SF 2002

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 03/12/2020 02:49pm

A bill for an act
relating to state government; requiring multiunit residential facilities to provide
access to employees of the United States Census; establishing a Census 2020
Mobilization Partnership program; appropriating money to support certain outreach
initiatives to encourage participation in the 2020 federal census.

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

Section 1. new text begin ACCESS TO MULTIUNIT FACILITIES BY UNITED STATES CENSUS
EMPLOYEES.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Access required. new text end

new text begin It is unlawful for a person, either directly or indirectly,
to deny access to an apartment house, dormitory, nursing home, manufactured home park,
other multiple unit facility used as a residence, or an area in which two or more single-family
dwellings are located on private roadways, to an employee of the United States Census who
displays a current, valid census credential and who is engaged in official census business.
An employee granted access under this section must be permitted to leave census materials
for residents at their doors, except that the manager of a nursing home may direct that the
materials be left at a central location within the facility. The materials must be left in an
orderly manner.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Limitations. new text end

new text begin This section does not prohibit:
new text end

new text begin (1) denial of admittance into a particular apartment, room, manufactured home, or
personal residential unit;
new text end

new text begin (2) in the case of a nursing home or a registered housing with services establishment
providing assisted living services meeting the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, section
144G.03, subdivision 2, denial of permission to visit certain persons for valid health reasons;
new text end

new text begin (3) limiting visits to a reasonable number of census employees or reasonable hours;
new text end

new text begin (4) requiring a prior appointment to gain access to the facility; or
new text end

new text begin (5) denial of admittance to or expulsion of an individual employee from a multiple unit
dwelling for good cause.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Expiration. new text end

new text begin This section is effective January 1, 2020, and expires July 1, 2020.
new text end

Sec. 2. new text begin MINNESOTA CENSUS 2020 MOBILIZATION.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Duty of commissioner of administration; grants and contracts. new text end

new text begin (a)
The commissioner of administration must, in collaboration with the Minnesota Census 2020
Mobilization Partnership, facilitate the administration of a census mobilization program.
The purpose of the program must be to increase the participation of Minnesotans in the
2020 United States Census by implementing the outreach and mobilization activities
described in subdivisions 2 to 5.
new text end

new text begin (b) At least 45 percent of any appropriation provided to the commissioner for the program
required by this section must be allocated for grants to local governments and nonpartisan,
nonprofit community organizations engaged in census mobilization work. Any appropriations
not allocated for grants may be used by the commissioner to further implement the outreach
and mobilization activities described in subdivisions 2 to 5 by contract or by directing the
work of the office of the state demographer.
new text end

new text begin (c) The commissioner of administration may waive application of all or any portion of
Minnesota Statutes, sections 16B.978 to 16B.991, in awarding grants, Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 16C, in entering contracts, and Minnesota Statutes, chapter 16E, in purchasing
technology systems and software under this section to facilitate the timely distribution of
funds and to maximize the impact of the outreach and mobilization activities.
Notwithstanding the waivers authorized by this paragraph, the commissioner may not waive
application of policies or procedures designed to ensure diversity and the inclusion of
traditionally underrepresented groups among grant recipients and contract vendors.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Engaging hard to reach households. new text end

new text begin The census mobilization partnership
program must support:
new text end

new text begin (1) initiatives to increase census response rates among households outside of the
11-county metropolitan area who receive mail through a post office box; and
new text end

new text begin (2) initiatives to increase awareness among census employees, multiunit apartment
managers and owners, and renters on the laws governing access to multiunit apartment
buildings by census employees.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Adapting to the electronic census. new text end

new text begin The census mobilization partnership program
must support:
new text end

new text begin (1) opportunities for Minnesotans to submit their census response electronically through
online portals provided in common gathering spaces within a community; and
new text end

new text begin (2) commit-to-the-census initiatives that organize Minnesotans to commit to participate
in the census and include electronic reminders to facilitate their participation.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Reaching historically undercounted communities. new text end

new text begin The census mobilization
partnership program must support:
new text end

new text begin (1) job sourcing initiatives that encourage a sufficient pool of qualified candidates to
apply for positions with the Census Bureau, and efforts to ensure that the pool of candidates
reflects the diversity of Minnesota's communities, including those communities historically
undercounted in census reports; and
new text end

new text begin (2) initiatives that engage historically undercounted communities, and reduce census
participation gaps in these communities compared to Minnesota's historically high overall
census response rate.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Shared services. new text end

new text begin The census mobilization partnership program must support
efficiency in census mobilization efforts by providing shared services to support local and
community census outreach, including development of multilingual educational and
promotional materials and tools to reach respondents through a variety of communication
platforms and services.
new text end

Sec. 3. new text begin APPROPRIATION; MINNESOTA CENSUS MOBILIZATION PROGRAM.
new text end

new text begin $....... in fiscal year 2020 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of
administration for the census mobilization program described in section 2. This appropriation
is available until June 30, 2021.
new text end