Session Year 2001, Special Session 1

Bill Name: SF0009

E Relating to the organization, operation and financing of state government,
appropriating money for the legislative and executive branches ARTICLE 1
APPROPRIATIONS Appropriating money to the legislature, to the governor and
lieutenant governor, to the state auditor and treasurer, to the attorney
general, to the secretary of state, to the campaign finance and public
disclosure, investment and capitol area architectural and planning boards, to
the office of administrative hearings, to the office of strategic and long range
planning for continuation of the generic environmental impact statement (GEIS)
on animal agriculture and for grants to regional development commissions and to
support subregional comprehensive planning by the N.M. I-35W corridor coalition,
to the commissioner of administration for operations management, for the office
of technology to study the unemployment insurance technology initiative project,
to fund technology analyst positions, the small agency infrastructure project,
CriMNet system planning, ongoing costs of the North Star II project and the
Minnesota computers for schools program, for the intertechnologies group for the
911 emergency telephone system, for facilities management including pursuing
litigation to recover costs associated with indoor air quality issues at the
Luverne veterans home, for the office of the state archaeologist, for the
developmental disabilities council, for the STAR program, for a grant to the
Longville city hall district to complete construction of the ambulance building,
for the state employees band and for public television and radio grants, to the
commissioner of finance for state financial management and for information and
management services, to the commissioner of employee relations for employee
insurance and for human resources management, to the commissioner of revenue for
tax system and accounts receivable management, to the adjutant general (military
affairs) for training facilities management, for general support, for enlistment
incentives and for emergency services, to the commissioner of veterans affairs,
to the veterans of foreign wars, to the military order of the purple heart, to
the disabled American veterans, to the gambling control and government
innovation and cooperation boards, to the racing commission, to the board of
arts for operations and services, for the grants program and for regional arts
councils, to the Minnesota humanities commission, to the commissioner of finance
for the payment of tort claims, to the Minnesota state retirement system (MSRS)
for the legislators, constitutional officers and judges retirement plans, to the
Minneapolis employees retirement fund (MERF), to the commissioner of revenue for
police and fire amortization aid, from the lottery prize fund to the
commissioner of human services for a grant to reconstruct project turnabout in
Granite Falls, to the amateur sports commission for matching grants for after
school enrichment programs and for grants to the range recreation civic center
for bleacher purchase and for operation of a shooting sports program and for
general contingent accounts; setting the salary percentages for certain
constitutional officers, compensation council recommendations for legislators
and constitutional officers not to take effect; creating the legislative work
group on television coverage to make recommendations to the legislature for
consolidation of legislative television services; requiring the legislative
coordinating commission (LCC) to investigate and report to the legislature on
the consolidation of public information services; authorizing legislative
appointing authorities to work with DOER to place legislative staff on temporary
assignments in state agencies; approving fee increases proposed for the office
of administrative hearings by the governor; requiring the office of strategic
and long range planning to prepare urban rivers sustainable development draft
guidelines; requiring the appointment of a joint legislative task force to study
the allocation of spaces in the state office building parking ramp and report to
the legislature by a certain date; requiring the commissioner of administration
and the CAAPB to investigate the possibility of locating a bookshop or gift shop
in the capitol and report to the legislature by a certain date; requiring the
management analysis division of the department of administration to report a
plan to the legislature for operation of the amateur sports commission without a
state subsidy and to conduct a study on the feasibility of collecting fees for
services of the state archaeologist; authorizing the use of a certain prior
appropriation to the commissioner of administration for construction of a new
Guthrie theater for predesign; requiring the department of revenue to report to
the legislature by certain dates on certain performance indicators and the
humanities commission to develop a plan for the selection of a Minnesota poet
laureate ARTICLE 2 STATE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS Imposing a deadline for
submission of budget requests from the governor to the legislature; authorizing
the governor to submit revised requests for allotment of additional federal
