1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to state government; providing for composition of the Iron Range 
1.3 	Resources and Rehabilitation Board; providing for selection of its members;
1.4 	amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, sections 298.22, subdivisions 1, 2,  by adding 
1.5 	a subdivision; 298.296, subdivision 2; Minnesota Statutes 2005 Supplement, 
1.6 	section 298.296, subdivision 1.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 298.22, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.9 		Subdivision 1.The office of the commissioner of Iron Range resources and 
1.10 	rehabilitation. (1) The office of the commissioner of Iron Range resources and 
1.11 	rehabilitation is created. The governor shall appoint the commissioner of Iron Range 
1.12 	resources and rehabilitation under section  15.06. The commissioner is a voting member 
1.13 	and serves as chair of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board.
1.14 	(2) The commissioner may hold other positions or appointments that are not 
1.15 	incompatible with duties as commissioner of Iron Range resources and rehabilitation. The 
1.16 	commissioner may appoint a deputy commissioner. All expenses of the commissioner, 
1.17 	including the payment of such assistance as may be necessary, must be paid out of the 
1.18 	amounts appropriated by section  298.28. 
1.19 	(3) When the commissioner determines that distress and unemployment exists or 
1.20 	may exist in the future in any county by reason of the removal of natural resources or 
1.21 	a possibly limited use of natural resources in the future and any resulting decrease in 
1.22 	employment, the commissioner may use whatever amounts of the appropriation made to 
1.23 	the commissioner of revenue in section  298.28 that are determined to be necessary and 
1.24 	proper in the development of the remaining resources of the county and in the vocational 
1.25 	training and rehabilitation of its residents, except that the amount needed to cover cost 
2.1 	overruns awarded to a contractor by an arbitrator in relation to a contract awarded by 
2.2 	the commissioner or in effect after July 1, 1985, is appropriated from the general fund. 
2.3 	For the purposes of this section, "development of remaining resources" includes, but is 
2.4 	not limited to, the promotion of tourism. 

2.5 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective January 1, 2007.

2.6 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 298.22, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
2.7 		Subd. 2.Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. (a) There is hereby 
2.8 	created the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, consisting of 1317 members, 
2.9 	as follows:
2.10 	(1) the commissioner of Iron Range resources and rehabilitation, who serves as chair;
2.11 	(2) five of whom are state senators appointed by the Subcommittee on Committees 
2.12 	of the Rules Committee of the senate, and;
2.13 	(3) five of whom are state representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house 
2.14 	of representatives.; and 
2.15 	(4) six nonlegislator citizen members who reside in the taconite assistance area 
2.16 	as defined in section 273.1341.
2.17 	(b) The remainingcitizen members shall be appointed one each by the senate 
2.18 	majority leader, the speaker of the house of representatives, and by the governor and must 
2.19 	be nonlegislators who reside in a taconite assistance area as defined in section  273.1341. 
2.20 	 as provided in subdivision 2a. The appointments must be confirmed by the senate under 
2.21 	section 15.066.
2.22 	(c) The members shall be appointed in January of every odd-numbered year, except 
2.23 	that the initial nonlegislator members shall be appointed by July 1, 1999, and shall serve 
2.24 	until January of the next odd-numbered year. Vacancies on the board shall be filled in the 
2.25 	same manner as the original members were chosen. At least a majority of the legislative 
2.26 	members of the board shall be elected from state senatorial or legislative districts in which 
2.27 	over 50 percent of the residents reside within a taconite assistance area as defined in 
2.28 	section  273.1341. 
2.29 	(d) All expenditures and projects made by the commissioner of Iron Range resources 
2.30 	and rehabilitation shall be consistent with the priorities established in subdivision 8 and 
2.31 	shall first be submitted to the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board for approval 
2.32 	by a majority of the board of expenditures and projects for rehabilitation purposes as 
2.33 	provided by this section, and the method, manner, and time of payment of all funds 
2.34 	proposed to be disbursed shall be first approved or disapproved by the board. The board 
2.35 	shall biennially make its report to the governor and the legislature on or before November 
3.1 	15 of each even-numbered year. The expenses of the board shall be paid by the state from 
3.2 	the funds raised pursuant to this section.

3.3 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective January 1, 2007.

