Relating to economic development

ARTICLE 1 - APPROPRIATIONS

Appropriating money to the department of employment and economic development (DEED) for business and community development, workforce development, general support services, the Minnesota trade office, vocational rehabilitation purposes, services for the blind, and broadband development; appropriating money to the housing finance agency (HFA) for the challenge program, the housing trust fund, rental assistance for the mentally ill, family homeless prevention, the home ownership assistance fund, the affordable rental investment fund, housing rehabilitation, and training and capacity-building grants; appropriating money for explore Minnesota tourism; appropriating money to the department of labor and industry for workers compensation, the labor standards and apprenticeship program, workplace safety and general support; appropriating money to the bureau of mediation services, to the board of accountancy, to the board of architecture, engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, geoscience, and interior design, to the board of cosmetologist examiners, and to the board of barber examiners; appropriating money to the department of commerce for financial institutions, petroleum tank release compensation board, administration, enforcement, energy resources, and insurance transportation; appropriating money to the public utilities commission (PUC)

ARTICLE 2 - DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Modifying the definition of unserved areas to make the term broadband service within that definition consistent, instead of the FCC threshold of four Mbps per second download and one Mbps per second upload; establishing a permanent workforce housing development program; clarifying that applications fees related to the Greater Minnesota Business Expansion program are to be deposited in the administration account in the special revenue fund; appropriating money in the greater Minnesota business expansion administration account to the commissioner of DEED for application processing costs and other administrative expenses; authorizing the expenditure of dislocated worker funds for incumbent worker training; establishing certain allocation specifications; defining new job for new or expanding businesses located outside of the seven county metropolitan area and that provides 32 hours of work per week for at least nine months during the year and that has no planned termination date; program costs include all necessary and incidental costs of providing program services, but does not include the purchase price of equipment that will be owned or used by the training or educational institution or service; specifying commissioner duties and powers; providing for job training grants; requiring the department of employment and economic development (DEED) to report on mechanisms and associated costs for a state insurance program providing partial wage replacement for workers taking parental, family, or medical leave; requiring DEED to study family and medical leave insurance program options; requiring a report

ARTICLE 3 - DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Authorizing state grants to eligible utility cooperatives to match federal disaster assistance; authorizing the commissioner of commerce to impose certain administrative penalties for insurance fraud; regulating guaranteed asset protection waivers; specifying application, exemptions, requirements, contractual liability, disclosures, cancellation, and refunds; providing that certain persons convicted of insurance fraud may not enforce contracts for no-fault benefits; providing for MNvest securities registration exemption for crowdfunding transactions; defining certain terms; establishing certain requirements of a MNvest offering; specifying certain required disclosures to and required certification from prospective MNvest offering purchasers; establishing certain requirements for a MNvest portal and those of a prospective portal operator; specifying certain results for failure to comply with certain requirements relating to MNvest; specifying certain portal operator nonpublic records confidentiality requirements; authorizing public utilities to authorize performance-based multiyear rate plans; allowing the public utilities commission (PUC) to approve rate recovery for natural gas extension project revenue deficiencies; authorizing cooperative electric associations or municipal utilities to charge an additional fee to recover the remaining fixed costs required to serve the customer; requiring a utility operating a multiyear plan to identify in its report investments the necessity to modernize the transmission and distribution systems; establishing a no-fault automobile insurance reform issues task force, prescribing certain task force duties, specifying task force membership, requiring a report to the legislature; providing for rate options and terms under a competitive rate schedule for energy-intensive trade-exposed (EITE) electric utility customers; defining certain terms

ARTICLE 4 - HOUSING

Modifying manufactured home space requirements by removing a minimum requirement; authorizing the Olmsted county board by resolution to serve as the county housing and redevelopment authority and requiring provision for necessary additional members for federal compliance

ARTICLE 5 - LABOR AND INDUSTRY

Modifying license fees and license renewal fees; lowering fees for reinstatement of
licenses; moving to a six year building code update cycle beginning with the 2018
edition of the model building codes; requiring the commissioner to review the new codes and adopt model codes as amended for use in the state within two years of the published edition date; providing a rule adopting or amending a state building code is
effective 270 days after publication of the rule???s notice of adoption; requiring the
commissioner of DLI to publish electronic versions of such rules on the DLI???s Web site
within ten days of receipt from the revisor of statutes; requiring licensed contractors to offer customers optional fire sprinkler installation; modifying terminology regarding boiler
engineer licensing; eliminating obsolete language regarding rulemaking for certificates of competency; modifying the fee schedule that applies to professional and amateur combative sports licenses; reducing fees for professional combatants to $70 and for
amateurs to $50; setting combative sports contest fees at $500 at the time the contest is scheduled and $1000 at the time of weigh in; allowing the commissioner to limit the number of complimentary tickets to each event

ARTICLE 6 - UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

Making housekeeping changes; changing the unemployment benefit denial for quitting exception due to relocation by limiting application to spouses in the military; clarifying ineligibility duration; modifying withdrawal of appeal; adding time to judicial review for mail; authorizing unemployment law judges to administer oaths and issue subpoenas; repealing reciprocal arrangements authorization
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