SF 1064

2nd Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to telecommunications; establishing an
accessible electronic information service for blind
and disabled persons; appropriating money; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 237.52, subdivisions
2, 4; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
Statutes, chapters 248; 256C.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 237.52,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Assessment.

new text begin (a) new text end The commissioner of commerce new text begin ,
the commissioner of employment and economic development, and the
commissioner of human services new text end shall annually recommend to the
commission an adequate and appropriate surcharge and budget to
implement sections 237.50 to 237.56 new text begin , 248.062, and 256C.30,
respectively. The maximum annual budget for section 248.062
must not exceed $100,000 and for section 256C.30 must not exceed
$300,000 new text end . The Public Utilities Commission shall review
the deleted text begin budget deleted text end new text begin budgets new text end for reasonableness and may modify the budget
to the extent it is unreasonable. The commission shall annually
determine the funding mechanism to be used within 60 days of
receipt of the recommendation of the deleted text begin department deleted text end new text begin departments new text end and
shall order the imposition of surcharges effective on the
earliest practicable date. The commission shall establish a
monthly charge no greater than 20 cents for each customer access
line, including trunk equivalents as designated by the
commission pursuant to section 403.11, subdivision 1.

new text begin (b) If the fund balance falls below a level capable of
fully supporting all programs eligible under subdivision 5 and
sections 248.062 and 256C.30, expenditures under sections
248.062 and 256C.30 shall be reduced on a pro rata basis and
expenditures under sections 237.53 and 237.54 shall be fully
funded. Expenditures under sections 248.062 and 256C.30 shall
resume at fully-funded levels when the commissioner of commerce
determines there is a sufficient fund balance to fully fund
those expenditures.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 237.52,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Appropriation.

Money in the fund is
appropriated to the commissioner of commerce to implement
sections 237.51 to 237.56 new text begin , to the commissioner of employment and
economic development to implement section 248.062, and to the
commissioner of human services to implement section 256C.30 new text end .

Sec. 3.

new text begin [248.061] DEFINITIONS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Scope. new text end

new text begin The definitions in this section
apply to sections 248.061 and 248.062.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Accessible electronic information
service. new text end

new text begin "Accessible electronic information service" means news
and other timely information, including newspapers, provided to
eligible individuals from a service center, using high-speed
computers and telecommunications technology for acquisition of
content and rapid distribution in a form appropriate for use by
those individuals.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Eligible individual. new text end

new text begin "Eligible individual"
means an individual who is eligible for library loan services
through the Library of Congress and the State Library for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped under Code of Federal
Regulations, title 36, section 701.10, subsection (b).
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Commissioner. new text end

new text begin "Commissioner" means the
commissioner of employment and economic development.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Qualified entity. new text end

new text begin "Qualified entity" means an
agency, instrumentality, or political subdivision of the state
or a nonprofit organization that:
new text end

new text begin (1) provides access for an eligible individual to read
daily newspapers through producing audio or Braille editions by
computer; or
new text end

new text begin (2) provides a means of program administration and reader
registration on the Internet.
new text end

Sec. 4.

new text begin [248.062] DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER.
new text end

new text begin The commissioner must enter into agreements with qualified
entities to provide an accessible electronic information service
for eligible individuals. This service must be planned for
continuation from year to year.
new text end

Sec. 5.

new text begin [256C.30] DUTIES OF HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSIONER.
new text end

new text begin (a) As described in this section, the commissioner of human
services must enter into grant agreements with television
stations to make live local news programming accessible to deaf,
hard-of-hearing, and deaf-blind persons as defined in section
256C.23.
new text end

new text begin (b) The grant agreements must provide for:
new text end

new text begin (1) real-time captioning services for broadcasting that is
not emergency broadcasting subject to Code of Federal
Regulations, title 47, section 79.2;
new text end

new text begin (2) real-time captioning services for commercial
broadcasters in areas of Minnesota where commercial broadcasters
are not subject to the live programming closed-captioning
requirements of Code of Federal Regulations, title 47, section
71.1(e)(3); and
new text end

new text begin (3) real-time captioning for large-market noncommercial
broadcasters who produce live news programming.
new text end

new text begin (c) For the purposes of this section, "real-time captioning"
means a method of captioning in which captions are
simultaneously prepared and transmitted at the time of
origination by specially trained real-time captioners.
new text end

Sec. 6. new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE.
new text end

new text begin Sections 1 to 4 as they relate to duties and powers related
to section 248.062 are effective the day following final
enactment and apply to the budget for Minnesota Statutes,
section 248.062, for services provided after April 15, 2005.
new text end

Sec. 7. new text begin SUNSET.
new text end

new text begin Sections 3 to 5 expire June 30, 2010.
new text end