SF 378

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; providing support to
caregivers; appropriating money; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2004, sections 181.9413; 256B.0917,
subdivision 6; 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 , 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 on or after that date.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 256B.0917,
subdivision 6, is amended to read:

Subd. 6.

Caregiver support and respite care projects.

(a) The commissioner shall establish up to deleted text begin 36 deleted text end new text begin 50 new text end projects to
expand the respite care network in the state and to support
caregivers in their responsibilities for care. The purpose of
each project shall be to:

(1) establish a local coordinated network of volunteer and
paid respite workers;

(2) coordinate assignment of respite workers to clients and
care receivers and assure the health and safety of the client;
and

(3) provide training for caregivers and ensure that support
groups are available in the community.

(b) The caregiver support and respite care funds shall be
available to the four to six local long-term care strategy
projects designated in subdivisions 1 to 5.

(c) The commissioner shall publish a notice in the State
Register to solicit proposals from public or private nonprofit
agencies for the projects not included in the four to six local
long-term care strategy projects defined in subdivision 2. A
county agency may, alone or in combination with other county
agencies, apply for caregiver support and respite care project
funds. A public or nonprofit agency within a designated SAIL
project area may apply for project funds if the agency has a
letter of agreement with the county or counties in which
services will be developed, stating the intention of the county
or counties to coordinate their activities with the agency
requesting a grant.

(d) The commissioner shall select grantees based on the
following criteria:

(1) the ability of the proposal to demonstrate need in the
area served, as evidenced by a community needs assessment or
other demographic data;

(2) the ability of the proposal to clearly describe how the
project will achieve the purpose defined in paragraph (b);

(3) the ability of the proposal to reach underserved
populations;

(4) the ability of the proposal to demonstrate community
commitment to the project, as evidenced by letters of support
and cooperation as well as formation of a community task force;

(5) the ability of the proposal to clearly describe the
process for recruiting, training, and retraining volunteers; and

(6) the inclusion in the proposal of the plan to promote
the project in the community, including outreach to persons
needing the services.

(e) Funds for all projects under this subdivision may be
used to:

(1) hire a coordinator to develop a coordinated network of
volunteer and paid respite care services and assign workers to
clients;

(2) recruit and train volunteer providers;

(3) train caregivers;

(4) ensure the development of support groups for
caregivers;

(5) advertise the availability of the caregiver support and
respite care project; and

(6) purchase equipment to maintain a system of assigning
workers to clients.

(f) Project funds may not be used to supplant existing
funding sources.

Sec. 3.

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

new text begin Subdivision 1. 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 qualifying person. The maximum credit in a
tax year is $2,400. The commissioner may require claimants to
certify that the claimant and the qualifying person meet the
requirements of this section. An individual may claim only one
credit in any tax year and only one credit may be claimed for
each qualifying person in any tax year.
new text end

new text begin (b) 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. 2. new text end

new text begin Definitions. new text end

new text begin For purposes of this section, the
following terms have the meanings given.
new text end

new text begin (a) "Qualifying person," means an individual who:
new text end

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

new text begin (2) has been screened by a county preadmission screening
team and determined by that team to be eligible for placement in
a nursing facility.
new text end

new text begin (b) "Caregiver" means an individual who:
new text end

new text begin (1) provides assistance with instrumental activities of
daily living for a qualifying person, in either the individual's
home or the qualifying person's home; and
new text end

new text begin (2) attends at least eight hours of (i) caregiver training
or education or (ii) caregiver support group sessions during the
year for which the credit is claimed.
new text end

new text begin (c) "Instrumental activities of daily living" means
activities such as preparation of meals, light housekeeping,
personal laundry, handling money, and using the telephone.
Instrumental activities of daily living are associated with
independent living and necessary to support activities of daily
living, including eating, transferring, dressing, bathing,
toileting, and ambulation.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Limitations. new text end

new text begin The credit is reduced to $100 for
any month in which a qualifying person receives more than four
hours per day on average of state or county-funded home care
services under section 144A.43, subdivision 3, including, but
not limited to, those funded under chapters 256B and 256L.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Credit refundable. new text end

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

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Appropriation. new text end

new text begin An amount sufficient to pay the
refunds required by this section is appropriated to the
commissioner of revenue from the general fund.
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. 4. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin (a) $540,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of human services in fiscal year 2006 for the
purposes in section 2 to provide grants to new and existing
projects.
new text end

new text begin (b) $100,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the
Minnesota Board on Aging in fiscal year 2006 for the purpose of
providing caregiver education on resources and services.
new text end