Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, 1st Special Session

 
    Laws of Minnesota, 1993 First Special Session 

                          CHAPTER 4-H.F.No. 2 
           An act relating to state government; providing for 
          replacement of a state airplane; providing for a 
          budget contingency plan; appropriating money; amending 
          Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 360.024. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 360.024, is 
amended to read: 
    360.024 [AIR TRANSPORTATION SERVICES.] 
    The commissioner shall charge users of air transportation 
services provided by the commissioner for all direct operating 
costs, including salaries and acquisition of aircraft.  All 
receipts for these services shall be deposited in the air 
transportation services account in the state airports fund and 
are appropriated to the commissioner to pay all direct air 
service operating costs, including salaries.  Receipts to cover 
the cost of acquisition of aircraft must be transferred and 
credited to the hangar construction revolving account or fund 
whose assets were used for the acquisition. 
    Sec. 2.  [BUDGET CONTINGENCY PLAN.] 
    (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of Minnesota Statutes, 
section 16A.15, subdivision 1, or any other law, the 
commissioner of finance shall determine on November 30, 1993, if 
forecast general fund revenues and expenditures permit funding 
the budget reserve and cash flow account at $400,000,000. 
    (b) If the commissioner determines that for the remainder 
of the biennium, sufficient resources are not available to fund 
the reserve at $400,000,000, then the commissioner shall, with 
the concurrence of the legislative commission on planning and 
fiscal policy, uniformly unallot all general fund and local 
government trust fund appropriations, up to a maximum of one 
percent of the total biennial appropriation from these funds to 
maintain the budget reserve and cash flow account at 
$400,000,000 according to the following criteria and authorities:
    (1) biennial allotment reductions under this authority may 
not exceed one percent of total biennial appropriations to these 
funds; 
    (2) the commissioner of finance may defer or suspend prior 
statutorily created obligations or entitlements to benefits that 
would prevent making the reductions to the extent necessary to 
accomplish uniform reductions; 
    (3) sufficient undistributed, unobligated balances of all 
appropriations must be reserved to satisfy the requirements 
under this section; 
    (4) appropriations for debt service and maximum effort 
school loans are excluded from calculation of the reductions 
under this section; 
    (5) the appropriations for aid to families with dependent 
children, Minnesota supplemental aid, and any appropriations for 
which a reduction would violate federal law are excluded from 
calculation of the reductions under this section; 
    (6) appropriations which would result in an insufficient 
remaining balance available so as to constitute an 
unconstitutional impairment of contract are excluded from the 
calculation of the reductions under this section; 
    (7) the reduction applied to all aids and credits paid by 
the department of revenue to cities, counties, towns, and 
special districts shall be allocated by the commissioner of 
revenue among those entities that receive aids and credits as a 
uniform percent of the sum of the aid plus levy base; 
    (8) the amounts reduced in the local government trust fund 
transfer to the general fund; 
    (9) the reduction share for judges', legislators', and 
constitutional officers' retirement annuities shall be allocated 
to the operating appropriations for the courts, the legislature, 
or constitutional officers, as applicable; 
    (10) the reduction share for the appropriation for 
firefighting expenses in Laws 1993, chapter 172, section 5, 
subdivision 4, and Indian treaty agreements funds appropriated 
in Minnesota Statutes, section 97A.165, shall be allocated to 
the appropriation for the department of natural resources; and 
    (11) notwithstanding the provisions of Minnesota Statutes, 
section 124A.032, the reductions authorized in this section 
apply to all programs for which appropriations were made in Laws 
1993, chapter 224, and any other law providing appropriations to 
school districts, except the appropriation for debt service aid 
and homestead and agricultural credit aid amounts or other 
credits attributed to debt service accounts.  These debt service 
aids or credits are included in determining the total amount of 
the reduction made to the total amount allotted.  The 
commissioner of education shall allocate the reduction among 
school districts and other entities as a uniform percent of the 
sum of the state aid entitlement plus property tax levies 
associated with state aid programs.  If aid to a school district 
is reduced under this section for the current school year or the 
next year after the levy year, the district's levy limit shall 
not be increased as a result of the reduction. 
    (c) If it is determined that unallotment is necessary, the 
commissioner of finance shall present to the legislative 
commission on planning and fiscal policy by November 30, 1993, a 
plan for effecting up to a one percent reduction in the state's 
general fund and local government trust fund biennial budget.  
The plan shall include, at a minimum, the following information 
at the appropriation account level:  the amount of reduction in 
state operations; the amount of reduction by grant program; and 
the method of reduction in education aids, local government aid 
and credit programs, and income maintenance programs.  The 
commissioner shall submit any necessary appropriation 
adjustments as part of the supplemental budget recommendations 
presented in 1994.  The commissioner may modify the plan in 
response to recommendations of the commission.  The commission 
shall act on the plan as a whole.  If the commission does not 
vote on the plan by December 15, 1993, the plan is deemed 
approved. 
    (d) The legislative commission on planning and fiscal 
policy shall, with the cooperation of the executive branch, 
undertake a study of unallotment authority and related budget 
forecasting issues.  The study must include consideration of 
guidelines and standards for unallotment in other states, 
division of executive branch and legislative branch unallotment 
responsibilities in other states, the scope and size of budget 
reserve and cash flow accounts in other states, and methods to 
reduce the cash flow needs of the state.  The commission may 
also, as a result of the study, recommend modifications to this 
section.  The commission shall complete the study and report 
findings and recommendations to the legislature by February 1, 
1994. 
     Sec. 3.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
     $2,700,000 is appropriated to the commissioner of 
transportation to replace a state airplane.  $1,620,000 is from 
the trunk highway fund and $1,080,000 is from the state airports 
fund.  The appropriation is available until June 30, 1995. 
     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
     This act is effective the day following final enactment. 
    Presented to the governor May 27, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 27, 1993, 4:26 p.m.