3.4 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 298.22, is amended by adding a subdivision 
3.5 	to read:
3.6 		Subd. 2a.Nominating committee. (a) A nominating committee on the Iron 
3.7 	Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board selection is established. The committee shall 
3.8 	nominate to the governor persons to serve as nonlegislator citizen members of the Iron 
3.9 	Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board.
3.10 	(b) The nominating committee shall consist of 13 members from the taconite 
3.11 	assistance area in the counties of Aitkin, Cook, Crow Wing, Itasca, Lake, and St. Louis, 
3.12 	as follows:
3.13 	(1) six county commissioners, one from each county, appointed by the governor;
3.14 	(2) six residents, one from each county, appointed by the resident's county board of 
3.15 	commissioners; and
3.16 	(3) one resident from the taconite assistance area, appointed by the governor, who 
3.17 	shall serve as chair of the committee.
3.18 	Committee members shall serve four-year terms ending on the same day the governor's 
3.19 	term of office ends. 
3.20 	(c) If a vacancy occurs on the committee by reason of the death or resignation of a 
3.21 	member or by the removal of a member appointed under this subdivision, the appointing 
3.22 	authority shall appoint an individual to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.
3.23 	(d) The committee shall prepare and make available to the public an outline of the 
3.24 	process the commission will follow in recruiting and evaluating candidates to fill vacancies 
3.25 	on the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. The committee shall actively seek 
3.26 	out and encourage qualified individuals who have business and economic development 
3.27 	knowledge and experience to apply for appointment to the board. The governor may fill 
3.28 	vacancies on the board from the candidates recommended by the committee.

3.29 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2006.

3.30 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2005 Supplement, section 298.296, subdivision 1, is 
3.31 	amended to read:
3.32 		Subdivision 1.Project approval. The board shall by August 1 of each year prepare 
3.33 	a list of projects to be funded from the Douglas J. Johnson economic protection trust with 
4.1 	necessary supporting information including description of the projects, plans, and cost 
4.2 	estimates. These projects shall be consistent with the priorities established in section 
4.3 	298.292 and shall not be approved by the board unless it finds that:
4.4 	(a) the project will materially assist, directly or indirectly, the creation of additional 
4.5 	long-term employment opportunities;
4.6 	(b) the prospective benefits of the expenditure exceed the anticipated costs; and
4.7 	(c) in the case of assistance to private enterprise, the project will serve a sound 
4.8 	business purpose.
4.9 	To be proposed by the board, a project must be approved by at least eight ten
4.10 	Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board members and the commissioner of 
4.11 	Iron Range resources and rehabilitation. The list of projects shall be submitted to the 
4.12 	governor, who shall, by November 15 of each year, approve or disapprove, or return for 
4.13 	further consideration, each project. The money for a project may be expended only upon 
4.14 	approval of the project by the governor. The board may submit supplemental projects 
4.15 	for approval at any time.

4.16 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective January 1, 2007.

4.17 	Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 298.296, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
4.18 		Subd. 2.Expenditure of funds. (a) Before January 1, 2028, funds may be expended 
4.19 	on projects and for administration of the trust fund only from the net interest, earnings, 
4.20 	and dividends arising from the investment of the trust at any time, including net interest, 
4.21 	earnings, and dividends that have arisen prior to July 13, 1982, plus $10,000,000 made 
4.22 	available for use in fiscal year 1983, except that any amount required to be paid out of the 
4.23 	trust fund to provide the property tax relief specified in Laws 1977, chapter 423, article 
4.24 	X, section 4, and to make school bond payments and payments to recipients of taconite 
4.25 	production tax proceeds pursuant to section  298.225, may be taken from the corpus of 
4.26 	the trust. 
4.27 	(b) Additionally, upon recommendation by the board, up to $13,000,000 from the 
4.28 	corpus of the trust may be made available for use as provided in subdivision 4, and up to 
4.29 	$10,000,000 from the corpus of the trust may be made available for use as provided in 
4.30 	section  298.2961. 
4.31 	(c) Additionally, an amount equal to 20 percent of the value of the corpus of the trust 
4.32 	on May 18, 2002, not including the funds authorized in paragraph (b), plus the amounts 
4.33 	made available under section  298.28, subdivision 4, and Laws 2002, chapter 377, article 
4.34 	8, section 17, may be expended on projects. Funds may be expended for projects under 
4.35 	this paragraph only if the project: 
5.1 	(1) is for the purposes established under section  298.292, subdivision 1, clause 
5.2 	(1) or (2); and 
5.3 	(2) is approved by the board upon an affirmative vote of at least ten12 of its 
5.4 	members.
5.5 	No money made available under this paragraph or paragraph (d) can be used for 
5.6 	administrative or operating expenses of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation 
5.7 	Board or expenses relating to any facilities owned or operated by the board on May 18, 
5.8 	2002.
5.9 	(d) Upon recommendation by a unanimous vote of all members of the board, 
5.10 	amounts in addition to those authorized under paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) may be 
5.11 	expended on projects described in section  298.292, subdivision 1. 
5.12 	(e) Annual administrative costs, not including detailed engineering expenses for the 
5.13 	projects, shall not exceed five percent of the net interest, dividends, and earnings arising 
5.14 	from the trust in the preceding fiscal year.
5.15 	(f) Principal and interest received in repayment of loans made pursuant to this 
5.16 	section, and earnings on other investments made under section  298.292, subdivision 2, 
5.17 	clause (4), shall be deposited in the state treasury and credited to the trust. These receipts 
5.18 	are appropriated to the board for the purposes of sections  298.291 to  298.298. 

5.19 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective January 1, 2007.