money received after approval of the original budget request, authorizing
submittal by the commissioner of finance in nonurgency cases; clarifying the
succession of members of the legislative commission on pensions and retirement
(LCPR); requesting the legislative audit commission (LAC) to direct the
legislative auditor in response to suggestions from legislators of evaluation
topics to estimate the scope of and the time required to complete the proposed
evaluation for evaluation decision purposes, requiring notice to the requesting
legislator; providing for legislative auditor access to state agency data under
certain requester access refusal conditions; requiring fiscal notes to include
the assumptions used in determining the cost estimates; establishing the
legislative commission on metropolitan government to oversee the operating and
capital budgets and work and capital improvement programs of the metropolitan
council; requiring the director of the office of strategic and long range
planning to provide staff, office space and administrative support for the
commission on the economic status of women; modifying the authority of the state
treasurer to accept gifts on behalf of the state; clarifying the authority of
state or local government unit employees to receive daily compensation for
service on boards or advisory councils or committees; recodifying the provision
providing for appointing authority employee salary recommendations; requiring
finance department preparation of a separate technology budget book and proposed
performance measures for change items in budget proposals requesting new or
increased funding; creating the statewide systems account in the special revenue
fund for deposit of payments for statewide systems services provided to state
agencies, specifying billing procedures, sunset; regulating the deposit and
distribution of proceeds from litigation or settlements; eliminating a certain
published notice requirement of the commissioner of administration relating to
lost or abandoned property found on state lands; modifying certain state
building code provisions, providing for local government unit designation rather
than appointment of building officials, requiring and providing for commissioner
establishment of a code administration oversight committee and a graduated
schedule of administrative actions and penalties for building code violations,
requiring the imposed surcharge to equal administrative costs; modifying certain
state procurement provisions, regulating organizational conflicts of interest,
requiring commissioner approval and cost benefit analysis of department of
transportation (DOT) contracts under certain conditions, exempting work orders
from certain signature requirements, limiting barter arrangements, increasing
certain contract limits under the solicitation process, expanding federal
contract prepayment authority to all state agencies, authorizing district
cooling agreements; requiring and providing for the commissioner of
administration to prepare an inventory of technology owned or leased by state
agencies; eliminating certain standards and guidelines recommendation
requirements of the office of technology; requiring and providing for approval
of certain state agency technology projects for appropriations purposes;
requiring use of a common web page format for electronic government services;
establishing a temporary technology enterprise fund and board to fund certain
technology projects; requiring commissioner of employee relations (DOER) annual
reports to the governor and legislature on executive branch employee salaries
and benefits for long range planning and state workforce costs computation
purposes and administration of the state employee combined charities campaign;
eliminating certain state agency professional and technical services contracts
reporting requirements; transferring the responsibility for payment of premiums
required for coverage by the workers compensation reinsurance association from
the state treasurer to the commissioner of employee relations; creating Northern
Technology Initiative, Inc. as a public corporation and providing for governance
by a board of directors; providing for Minnesota state colleges and universities
board of trustees contracts with chancellors, vice chancellors or presidents
containing terms and conditions of employment; clarifying the public employment
mediation services petition service requirement, the composition of the state
militia and the qualification requirements of the adjutant general; temporarily
increasing the tuition and textbook reimbursement grant for members of the
national guard, requiring an adjutant general report to the legislature by a
certain date on the impact; authorizing adjutant general reconveyance of unused
armory sites under certain conditions and clarifying certain payments authority;
increasing the veterans educational benefit; authorizing and providing for
amateur sports commission matching grants to local government units for the
development of soccer fields; providing for allocation of fees charged by the
commissioner of revenue under the revenue recapture setoff collection procedure;
eliminating certain filing fee requirements of nonprofit corporations; modifying
