1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to employment; creating the large employer
1.3 	fair share health care fund; requiring certain large
1.4 	employers to make payments to the fund; regulating
1.5 	assets of the fund; authorizing the commissioner of
1.6 	employment and economic development to adopt rules;
1.7 	providing penalties; proposing coding for new law in
1.8 	Minnesota Statutes, chapter 181.
1.9 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.10 	Section 1. [181.825] LARGE EMPLOYER FAIR SHARE HEALTH
1.11 	CARE FUND.
1.12 		Subdivision 1.Definitions. The definitions in this
1.13 	subdivision apply to this section.
1.14 	(a) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of employment and
1.15 	economic development.
1.16 	(b) "Employee" means all individuals employed full-time or
1.17 	part-time directly by an employer.
1.18 	(c) "Employer" means any person having 10,000 or more
1.19 	employees in Minnesota, but does not include the federal
1.20 	government, the state, or any political subdivision of the
1.21 	state.  An employer has 10,000 or more employees in Minnesota if
1.22 	the average number of employees reported on the 12th day of each
1.23 	calendar month as required by section 268.044, subdivision 1, is
1.24 	equal to or greater than 10,000.
1.25 	(d) "Fund" means the large employer fair share health care
1.26 	fund.
1.27 	(e) "Health insurance costs" means the amount paid by an
2.1 	employer to provide health care or health insurance to employees
2.2 	in the state to the extent the costs may be deductible by an
2.3 	employer under federal tax law.  Health insurance costs include
2.4 	payments for medical care, prescription drugs, vision care,
2.5 	medical savings accounts, and any other costs to provide health
2.6 	benefits as defined in section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue
2.7 	Code.
2.8 	(f) "Wages" means the same as that term is defined in
2.9 	section 3401(a) and (f) of the Internal Revenue Code.
2.10 		Subd. 2.Fund. There is created in the state treasury a
2.11 	large employer fair share health care fund as a special revenue
2.12 	fund for deposit of payments made by employers as required by
2.13 	this section.  The fund consists of any revenue received from
2.14 	payments made by employers as required by this section and of
2.15 	any other money from any source accepted for the benefit of the
2.16 	fund.  The commissioner of finance shall invest the money of the
2.17 	fund in the same manner as other state money may be invested.
2.18 	Investment earnings of the fund must be retained to the credit
2.19 	of the fund.  The fund is subject to an audit by the legislative
2.20 	auditor.  The fund must be used to support medical assistance
2.21 	for needy persons under chapter 256B.
2.22 		Subd. 3.Employer reporting requirement. (a) On March 1,
2.23 	2007, and annually thereafter, an employer must submit a report
2.24 	on a form and in a manner approved by the commissioner.  The
2.25 	report must include:
2.26 	(1) the number of employees of the employer in the state as
2.27 	of the twelfth day of each calendar month in the previous
2.28 	calendar year as reported under section 268.044, subdivision 1;
2.29 	(2) the amount spent by the employer in the previous
2.30 	calendar year on health insurance costs in the state; and 
2.31 	(3) the percentage of payroll that was spent by the
2.32 	employer in the previous calendar year on health insurance costs
2.33 	in the state.
2.34 	(b) The principal executive officer or an individual
2.35 	performing a similar function for an employer must sign the form
2.36 	required under paragraph (a) and must include an affidavit under
3.1 	penalty of perjury that the information provided on the form was
3.2 	reviewed by the signing officer and is true to the best of the
3.3 	signing officer's knowledge, information, and belief.
3.4 	(c) When calculating the percentage of payroll under
3.5 	paragraph (a), clause (3), an employer may exempt wages paid to
3.6 	any employee in excess of the median household income in the
3.7 	state as published by the United States Census Bureau and wages
3.8 	paid to an employee who is enrolled in or eligible for medicare.
3.9 		Subd. 4.Payroll assessment. (a) An employer that is a
3.10 	nonprofit organization that does not spend six percent or more
3.11 	of the total wages paid to employees in the state on health
3.12 	insurance costs must pay to the commissioner an amount equal to
3.13 	the difference between what the employer spends for health
3.14 	insurance costs and an amount equal to six percent of the total
3.15 	wages paid to employees in the state.
3.16 	(b) An employer that is not a nonprofit organization and
3.17 	does not spend eight percent or more of the total wages paid to
3.18 	employees in the state on health insurance costs must pay to the
3.19 	commissioner an amount equal to the difference between what the
3.20 	employer spends for health insurance costs and an amount equal
3.21 	to eight percent of the total wages paid to employees in the
3.22 	state.
3.23 	(c) An employer may not deduct any payments required by
3.24 	this subdivision from the wages of an employee.
3.25 	(d) An employer must make the payment required under this
3.26 	subdivision to the commissioner on a periodic basis as
3.27 	determined by the commissioner.
3.28 		Subd. 5.Penalties. (a) An employer that fails to submit
3.29 	a report as required under subdivision 3 when due must pay a
3.30 	late fee of $250 for each day that the report is not timely
3.31 	filed.
3.32 	(b) An employer that fails to make the payment required
3.33 	under subdivision 4 is subject to a civil penalty of $250,000.
3.34 		Subd. 6.Duties of the commissioner; adoption of
3.35 	rules. (a) The commissioner shall annually verify which
3.36 	employers have 10,000 or more employees in the state and shall
4.1 	ensure that all employers with 10,000 or more employees in the
4.2 	state have made the report required under subdivision 3.
4.3 	(b) The commissioner shall pay the revenue from the payroll
4.4 	assessment under subdivision 4 to the fund.
4.5 	(c) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this
4.6 	section.

4.7 	Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.
 4.8 	Section 1 is effective January 1, 2007.