Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                        CHAPTER 252-H.F.No. 454 
           An act relating to economic development; requiring a 
          summary of performance measures for business loan or 
          grant programs from the department of trade and 
          economic development; creating a task force on the 
          state's economic future and competitiveness; amending 
          Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 116J.58, subdivision 
          1; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
          chapter 116J. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 116J.58, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [ENUMERATION.] The commissioner shall: 
    (1) investigate, study, and undertake ways and means of 
promoting and encouraging the prosperous development and 
protection of the legitimate interest and welfare of Minnesota 
business, industry, and commerce, within and outside the state; 
    (2) locate markets for manufacturers and processors and aid 
merchants in locating and contacting markets; 
    (3) investigate and study conditions affecting Minnesota 
business, industry, and commerce and collect and disseminate 
information, and engage in technical studies, scientific 
investigations, and statistical research and educational 
activities necessary or useful for the proper execution of the 
powers and duties of the commissioner in promoting and 
developing Minnesota business, industry, and commerce, both 
within and outside the state; 
    (4) plan and develop an effective business information 
service both for the direct assistance of business and industry 
of the state and for the encouragement of business and industry 
outside the state to use economic facilities within the state; 
    (5) compile, collect, and develop periodically, or 
otherwise make available, information relating to current 
business conditions; 
    (6) conduct or encourage research designed to further new 
and more extensive uses of the natural and other resources of 
the state and designed to develop new products and industrial 
processes; 
      (7) study trends and developments in the industries of the 
state and analyze the reasons underlying the trends; study costs 
and other factors affecting successful operation of businesses 
within the state; and make recommendations regarding 
circumstances promoting or hampering business and industrial 
development; 
      (8) serve as a clearing house for business and industrial 
problems of the state; and advise small business enterprises 
regarding improved methods of accounting and bookkeeping; 
      (9) cooperate with interstate commissions engaged in 
formulating and promoting the adoption of interstate compacts 
and agreements helpful to business, industry, and commerce; 
      (10) cooperate with other state departments, and with 
boards, commissions, and other state agencies, in the 
preparation and coordination of plans and policies for the 
development of the state and for the use and conservation of its 
resources insofar as the use, conservation, and development may 
be appropriately directed or influenced by a state agency; 
      (11) assemble and coordinate information relative to the 
status, scope, cost, and employment possibilities and the 
availability of materials, equipment, and labor in connection 
with public works projects, state, county, and municipal; 
recommend limitations on the public works; gather current 
progress information with reference to public and private works 
projects of the state and its political subdivisions with 
reference to conditions of employment; inquire into and report 
to the governor, when requested by the governor, with respect to 
any program of public state improvements and the financing 
thereof; and request and obtain information from other state 
departments or agencies as may be needed properly to report 
thereon; 
      (12) study changes in population and current trends and 
prepare plans and suggest policies for the development and 
conservation of the resources of the state; 
    (13) confer and cooperate with the executive, legislative, 
or planning authorities of the United States and neighboring 
states and of the counties and municipalities of such 
neighboring states, for the purpose of bringing about a 
coordination between the development of such neighboring states, 
counties, and municipalities and the development of this state; 
    (14) generally, gather, compile, and make available 
statistical information relating to business, trade, commerce, 
industry, transportation, communication, natural resources, and 
other like subjects in this state, with authority to call upon 
other departments of the state for statistical data and results 
obtained by them and to arrange and compile that statistical 
information in a manner that seems wise; 
    (15) prepare an annual report to the legislature 
estimating, and to the extent possible, describing the number of 
Minnesota companies which have left the state or moved to 
surrounding states or other countries.  The report should 
include an estimate of the number of jobs lost by these moves, 
an estimate of the total employment payroll, average hourly wage 
of those jobs lost and those created in the new location, and to 
the extent possible, the reasons for each company moving out of 
state, if known; 
    (15) (16) publish documents and annually convene regional 
meetings to inform businesses, local government units, 
assistance providers, and other interested persons of changes in 
state and federal law related to economic development; and 
    (16) (17) annually convene conferences of providers of 
economic development related financial and technical assistance 
for the purposes of exchanging information on economic 
development assistance, coordinating economic development 
activities, and formulating economic development strategies; and 
    (18) prepare, as part of biennial budget process with an 
annual interim summary for the legislature, performance measures 
for each business loan or grant program within the jurisdiction 
of the commissioner.  Measures would include source of funds for 
each program, numbers of jobs proposed or promised at the time 
of application and the number of jobs created, estimated number 
of jobs retained, the average salary and benefits for the jobs 
resulting from the program, estimated number of jobs displaced, 
if any, and the number of projects approved. 
     Sec. 2.  [116J.581] [COMPETITIVENESS TASK FORCE.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [CREATION.] There is created a permanent 
task force on the state's economic future and competitiveness.  
The task force is composed of the governor (ex officio); the 
commissioners of the departments of jobs and training, trade and 
economic development, commerce, and labor and industry; the 
chancellor of the higher education board; the president of the 
largest statewide Minnesota organized labor organization as 
measured by the number of its members in affiliated labor 
organizations; the deans of the business schools at the 
University of Minnesota and St. Thomas University and the Hubert 
H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs; the science and 
technology advisor to the governor; six representatives from 
private sector businesses appointed by the governor, two from 
companies with more than 1,000 employees, two from companies 
with 101 to 1,000 employees, and two from companies with less 
than 100 employees; two members representing environmental 
interests; and designees of the majority leader of the senate 
and the minority leader of the house of representatives.  The 
chair of the task force shall be elected by the members from the 
private sector members.  Terms of private sector members shall 
be for a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years. 
    Subd. 2.  [DUTIES.] The task force shall: 
    (1) monitor implementation of the state's economic 
blueprint, particularly as it pertains to the long-range 
competitiveness of Minnesota's companies, published by the 
department of trade and economic development in November 1992; 
    (2) issue long-range policy recommendations for the state 
to achieve its long-range economic goals; 
    (3) hold periodic forums and symposiums involving renowned 
experts in areas pertaining to economic development and job 
creation; 
    (4) meet on call of the chair to receive reports and to 
provide ongoing counsel and advice to the legislature and the 
commissioner of trade and economic development; 
    (5) make recommendations as to modification or numeric 
changes in the economic blueprint to maintain its relevance and 
significance; 
    (6) ensure that goals, proposals, and recommendations 
should be quantified to the extent possible; 
    (7) utilize modern modeling tools to determine the 
long-range competitive impact of past, present, and proposed 
legislative action; and 
    (8) scrutinize all legislation that can impact the state's 
economic future or the competitiveness of Minnesota enterprise. 
    Subd. 3.  [REPORTS.] The task force shall make annual 
reports to the governor and legislature on or before February 
1.  The first report is due by February 1, 1994. 
    Subd. 4.  [CONTINUATION OF TASK FORCE.] The task force 
shall not expire but shall continue until terminated by a law 
specifically terminating it. 
    Presented to the governor May 15, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 19, 1993, 8:24 a.m.