors for determining the allocation amounts that 
  4.36  include, but are not limited to, the previous year's obligations 
  5.1   and projected layoffs.  After the first quarter of the program 
  5.2   year, the board shall evaluate the obligations by workforce 
  5.3   service areas for the purpose of reallocating funds to workforce 
  5.4   service areas with increased demand for services.  Periodically 
  5.5   throughout the program year, the board shall consider making 
  5.6   additional allocations to the workforce service areas with a 
  5.7   demonstrated need for increased funding.  The board shall make 
  5.8   an initial determination regarding allocations under this 
  5.9   subdivision by July 15, 2001, and in subsequent years shall make 
  5.10  a determination by June 15 reflect recent trends in the number 
  5.11  of permanently separated individuals applying for unemployment 
  5.12  benefits in a given workforce service area.  The board shall 
  5.13  evaluate and adjust obligations quarterly, based on a similar 
  5.14  method. 
  5.15     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116L.17, 
  5.16  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  5.17     Subd. 4.  [USE OF FUNDS.] Funds granted by the board under 
  5.18  this section may be used for any combination of the following, 
  5.19  except as otherwise provided in this section: 
  5.20     (1) employment transition services such as developing 
  5.21  readjustment plans for individuals; outreach and intake; early 
  5.22  readjustment; job or career counseling; testing; orientation; 
  5.23  assessment of skills and aptitudes; provision of occupational 
  5.24  and labor market information; job placement assistance; job 
  5.25  search; job development; prelayoff assistance; relocation 
  5.26  assistance; and programs provided in cooperation with employers 
  5.27  or labor organizations to provide early intervention in the 
  5.28  event of plant closings or substantial layoffs; 
  5.29     (2) services that will allow the participant to become 
  5.30  reemployed by retraining for a new occupation or industry, 
  5.31  enhancing current skills, or relocating to employ existing 
  5.32  skills, including classroom training; occupational skill 
  5.33  training; on-the-job training; out-of-area job search; 
  5.34  relocation; basic and remedial education; literacy and English 
  5.35  for training non-English speakers; entrepreneurial training; and 
  5.36  other appropriate training activities directly related to 
  6.1   appropriate employment opportunities in the local labor market; 
  6.2   and 
  6.3      (3) support services, including assistance to help the 
  6.4   participant relocate to employ existing skills; out-of-area job 
  6.5   search assistance; family care assistance, including child care; 
  6.6   commuting assistance; emergency housing and rental assistance; 
  6.7   counseling assistance, including personal and financial; health 
  6.8   care; emergency health assistance; emergency financial 
  6.9   assistance; work-related tools and clothing; and other 
  6.10  appropriate support services that enable a person to participate 
  6.11  in an employment and training program. with the goal of 
  6.12  reemployment; 
  6.13     (3) specific, short-term training to help the participant 
  6.14  enhance current skills in a similar occupation or industry; 
  6.15  entrepreneurial training, customized training, or on-the-job 
  6.16  training; basic and remedial education to enhance current 
  6.17  skills; and literacy and work-related English training for 
  6.18  non-English speakers; and 
  6.19     (4) long-term training in a new occupation or industry, 
  6.20  including occupational skills training or customized training in 
  6.21  an accredited program recognized by one or more relevant 
  6.22  industries.  Long-term training shall only be provided to 
  6.23  dislocated workers whose skills are obsolete and who have no 
  6.24  other transferable skills likely to result in employment at a 
  6.25  comparable wage rate.  Training shall only be provided for 
  6.26  occupations or industries with reasonable expectations of job 
  6.27  availability based on the service provider's thorough assessment 
  6.28  of local labor market information where the individual currently 
  6.29  resides or is willing to relocate. 
  6.30     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116L.17, 
  6.31  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  6.32     Subd. 5.  [COST LIMITATIONS.] (a) Funds allocated to a 
  6.33  grantee are subject to the following cost limitations: 
  6.34     (1) no more than ten percent may be allocated for 
  6.35  administration; 
  6.36     (2) at least 50 percent must be allocated for training 
  7.1   assistance as provided in subdivision 4, clause (2) (4); and 
  7.2      (3) no more than 15 percent may be allocated for support 
  7.3   services as provided in subdivision 4, clause (3) (2). 
  7.4      (b) A waiver of the training assistance minimum in clause 
  7.5   (2) (4) may be sought, but no waiver shall allow less than 30 
  7.6   percent of the grant to be spent on training assistance.  A 
  7.7   waiver of the support services maximum in clause (3) (2) may be 
  7.8   sought, but no waiver shall allow more than 20 percent of the 
  7.9   grant to be spent on support services.  A waiver may be granted 
  7.10  below the minimum and above the maximum otherwise allowed by 
  7.11  this paragraph if funds other than state funds appropriated for 
  7.12  the dislocated worker program are used to fund training 
  7.13  assistance. 
