SF 1304

1st Engrossment - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 03/20/2015 08:58am

A bill for an act
relating to state government; creating a legislative budget office; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2014, sections 3.305, subdivision 1; 3.98; 3.987, subdivision
1; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 3.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 3.305, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Definitions.

(a) "Legislative commission" means a joint commission,
committee, or other entity in the legislative branch composed exclusively of members of
the senate and the house of representatives.

(b) "Joint offices" means the Revisor of Statutes, Legislative Reference Library, the
Office of Legislative Auditor, new text begin the Legislative Budget Office, new text end and any other joint legislative
service office.

Sec. 2.

new text begin [3.901] LEGISLATIVE BUDGET OFFICE.
new text end

new text begin A Legislative Budget Office is established under control of the Legislative
Coordinating Commission to provide the house of representatives and the senate with
nonpartisan, accurate, and timely information on the fiscal impact of proposed legislation,
without regard to political factors. The Legislative Coordinating Commission shall
appoint a director who may hire staff necessary to do the work of the office. The director
serves a term of six years and may not be removed during a term except for cause after a
public hearing.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 3.98, is amended to read:

3.98 FISCAL NOTES.

Subdivision 1.

Preparation.

new text begin (a) new text end The deleted text begin head or chief administrative officer of each
department or agency of the state government, including the Supreme Court, deleted text end new text begin Legislative
Budget Office new text end shall prepare a fiscal note at the request of the chair of the standing
committee to which a bill has been referred, or the chair of the house of representatives
Ways and Means Committee, or the chair of the senate Committee on Finance.

new text begin (b) The head or chief administrative officer of each department or agency of state
government, including the Supreme Court, shall supply information for fiscal notes
upon request of the director of the Legislative Budget Office. The Legislative Budget
Office may adopt standards and guidelines governing timing of responses to requests for
information and governing access to data, consistent with laws governing access to data.
Agencies must comply with these standards and guidelines.
new text end

new text begin (c) new text end For purposes of this subdivision, "Supreme Court" includes all agencies,
committees, and commissions supervised or appointed by the state Supreme Court or the
state court administrator.

Subd. 2.

Contents.

(a) The fiscal note, where possible, shall:

(1) cite the effect in dollar amounts;

(2) cite the statutory provisions affected;

(3) estimate the increase or decrease in revenues or expenditures;

(4) include the costs which may be absorbed without additional funds;

(5) include the assumptions used in determining the cost estimates; and

(6) specify any long-range implication.

(b) The fiscal note may comment on technical or mechanical defects in the bill but
shall express no opinions concerning the merits of the proposal.

Subd. 3.

Distribution.

A copy of the fiscal note shall be delivered to the chair of
the Ways and Means Committee of the house of representatives, the chair of the Finance
Committee of the senate, the chair of the standing committee to which the bill has been
referred, to the chief author of the bill and to the commissioner of management and budget.

Subd. 4.

Uniform procedure.

The deleted text begin commissioner of management and budget deleted text end new text begin
Legislative Budget Office new text end shall prescribe a uniform procedure to govern the departments
and agencies of the state in complying with the requirements of this section.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 3.987, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Local impact notes.

The deleted text begin commissioner of management and budget deleted text end new text begin
Legislative Budget Office new text end shall coordinate the development of a local impact note for any
proposed legislation deleted text begin introduced after June 30, 1997, deleted text end upon request of the chair or the ranking
minority member of either legislative Tax, Finance, or Ways and Means Committee. Upon
receipt of a request to prepare a local impact note, the deleted text begin commissioner deleted text end new text begin office new text end must notify the
authors of the proposed legislation that the request has been made. The local impact note
must be made available to the public upon request. If the action is among the exceptions
listed in section 3.988, a local impact note need not be requested nor prepared. The
deleted text begin commissioner deleted text end new text begin office new text end shall make a reasonable and timely estimate of the local fiscal impact
on each type of political subdivision that would result from the proposed legislation. The
deleted text begin commissioner of management and budget deleted text end new text begin office new text end may require any political subdivision or
the commissioner of an administrative agency of the state to supply in a timely manner
any information determined to be necessary to determine local fiscal impact. The political
subdivision, its representative association, or commissioner shall convey the requested
information to the deleted text begin commissioner of management and budget deleted text end new text begin office new text end with a signed statement
to the effect that the information is accurate and complete to the best of its ability. The
political subdivision, its representative association, or commissioner, when requested,
shall update its determination of local fiscal impact based on actual cost or revenue figures,
improved estimates, or both. Upon completion of the note, the deleted text begin commissioner deleted text end new text begin office new text end must
provide a copy to the authors of the proposed legislation and to the chair and ranking
minority member of each committee to which the proposed legislation is referred.

Sec. 5. new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE.
new text end

new text begin Sections 1 to 4 are effective July 1, 2015.
new text end