HF 2431

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to fair housing; establishing a fair housing 
  1.3             initiative; appropriating money to the commissioner of 
  1.4             human rights for grants for fair housing enforcement, 
  1.5             education, and outreach; proposing coding for new law 
  1.6             in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 363. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [363.30] [FAIR HOUSING INITIATIVE.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] For the purposes of sections 
  1.10  363.30 to 363.33, the terms in this section have the meanings 
  1.11  given them. 
  1.12     Subd. 2.  [ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATION.] "Eligible organization" 
  1.13  means a nonprofit organization that has at least one year of 
  1.14  experience in at least two of the following fair housing 
  1.15  activities: 
  1.16     (1) housing discrimination complaint intake and 
  1.17  investigation; 
  1.18     (2) testing for housing discrimination; 
  1.19     (3) community auditing for housing discrimination; 
  1.20     (4) legal representation of persons concerning their 
  1.21  housing discrimination claims; 
  1.22     (5) public education about rights and obligations under 
  1.23  fair housing laws; and 
  1.24     (6) outreach programs to build public support for fair 
  1.25  housing and to prevent housing discrimination. 
  1.26     Subd. 3.  [HOUSING DISCRIMINATION.] "Housing discrimination"
  2.1   means a violation of a federal or state law, or of a local 
  2.2   ordinance, that prohibits housing discrimination, including, but 
  2.3   not limited to, an unfair discriminatory practice under section 
  2.4   363.03, subdivision 2 or 2a, and a discriminatory housing 
  2.5   practice in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act, United 
  2.6   States Code, title 42, section 3601, et seq. 
  2.7      Sec. 2.  [363.33] [FAIR HOUSING GRANTS.] 
  2.8      Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL.] The commissioner may make grants 
  2.9   to eligible organizations for fair housing activities to prevent 
  2.10  or eliminate housing discrimination as provided in this section. 
  2.11     Subd. 2.  [ENFORCEMENT GRANTS.] The commissioner may make 
  2.12  grants to eligible organizations to remedy housing 
  2.13  discrimination through complaint intake, investigation, and 
  2.14  legal representation of persons alleging housing discrimination. 
  2.15     Subd. 3.  [EDUCATION, OUTREACH GRANTS.] The commissioner 
  2.16  may make grants to eligible organizations to: 
  2.17     (1) provide public education concerning fair housing; 
  2.18     (2) undertake outreach efforts to build community support 
  2.19  for fair housing; 
  2.20     (3) undertake testing and community auditing for housing 
  2.21  discrimination; and 
  2.22     (4) perform other fair housing and housing discrimination 
  2.23  research. 
  2.24     Testing for housing discrimination funded by grants made 
  2.25  under this section may be conducted only by persons trained in 
  2.26  testing techniques and may not be conducted by a person 
  2.27  convicted of a felony or other crime involving fraud or 
  2.28  dishonesty. 
  2.29     Subd. 4.  [SPECIAL PROJECTS.] The commissioner may make 
  2.30  grants to eligible organizations to carry out special projects 
  2.31  to address new or sophisticated forms of housing discrimination. 
  2.32     Sec. 3.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.33     (a) $400,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  2.34  commissioner of human rights for fiscal year 1999 for grants to 
  2.35  eligible organizations under Minnesota Statutes, sections 363.30 
  2.36  to 363.33.  Of this amount, $200,000 is for fair housing 
  3.1   enforcement activities, including housing discrimination 
  3.2   complaint intake, investigation, and legal representation of 
  3.3   persons concerning their housing discrimination claims, and 
  3.4   $200,000 is for fair housing education and outreach, testing, 
  3.5   community auditing, and research. 
  3.6      (b) Money appropriated to the commissioner under this 
  3.7   section shall not be used by the department of human rights for 
  3.8   administrative purposes.  Testing services funded by money 
  3.9   appropriated under this section and used in department of human 
  3.10  rights investigations are not considered administrative purposes.