  7.14     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 116L.17, 
  7.15  subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  7.16     Subd. 6.  [PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.] (a) The board, in 
  7.17  consultation with representatives of local workforce councils 
  7.18  and local elected officials, shall establish performance 
  7.19  standards for the programs and activities administered or funded 
  7.20  under this section.  The board may use, when appropriate, 
  7.21  existing federal performance standards or, if the commissioner 
  7.22  determines that federal standards are inadequate or not 
  7.23  suitable, may formulate new performance standards to ensure that 
  7.24  the programs and activities of the dislocated worker program are 
  7.25  effectively administered. 
  7.26     (b) The board shall, at a minimum, establish performance 
  7.27  standards that appropriately gauge the program's effectiveness 
  7.28  at placing dislocated workers in employment, replacing lost 
  7.29  income resulting from dislocation, early intervention with 
  7.30  workers shortly after dislocation, and retraining of workers 
  7.31  from one industry or occupation to another. (a) The 
  7.32  commissioner, in consultation with the board, shall enter into 
  7.33  contracts with local workforce investment boards, including the 
  7.34  allocations determined by the board in subdivision 3.  Contracts 
  7.35  shall also require local workforce investment boards to report 
  7.36  participant data to the commissioner regularly, in order to meet 
  8.1   the requirements of this subdivision.  The commissioner shall 
  8.2   also enter into contracts with eligible organizations involved 
  8.3   with substantial layoffs or plant closings.  These contracts 
  8.4   shall require the eligible organizations to report participant 
  8.5   data to the commissioner regularly, in order to meet the 
  8.6   requirements of this subdivision. 
  8.7      (b) The commissioner and the board shall jointly establish 
  8.8   performance outcome measures for all local workforce investment 
  8.9   boards and eligible organizations involved with substantial 
  8.10  layoffs or plant closings.  The commissioner may request 
  8.11  additional information to calculate these performance measures. 
  8.12     (c) The commissioner and the board, in consultation with 
  8.13  local workforce investment boards and eligible organizations 
  8.14  involved with substantial layoffs or plant closings, shall 
  8.15  establish minimum standards for the performance measures 
  8.16  described in paragraph (b). 
  8.17     (d) Local workforce investment boards may establish and 
  8.18  report on additional performance outcomes based on unique 
  8.19  features of local labor markets and other geographic differences.
  8.20     (e) The commissioner shall provide a report to the 
  8.21  legislature by March 1 of each year on the previous fiscal 
  8.22  year's program performance using the data in paragraphs (b) and 
  8.23  (d) and analysis of whether local workforce investment boards 
  8.24  and eligible organizations involved with substantial layoffs or 
  8.25  plant closings are meeting the minimum standards described in 
  8.26  paragraph (c).  The commissioner shall inform any local 
  8.27  workforce investment board or eligible organization that does 
  8.28  not meet minimum performance standards in a given year of their 
  8.29  status. 
  8.30     Sec. 9.  [116L.19] [DEFINITIONS.] 
  8.31     Subdivision 1.  [APPLICABILITY.] The definitions in this 
  8.32  section apply to sections 116L.19 to 116L.976. 
  8.33     Subd. 2.  [COMMISSIONER.] "Commissioner" means the 
  8.34  commissioner of employment and economic development. 
  8.35     Subd. 3.  [DEPARTMENT.] "Department" means the Department 
  8.36  of Employment and Economic Development. 
  9.1      Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 176.011, 
  9.2   subdivision 15, is amended to read: 
  9.3      Subd. 15.  [OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE.] (a) "Occupational 
  9.4   disease" means a disease arising out of and in the course of 
  9.5   employment peculiar to the occupation in which the employee is 
  9.6   engaged and due to causes in excess of the hazards ordinary of 
  9.7   employment and shall include undulant fever.  Ordinary diseases 
  9.8   of life to which the general public is equally exposed outside 
  9.9   of employment are not compensable, except where the diseases 
  9.10  follow as an incident of an occupational disease, or where the 
  9.11  exposure peculiar to the occupation makes the disease an 
  9.12  occupational disease hazard.  A disease arises out of the 
  9.13  employment only if there be a direct causal connection between 
  9.14  the conditions under which the work is performed and if the 
  9.15  occupational disease follows as a natural incident of the work 
  9.16  as a result of the exposure occasioned by the nature of the 
  9.17  employment.  An employer is not liable for compensation for any 
  9.18  occupational disease which cannot be traced to the employment as 
  9.19  a direct and proximate cause and is not recognized as a hazard 
  9.20  characteristic of and peculiar to the trade, occupation, 
  9.21  process, or employment or which results from a hazard to which 
  9.22  the worker would have been equally exposed outside of the 
  9.23  employment.  