the validity period for lawful gambling organization premises permits and
providing for second year issuance; increasing the county recorder filing fee
surcharge to fund the legislative task force on electronic real estate
recording; setting the monthly 911 emergency telephone service customer access
line fee; requiring annual budgets of the metropolitan council to list
expenditures for professional, technical and consultant services; reducing the
marriage license application fee for participation in a certain number of hours
of premarital education and requiring county retention of a certain amount of
the reduced fee; modifying the contractors bond requirement; defining must for
statutory interpretation purposes, requiring the revisor of statutes to report
to the legislature by a certain date on a proposal to change the word shall to
must in the statutes; extending the expiration date of the provision providing
for state employee voluntary unpaid leaves of absence; requiring the settlement
division of the office of administrative hearings to maintain an office in
either Hennepin or Ramsey county; eliminating the requirement for progress
reports by the commissioner of administration on the small agency infrastructure
project; requiring and providing for the legislative auditor to prepare an
accounting of Hiawatha avenue light rail transit (LRT) costs for submission to
the legislature; delaying bleacher safety compliance requirements for the
bleachers used for the defeat of Jesse James days in Northfield; requiring the
commissioner of employee relations to convene a work group to examine the
practices and progress of the local government pay equity act and report to the
legislature by a certain date; requiring the office of strategic and long range
planning to develop criteria for proper location of state agencies for
decentralization purposes; ratifying the compensation plans approved by the
legislative coordinating commission (LCC) on certain dates for administrators of
MnSCU, for the heads of certain state agencies and for government engineers;
specifying certain renumbering instructions to the revisor of statutes;
transferring the office of citizenship and volunteer services from the
department of administration to the office of the governor; repealing the
requirement for the office of technology to coordinate the design,
establishment, implementation and maintenance of the business license
information system, arts organizations grants, public employer uniform
collective bargaining agreement settlement document requirements and the
authority of the commissioner of finance to issue judgment bonds for settlement
of the Cambridge state bank lawsuit ARTICLE 3 VARIOUS ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
Clarifying a certain legislators retirement contributions refund provision;
requiring and providing for annual calculation of the total fair market value of
the Minnesota postretirement investment fund; classifying and restricting
disclosure of certain beneficiary and survivor data under the first class city
teachers retirement fund associations; clarifying the coverage of Minnesota
state colleges and universities (MnSCU) employees under the Minnesota state
retirement system or TRA and removing the exclusion of elective state officers
from MSRS; providing for psychological and chiropractic examinations for MSRS
permanent disability benefits eligibility purposes, modifying a certain
contribution refund requirement, certain state fire marshal division disability
benefits eligibility qualification requirements, the age for cessation of
disability benefits and a certain provision providing for the continuation of
disability benefits upon resumption of employment under the correctional
employees retirement plan and the definition of average monthly salary and
certain disability benefits eligibility requirements under the state troopers
retirement plan; extending the time limit for remittance of amounts due the TRA
after employer receipt of a payroll warrant; modifying the definition of salary
and certain reporting, remittance and refund requirements and providing for the
acceptance of certain rollover payments under the first class city TRAs;
providing service credit eligibility for certain members of the Duluth TRA
receiving temporary workers compensation benefits; providing for public pension
plans lump sum postretirement payment conversions and transfer of required
reserves to the Minnesota postretirement investment fund; including first class
city TRAs under a certain investment business recipient disclosure requirement;
modifying the definition of allowable service under the judges retirement fund;
delaying the effective date of certain prior public employees retirement
association (PERA) local government correctional service retirement plan
modifications; repealing the exception to certain actuarial valuation
requirements for the Duluth TRA ARTICLE 4 OPEN MEETING REQUIREMENT FOR LOCAL
PUBLIC PENSION PLANS Expanding requirements under the open meeting law to
governing bodies or committees of statewide and local public pension plans
ARTICLE 5 POLICE STATE AID AMENDMENTS Qualifying American Indian tribal
governments with tribal police departments exercising certain arrest powers for
