HF 61

1st Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; modifying use of personal
sick leave benefits; establishing an Internet-based
caregiver support program; establishing a home care
tax credit; appropriating money; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2004, sections 181.9413; 256B.0911,
subdivision 3; 256B.0917, by adding subdivisions;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 290.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 181.9413, is
amended to read:

181.9413 SICK deleted text begin OR INJURED CHILD CARE deleted text end LEAVE new text begin BENEFITS; USE TO
CARE FOR CERTAIN RELATIVES new text end .

(a) An employee may use personal sick leave benefits
provided by the employer for absences due to an illness of or
injury to the employee's child new text begin , spouse, sibling, parent,
grandparent, or stepparent new text end for such reasonable periods as the
employee's attendance deleted text begin with the child deleted text end may be necessary, on the
same terms new text begin upon which new text end the employee is able to use sick leave
benefits for the employee's own illness or injury. This section
applies only to personal sick leave benefits payable to the
employee from the employer's general assets.

(b) For purposes of this section, "personal sick leave
benefits" means time accrued and available to an employee to be
used as a result of absence from work due to personal illness or
injury, but does not include short-term or long-term disability
or other salary continuation benefits.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective August 1, 2005,
and applies to sick leave used on or after that date.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 256B.0911,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Long-term care consultation team.

(a) A
long-term care consultation team shall be established by the
county board of commissioners. Each local consultation team
shall consist of at least one social worker and at least one
public health nurse from their respective county agencies. The
board may designate public health or social services as the lead
agency for long-term care consultation services. If a county
does not have a public health nurse available, it may request
approval from the commissioner to assign a county registered
nurse with at least one year experience in home care to
participate on the team. Two or more counties may collaborate
to establish a joint local consultation team or teams.

(b) The team is responsible for providing long-term care
consultation services to all persons located in the county who
request the services, regardless of eligibility for Minnesota
health care programs.

new text begin (c) For applicants for a credit under section 290.0676, the
team must certify in accordance with procedures established by
the commissioner that the care provided by the caregiver:
new text end

new text begin (1) qualifies as personal care assistant services under
section 256B.0627, subdivision 4;
new text end

new text begin (2) is needed and provided in person on a daily basis;
new text end

new text begin (3) is appropriate based on the service recipient's needs
and is likely to delay or avoid transferring the person to an
out-of-home placement; and
new text end

new text begin (4) has been given a score using the caregiver burden scale
under section 256B.0917, subdivision 6b.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 256B.0917, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 6a. new text end

new text begin Internet-based caregiver support program. new text end

new text begin The
Minnesota Board on Aging shall develop and implement an
Internet-based caregiver support program. The goal of the
program shall be to provide family caregivers with the
information and tools needed to self-manage, plan, purchase,
coordinate, monitor, and evaluate the day-to-day activities and
care outcomes of family members to whom they provide care. The
program must complement Internet-based information services that
are currently available. The program must include the following
components:
new text end

new text begin (1) direct connectivity to statewide systems, including,
but not limited to, Senior LinkAge Line, MinnesotaHelp.info,
RXConnect, and long-term care consultation and to vendors and
providers of goods and services, including, but not limited to,
respite care, coach services, pharmaceutical vendors, medical
supply vendors, grocers, personal care vendors, and electronic
assistive technology vendors;
new text end

new text begin (2) access to online resources, including connectivity to
daily living and clinical monitoring devices and audio and
visual contact between the care recipient, the caregiver,
services providers, and others for tracking or conducting
service visits, care meetings, and other service provisions;
new text end

new text begin (3) message boards related to caregiver news, information,
and events;
new text end

new text begin (4) data collection, including surveys, and reporting and
registration functions as required by state and federal
programs; and
new text end

new text begin (5) an individual data profile accessible by designated
parties to view, add, share, or edit information as needed to
support informal caregiving.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 256B.0917, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 6b. new text end

new text begin Duties with respect to home care credit;
applications. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner shall develop by December 1,
2005, a caregiver burden scale to score applicants for the home
care credit under section 290.0676. The score shall measure
hours per week of care provided, the volume and types of
assistance provided, and other criteria determined by the
commissioner to be pertinent.
new text end

