Relating to state government

ARTICLE 1 - OUTDOOR HERITAGE FUND

Appropriating money from the outdoor heritage fund for prairies, forests, wetlands, habitat, administration, states that money appropriated may not be spent on activities unless they are directly related to and necessary for a specific appropriation and are specified in the accomplishment plan and may not be spent on indirect costs or other institutional overhead charges that are not directly related to a, provides for the availability of funding depending on the use of the funds and whether or not federal funds are also used; requires all agreements to be administered on a reimbursement basis unless otherwise provided; allows reasonable amounts to be advanced in some circumstances if approved as part of an accomplishment plan; requires capital expenditures that exceed $10,000 to be itemized and approved as part of an accomplishment plan; requires recipients of an appropriation to submit geographic
information on lands acquired in fee that are open to the public for hunting and fishing
to the DNR for mapping; requires recipients of an appropriation to make progress towards providing greater access to programs, print publications and digital media for
people with disabilities related to programs funded with appropriations; states that, when feasible, a recipient of funds appropriated in this section is encouraged to use conservation practices that promote monarch butterfly habitat; states that the DNR is encouraged to plant milkweed when feasible; gives the authority to appoint council
staff and contract with consultants to the Legislative Coordinating Commission (LCC); requires an owner of land purchased with funds from the outdoor heritage fund that is transferred to the state to submit the total net revenues (profit) made from the land prior to the transfer to the state within 60 days of the transfer; prohibits a recipient of funds from the outdoor heritage fund that were used to purchase land from accepting a monetary donation or a payment from the landowner that exceeds the recipient's documented expenses unless approved by the LSOHC; prohibits lands acquired with funds from the outdoor heritage fund from being hayed or grazed in response to a federal or state disaster declaration; amends a previous appropriation to the DNR to allow the acquisition of easements for aquatic habitat and specifies that a portion of the funds may be used for establishing a monitoring and enforcement fund; modifies previous appropriations for the conservation partners programs to adjust the amount available for administration of the grants more evenly between the metro and general programs; requires the commissioner of management and budget to examine alternatives to payment-in-lieu of tax payments (PILT) for lands acquired with money from the outdoor heritage fund and other dedicated funds and provide recommendations to the legislature by January 15, 2016

ARTICLE 2 - CLEAN WATER FUND

Appropriating money for clean water funds; states that the money appropriated
may not be spent on activities unless they are directly related to and necessary for a specific appropriation; makes the funds available for two years or, when federal funds are involved, for the time period equal to the federal funding availability; requires recipients of an appropriation to make progress towards providing greater access to programs, print publications and digital media for people with disabilities related to programs funded with appropriations in this article; appropriating money to the department of agriculture, the public facilities authority, the pollution control agency (PCA), the department of natural resources (DNR), the board of water and soil resources (BWSR), the department of health, and the metropolitan council for various purposes; adding the term soil health to the soil and water conservation policy; requiring BWSR to work with various stakeholders to foster mutual understanding and provide recommendations on water quality and soil conservation protection and improvement practices/projects; requires BWSR to develop policies for coordination and
development of comprehensive watershed management plans and specifies the
minimum requirements for the policies; requires BWSR to develop content requirements for comprehensive watershed management plans and specifies minimum requirements for the plans; requires BWSR to adopt a plan to transition to comprehensive watershed management plans by 2025; states that existing authorities of BWSR are retained when a
comprehensive watershed management plan is adopted as a substitute for another type
of plan; defining soil health as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system that sustains plants, animals, and humans; adding to the duties of BWSR the requirement to develop and implement a state-led technical training and certification program; allows soil and water conservation districts to provide financial assistance to land occupiers for nonstructural land management practices that are part of a planned erosion control and water quality improvement plan; removes the voting authority for
two members of the Clean Water Council (the member representing the Metropolitan
Council and the member representing the University of Minnesota or a Minnesota state
university); modifies the appointment process for those two members to require the
appointments to be made by the entity they represent instead of the Governor; modifies a previous appropriation to the DNR to allow the use of funds to assess additional contaminants of fish (instead of only mercury as allowed under the current appropriation) and eliminates a previous appropriation totaling $1,000,000 for grants to counties for adoption and implementation of advanced shoreland protection measures; cancels two prior appropriations to the PFA for the phosphorus reduction grant program totaling approximately $12.6