police state aid ARTICLE 6 GENERALIZED SERVICE CREDIT PURCHASES Expanding
eligibility under the teachers retirement associations for the purchase of
service credit for out of state teaching service to service with federally
recognized American Indian tribes or in another country and for teaching service
in private or parochial schools to service in developmental achievement centers;
authorizing and providing for the purchase of TRA service credit for prior
university of Minnesota teaching service and by certain Minnesota state college
and university individual retirement account plan (IRAP) members, authorizing
the use of supplemental retirement funds to purchase the service credit or to
repay certain refunds; extending the expiration date of the general prior
service credit purchase payment amount determination procedure and providing for
the purchase of service credit for periods of parental or family leave; defining
allowable service credit under the Minneapolis police relief association;
specifying the expiration dates for certain provisions ARTICLE 7 POSTRETIREMENT
HEALTH CARE INSURANCE COVERAGE Requiring and providing for the Minnesota state
retirement system to establish postretirement health care savings plans to cover
postretirement health care costs, providing for contributions and for
reimbursement for health related expenses; requiring MSRS to establish a
participant advisory committee for the plans; expanding the exceptions to the
restriction on government entity contributions to supplemental pension or
deferred compensation plans for contributions to the health care expense plans
and to the laborers national industrial pension fund for public employees
covered by collective bargaining agreements providing for coverage by the fund,
limit ARTICLE 8 STATE PATROL RETIREMENT PLAN MEMBERSHIP EXPANSION Expanding
state patrol retirement fund membership eligibility to licensed peace officers
employed by the fugitive apprehension unit of the office of special
investigations of the department of corrections and providing for the
distribution of certain employee and employer contributions ARTICLE 9 PRIVATIZED
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DISABILITY COVERAGE Providing for the continuation of disability
benefits under the Minnesota state retirement system (MSRS) for certain
terminated university of Minnesota hospital or clinic employees and under the
public employees retirement association (PERA) for certain terminated employees
of privatized public medical facilities or other public employing units ARTICLE
10 PERA GENERAL MEMBERSHIP INCLUSIONS Expanding coverage under the public
employees retirement association to full time employees of the Dakota county
agricultural society or the Spring Lake Park fire department and excluding from
PERA coverage upon election certain trades personnel employed by the city of St.
Paul or independent school district 625, St. Paul and certain plumbers employed
by the metropolitan airports commission (MAC), providing for member contribution
refunds or deferred annuities; authorizing Dakota county to provide financial
and accounting services to the metropolitan intercounty association and the
county agricultural society ARTICLE 11 REMEDIAL MEASURES FOR THE PERA GENERAL
FUNDING DEFICIENCY Modifying and clarifying certain public employees retirement
association provisions and providing for optional PERA membership for certain
public employees; modifying and clarifying the definition of allowable service
and defining certain additional terms; increasing employee and employer
contribution rates under the basic and coordinated programs; expanding employer
reporting requirements; delaying the date for full funding of the PERA general
plan; requiring the executive directors of the Minnesota state retirement system
(MSRS), PERA and the teachers retirement association and the executive directors
of all the TRAs to jointly prepare administrative consolidation and
implementation reports respectively to the legislature by certain dates;
requiring a certain report prepared by the consulting actuary retained by the
legislative commission on pensions and retirement (LCPR) to include the results
of a certain PERA general plan financing study ARTICLE 12 MINNESOTA STATE
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES SYSTEM RETIREMENT PROVISIONS Modifying eligibility for
membership in the teachers retirement association for persons on a leave of
absence to serve as employees or officers of labor organizations; providing for
the transfer of certain funds from TRA to the Minnesota state colleges and
universities (MnSCU) individual retirement account plan (IRAP) for certain
participants ARTICLE 13 CLOSED CHARTER SCHOOL RETIREMENT CONTRIBUTIONS Requiring
the legislative commission on pensions and retirement (LCPR) to study and
recommend to the legislature by a certain date the appropriate mechanism for
recovering unpaid member and employer retirement plan contributions from charter
schools ceasing operations ARTICLE 14 LOCAL POLICE AND PAID FIRE PENSION PLANS
Providing for the election of board members of the Minneapolis police relief
association and for bylaw amendment referenda by mail-in ballot; providing an ad