new text begin (b) Each caregiver applying for a credit under section
290.0676 must apply to the commissioner. The commissioner shall
rank applicants on the score developed under paragraph (a). The
commissioner shall limit approvals under this paragraph in order
to keep the credit payments under section 290.0676 within the
limits of appropriations made specifically for this purpose.
new text end

new text begin (c) In each calendar year, the commissioner shall accept
until February 15 applications for a caregiver burden scale
score for the previous calendar year. By March 15 of each
calendar year, the commissioner must issue approvals for credits
under section 290.0676, based on each applicant's score on the
scale and the appropriations available for credits. The
commissioner may develop procedures to delegate to appropriate
organizations the responsibility to assign burden scale scores
to applicants.
new text end

new text begin (d) The commissioner shall be exempt from chapter 14 for
purposes of this subdivision.
new text end

Sec. 5.

new text begin [290.0676] MINNESOTA HOME CARE CREDIT.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Definitions. new text end

new text begin The terms used in this
section have the following meanings unless otherwise provided
for by text.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Caregiver. new text end

new text begin "Caregiver" means an individual who
provides unpaid assistance on a daily basis that qualifies as
personal care assistant services under section 256B.0627,
subdivision 4, to a service recipient in either the individual's
home or the service recipient's home.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Service recipient. new text end

new text begin "Service recipient" means an
individual age 65 or older who:
new text end

new text begin (1) is the spouse, parent, stepparent, sibling,
stepsibling, child, stepchild, grandparent, or stepgrandparent
of the taxpayer;
new text end

new text begin (2) does not reside in a setting licensed or registered by
the commissioner of health or human services; and
new text end

new text begin (3) has been screened by a county long-term care
consultation team and determined by that team to be eligible for
placement in a nursing home.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Credit allowed. new text end

new text begin (a) An individual is allowed a
credit against the tax imposed by this chapter equal to $200 for
each month during the tax year that the individual is a
caregiver for a service recipient. The maximum credit in a tax
year shall be $2,400.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner shall require individuals claiming the
credit to certify that the individual and the service recipient
satisfy all the requirements of this section.
new text end

new text begin (c) An individual may claim only one credit in any tax year.
Only one credit may be claimed for each service recipient in any
tax year.
new text end

new text begin (d) For a nonresident or part-year resident, the credit
must be allocated based on the percentage calculated under
section 290.06, subdivision 2c, paragraph (e).
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Credit limitations. new text end

new text begin (a) Eligibility for the
credit in subdivision 4 is limited to persons with total
household income, as defined in section 290A.03, subdivision 5,
that does not exceed the maximum household income level eligible
for a refund under section 290A.04, subdivision 2.
new text end

new text begin (b) Eligibility for the credit in subdivision 4 is limited
to persons who have been approved by the commissioner of human
services under section 256B.0917, subdivision 6b.
new text end

new text begin (c) The credit in subdivision 4 is reduced to $100 for any
month in which a service recipient receives more than four hours
per day on average of federal, state, or county-funded home care
services as specified in section 256B.0627, subdivision 2.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Credit refundable. new text end

new text begin If the amount of the credit
under this section exceeds the individual's tax liability under
this chapter, the commissioner shall refund the excess amount to
the claimant.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Caregiver training. new text end

new text begin For each year in which a
credit is claimed under this section, the caregiver must attend
at least eight hours of (1) caregiver training, education, or
counseling, or (2) caregiver support group sessions.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for taxable
years beginning after December 31, 2004.
new text end

Sec. 6. new text begin APPROPRIATIONS.
new text end

new text begin (a) $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning July
1, 2005, for the purposes of section 2.
new text end

new text begin (b) $750,000 in fiscal year 2006 and $200,000 in fiscal
year 2007 are appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of human services for the purposes of section 3.
new text end

new text begin (c) $4,800,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of revenue for the biennium beginning July 1, 2005,
for purposes of section 5.
new text end