HF 2589

Introduction - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026)

Posted on 03/26/2025 12:35 p.m.

A bill for an act
relating to state government; establishing a Minnesota Volunteerism Innovation
Board; requiring rulemaking; requiring grants; requiring a report; appropriating
money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 10.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [10.70] MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERISM INNOVATION BOARD.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Board established; membership. new text end

new text begin (a) A Minnesota Volunteerism
Innovation Board is established. The board consists of 11 voting members appointed by the
governor in the manner provided in section 15.0597.
new text end

new text begin (b) In addition to the members appointed under paragraph (a), a representative of the
contractor providing administrative support under subdivision 4 shall serve as the board's
secretary and is an ex officio, nonvoting member of the board. The contractor's representative
is not subject to the qualification standards in subdivision 2.
new text end

new text begin (c) The board shall elect a chair and other officers from among the board's membership.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Qualifications for appointment. new text end

new text begin (a) When appointing board members under
subdivision 1, the governor must ensure the inclusion of community leaders from a range
of subsectors of the nonprofit, public, and business volunteerism communities. To the extent
practicable, appointees must be geographically balanced according to community indicator
regions adopted by the state demographer, must reflect a diversity of Minnesota's population,
and must include at least two people between the ages of 16 and 24. The governor must not
appoint a current or former legislator.
new text end

new text begin (b) The community indicator regions adopted by the state demographer under paragraph
(a) must reflect the Minnesota Compass regions adopted by Wilder Research or another
similar metric for identifying and measuring community indicators in individual regions of
the state.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Terms of appointment; removal; compensation. new text end

new text begin Members of the board shall
be appointed for a five-year term. Members may be removed and vacancies filled as provided
in section 15.0575, subdivisions 4 and 5. Members serve without compensation or
reimbursement for expenses, except for compensation or expense reimbursement that the
member may receive in the ordinary course of employment or from another nonstate source
that is not a grant applicant or recipient.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Administrative staff support. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of administration must assist
the board in entering a contract for professional services for administrative support. The
contractor must have existing, demonstrated expertise in volunteerism, community
engagement, or volunteer resources leadership.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Duties. new text end

new text begin The board shall:
new text end

new text begin (1) gather information about, analyze, and build upon Minnesota's current capacity for
high-quality, results-driven, evidence-based, innovative volunteerism in order to expand
Minnesotans' ability to act on challenges and opportunities that correspond directly to
Minnesota Compass measures, or other similar community indicators, and positively impact
Minnesota communities;
new text end

new text begin (2) assess the capacity of Minnesota nonprofit, public, and business organizations to
expand and deepen volunteer efforts that address community challenges and opportunities
through high-quality, results-driven volunteerism; make recommendations to community
and volunteer engagement leaders; and report results and recommendations to the governor
and the legislature;
new text end

new text begin (3) gather baseline information about the capacity of Minnesota volunteer-involving
organizations to demonstrate results by tracking, analyzing, and reporting grant activities,
success stories, and measurable grant results with a common grant-tracking and
grant-reporting system; and
new text end

new text begin (4) administer the grant program required under section 10.701.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Legislative reports. new text end

new text begin By November 15 of each year, the board shall prepare
and deliver to the legislature and the governor a report that includes:
new text end

new text begin (1) a financial statement showing receipts and disbursements for the fiscal year ending
the preceding June 30, including a listing of the nonstate gifts and contributions to the
Minnesota volunteerism innovation account established in section 10.702 that are valued
in excess of $1,000, along with the donor who contributed the gift;
new text end

new text begin (2) a brief description of the activities of the board for the preceding year;
new text end

new text begin (3) the number of meetings and approximate hours spent by board members in meetings
and on other board activities;
new text end

new text begin (4) a brief summary of board rules proposed or adopted during the period, with
appropriate citations to the State Register and published rules; and
new text end

new text begin (5) the number of grant applications received by the board and the number of grants
awarded, with a brief description of the purpose and outcomes of each awarded grant and
the region of the state where the grantee is located.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Expiration. new text end

new text begin The board expires June 30, 2030.
new text end

Sec. 2.

new text begin [10.701] MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERISM INNOVATION GRANTS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Grants; measures of progress. new text end

new text begin The Minnesota Volunteerism Innovation
Board must administer a grant program intended to increase measurable results of innovative
volunteer efforts aligned with Minnesota Compass measures, or other similar community
indicators, in areas that impact Minnesotans' quality of life. The measures must serve as
indicators of progress to be measured in order to determine the recipient's progress toward
identified community goals. An applicant for a grant must identify the measures to be used
when applying for a grant.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Eligibility; nonstate match required. new text end

new text begin Grants may be awarded to organizations
in the public, nonprofit, and business sectors that directly engage primarily nonstipend
volunteers. To be eligible for a grant, an applicant must match the grant funds requested to
be awarded in full. The match may be demonstrated through a direct contribution of funds
or through in-kind contributions, including the value of staff and volunteer time provided
by the applicant, the applicant's community partners, or other nonstate sources. The value
of time of volunteers who receive a stipend may not be counted toward the match
requirement. The value of time of volunteers who receive reimbursement for direct
volunteer-related expenses may be counted toward the match requirement. The board may
reduce the match requirement for low-income applicants. Grants may be renewed at the
discretion of the board.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Rules and laws governing grantmaking process. new text end

new text begin The board must adopt
administrative rules to establish procedures governing the application for grants, evaluation
of applications, match requirements for low-income applicants, and other requirements for
awarding grants, including procedures to ensure that grant awards are equitably distributed
to applicants in all regions of the state to the extent practicable. Sections 16B.97 to 16B.991
apply to the award of grants by the board. The terms of the grant agreement must require
that all activities funded by the grant be completed no later than June 30, 2030.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Expiration. new text end

new text begin This section expires June 30, 2030.
new text end

Sec. 3.

new text begin [10.702] MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERISM INNOVATION ACCOUNT.
new text end

new text begin (a) A Minnesota volunteerism innovation account is established in the special revenue
fund. The account consists of amounts appropriated to the account by law and other gifts
and contributions to the account received by the commissioner of management and budget
under section 16A.013 from nonstate sources for deposit in the account. Amounts in the
account are appropriated to the Minnesota Volunteerism Innovation Board for the purposes
in sections 10.70 and 10.701.
new text end

new text begin (b) This section expires June 30, 2030.
new text end

Sec. 4. new text begin MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERISM INNOVATION BOARD;
APPOINTMENTS; FIRST MEETING.
new text end

new text begin Initial appointments to the Minnesota Volunteerism Innovation Board must be made no
later than August 1, 2025. The commissioner of administration must convene the first
meeting of the board no later than September 1, 2025. Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes,
section 10.70, subdivision 6, the board is not required to prepare and deliver a legislative
report in 2025.
new text end

Sec. 5. new text begin MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERISM INNOVATION BOARD;
APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2027 are transferred from
the general fund to the Minnesota volunteerism innovation account in the special revenue
fund established in Minnesota Statutes, section 10.702. Of this amount, no more than $80,000
may be used in each fiscal year for administrative costs associated with implementing the
requirements of this act. All remaining amounts must be distributed as grants under Minnesota
Statutes, section 10.701.
new text end