hoc postretirement adjustment for members of the Eveleth police and fire trust
fund ARTICLE 15 MINNEAPOLIS FIREFIGHTERS RELIEF ASSOCIATION BENEFIT PLAN
CODIFICATION AND REVISION Codifying, reorganizing and clarifying laws governing
the Minneapolis firefighters relief association relating to creation of the
association, the governing board, association funds and accounts, defined
benefits, investment related postretirement adjustments, actuarial valuations,
member contribution refunds and payments exempt from process; specifying the
effect of the legislation on workers compensation and on accrued benefits and
benefits payable; providing for the right of the association to reduce pensions
and benefits; specifying certain reporting requirements of the finance director
of the city of Minneapolis and certain books and accounts examination
requirements of the state auditor; providing for the city normal cost
contribution adjustment, for suspension of normal cost contributions and for
amortization of unfunded obligations; repealing the local laws governing the
association ARTICLE 16 VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER RELIEF ASSOCIATION PROVISIONS
Requiring a certificate of insurance for volunteer firefighters relief
associations hiring of consultants ARTICLE 17 ONE PERSON OR SMALL GROUP SERVICE
CREDIT PURCHASES Authorizing and providing for the purchase of service credit in
the teachers retirement association (TRA) by certain former employees of
independent school district 11, Anoka-Hennepin and of the Hutchinson public
schools, in the public employees retirement association (PERA) by certain former
employees of independent school district 624, White Bear Lake and of Lac qui
Parle county, by certain current employees of the Minneapolis park board and the
Minneapolis employees retirement fund (MERF) and by a certain former member of
the St. Paul city council, in the Minneapolis teachers retirement fund
association by a certain current special education teacher at the Webster open
school and in the public employees police and fire plan by a certain former
police officer in the city of Brainerd and by a certain former part time
constable in White Bear township ARTICLE 18 ELECTIONS Modifying certain
elections provisions; modifying the provision providing for the qualification of
political parties for the income tax checkoff, requiring the secretary of state
to notify each political party, the commissioner of revenue and the state
campaign finance and public disclosure board by a certain date of the parties
qualifying for inclusion on the income tax form and property tax refund return;
modifying the distribution from the general account of the state elections
campaign fund and changing the certification date and requiring a repayment
agreement with the board for distribution to candidates after the primary
election; requiring soil and water conservation district supervisors to reside
in the district; modifying the definitions of major and minor political party;
specifying certain petition requirements for ballot questions; providing an
affirmative defense to the charge of voting in the wrong precinct; expanding the
provisions limiting local government or public meetings on precinct caucus or
election days to special taxing districts; modifying certain provisions
regulating absentee voting, authorizing applications for automatic receipt of
ballot applications, providing for the preparation of unofficial ballots for use
under certain conditions, authorizing the printing of directions for casting
absentee ballots on the ballot envelope and implementing certain federal
requirements for overseas voting; exempting candidates for president or vice
president and presidential elector from certain affidavit of candidacy and
nominating petition requirements and specifying certain write-in request
requirements of candidates for president and governor; authorizing the signing
of affidavits of candidacy in the presence of individuals authorized to
administer oaths; changing the term chair of the election board to head election
judge; requiring head election judges to serve for the entire election day or to
designate a replacement; authorizing the secretary of state to develop voting
instructions in languages other than English for posting in polling places;
creating a voting equipment grant account for commissioner of administration
grants to local government units to purchase precinct based optical scan ballot
tabulation equipment, specifying certain application procedures and evaluation
and approval requirements; modifying the provisions regulating automatic,
optional or required recounts; modifying certain ballot preparation instructions
approval requirements; requiring and providing for example primary and general
election ballots; eliminating the filing requirement for town general elections
conducted in March; requiring the secretary of state to license touch sensitive
direct recording electronic voting systems for experimental use at an election
before approval for general use, authorizing the imposition of restrictions;
regulating the charging of fees for candidate participation in public parades;
clarifying the provision providing for the appointment of town officers to fill
vacancies (ja)