ARTICLE 3 - PARKS AND TRAILS FUND

Appropriating money for parks and trails; states that money appropriated may not be spent on activities unless they are directly related to and necessary for a specific appropriation and must not be spent on indirect costs or other institutional overhead charges that are not directly related to and necessary for a specific appropriation; makes the funds available for two years or, when federal funds are involved for the time period equal to the federal funding availability; requires recipients of an appropriation to make progress towards providing greater access to programs, print publications, and digital media for people with disabilities related to programs funded with appropriations in this article, where appropriate; appropriating money to the department of natural resources (DNR) for parks and trails purposes, for regional parks and trails in greater Minnesota under the parks and trails legacy grant program, based on recommendations of the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission and for operation costs of the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission and for coordination between the DNR, Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission, and the Metropolitan Council and other activities; requires the commissioner to contract with the
Conservation Corps Minnesota and implementing agencies receiving funds to give consideration to contracting with the Conservation Corps Minnesota; appropriating money to the metropolitan council for metropolitan regional parks and trails to be distributed to implementing agencies according to the parks and trails fund metropolitan park distribution formula under current law; modifies a previous appropriation for a grant to Three Rivers Park District to allow for a safe trail crossing, rather than a trail bridge, of county state-aid highway; extends the availability of a previous appropriation for the Mesabi Trail

ARTICLE 4 - ARTS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE FUND

Appropriating money for the arts and cultural heritage for the Minnesota state arts board, the Minnesota historical society, the department of administration, the
Minnesota humanities center, the Minnesota zoological gardens, the Perpich center for
arts education, the Indian Affairs council, the University of Minnesota board of regents
and the Legislative Coordinating Commission for the maintenance of the Legacy Fund
Website; amends a capital investment bond appropriation from 2014 for the Minnesota Children's Museum to clarify that the amount needed from nonstate resources is $4,000,000 in order for the project to proceed

ARTICLE 5 - GENERAL PROVISIONS; ALL LEGACY FUNDS

Requires the commissioner of the department of administration to provide free
rehearsal space in one place in the capitol area complex to the Minnesota state band; amends the statute on the parks and trails fund and requires the legislative auditor to list legacy fund recipients that it has found out of compliance with state laws or rules and to provide that list to the committees in the house and senate that have
jurisdiction over legacy funds; requires the state auditor to remove the fund recipients from the list once the entity has demonstrated to the auditor's satisfaction that they
are no longer out of compliance; amends the outdoor heritage fund and requires the
legislative auditor to list legacy fund recipients that it has found out of compliance with state laws or rules and to provide that list to the committees in the house and senate that have jurisdiction over legacy funds; requires the state auditor to remove the fund
recipients from the list once the entity has demonstrated to the auditor's satisfaction that they are no longer out of compliance; amends the statute on the clean water
fund and requires the legislative auditor to list legacy fund recipients that it has found out of compliance with state laws or rules and to provide that list to the committees in the house and senate that have jurisdiction over legacy funds; requires the state auditor to remove the fund recipients from the list once the entity has demonstrated to the auditor's satisfaction that they are no longer out of compliance; amends the statute on the arts and cultural heritage fund and requires the legislative auditor to list legacy fund recipients that it has found out of compliance with state laws or rules and to provide that list to the committees in the house and senate that have jurisdiction over legacy funds; requires the state auditor to remove the fund recipients from the list once the entity has demonstrated to the auditor's satisfaction that they are no longer out of compliance
(ra)