  9.24     (b) If immediately preceding the date of disablement or 
  9.25  death, an employee was employed on active duty with an organized 
  9.26  fire or police department of any municipality, as a member of 
  9.27  the Minnesota State Patrol, conservation officer service, state 
  9.28  crime bureau, as a forest officer by the Department of Natural 
  9.29  Resources, state correctional officer, or sheriff or full-time 
  9.30  deputy sheriff of any county, and the disease is that of 
  9.31  myocarditis, coronary sclerosis, pneumonia or its sequel, and at 
  9.32  the time of employment such employee was given a thorough 
  9.33  physical examination by a licensed doctor of medicine, and a 
  9.34  written report thereof has been made and filed with such 
  9.35  organized fire or police department, with the Minnesota State 
  9.36  Patrol, conservation officer service, state crime bureau, 
 10.1   Department of Natural Resources, Department of Corrections, or 
 10.2   sheriff's department of any county, which examination and report 
 10.3   negatived any evidence of myocarditis, coronary sclerosis, 
 10.4   pneumonia or its sequel, the disease is presumptively an 
 10.5   occupational disease and shall be presumed to have been due to 
 10.6   the nature of employment.  If immediately preceding the date of 
 10.7   disablement or death, any individual who by nature of their 
 10.8   position provides emergency medical care, or an employee who was 
 10.9   employed as a licensed police officer under section 626.84, 
 10.10  subdivision 1; firefighter; paramedic; state correctional 
 10.11  officer; emergency medical technician; or licensed nurse 
 10.12  providing emergency medical care; and who contracts an 
 10.13  infectious or communicable disease to which the employee was 
 10.14  exposed in the course of employment outside of a hospital, then 
 10.15  the disease is presumptively an occupational disease and shall 
 10.16  be presumed to have been due to the nature of employment and the 
 10.17  presumption may be rebutted by substantial factors brought by 
 10.18  the employer or insurer.  Any substantial factors which shall be 
 10.19  used to rebut this presumption and which are known to the 
 10.20  employer or insurer at the time of the denial of liability shall 
 10.21  be communicated to the employee on the denial of liability. 
 10.22     (c) A firefighter on active duty with an organized fire 
 10.23  department who is unable to perform duties in the department by 
 10.24  reason of a disabling cancer of a type caused by exposure to 
 10.25  heat, radiation, or a known or suspected carcinogen, as defined 
 10.26  by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the 
 10.27  carcinogen is reasonably linked to the disabling cancer, is 
 10.28  presumed to have an occupational disease under paragraph (a).  
 10.29  If a firefighter who enters the service after August 1, 1988, is 
 10.30  examined by a physician prior to being hired and the examination 
 10.31  discloses the existence of a cancer of a type described in this 
 10.32  paragraph, the firefighter is not entitled to the presumption 
 10.33  unless a subsequent medical determination is made that the 
 10.34  firefighter no longer has the cancer. 
 10.35     Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 176.011, 
 10.36  subdivision 16, is amended to read: 
 11.1      Subd. 16.  [PERSONAL INJURY.] "Personal injury" means 
 11.2   injury arising out of and in the course of employment and 
 11.3   includes personal injury caused by occupational disease; but 
 11.4   does not cover an employee except while engaged in, on, or about 
 11.5   the premises where the employee's services require the 
 11.6   employee's presence as a part of that service at the time of the 
 11.7   injury and during the hours of that service.  Where the employer 
 11.8   regularly furnished transportation to employees to and from the 
 11.9   place of employment, those employees are subject to this chapter 
 11.10  while being so transported.  Personal injury does not include an 
 11.11  injury caused by the act of a third person or fellow employee 
 11.12  intended to injure the employee because of personal reasons, and 
 11.13  not directed against the employee as an employee, or because of 
 11.14  the employment.  An injury or disease resulting from a vaccine 
 11.15  in response to a declaration by the Secretary of the United 
 11.16  States Department of Health and Human Services under the Public 
 11.17  Health Service Act to address an actual or potential health risk 
 11.18  related to the employee's employment is an injury or disease 
 11.19  arising out of and in the course of employment. 
 11.20     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective January 24, 
 11.21  2003. 
 11.22     Sec. 12.  [REPEALER.] 
 11.23     Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 116L.04, subdivision 4; 
 11.24  and 116L.17, subdivision 7, are repealed.