Minnesota Session Laws - 2018, Regular Session

CHAPTER 137--S.F.No. 3004

An act

relating to state government; veterans; directing secretary of state to collect veteran status data from applicants for appointments to state agencies, boards, councils, commissions, and task forces;

amending Minnesota Statutes 2016, sections 15.0597, subdivisions 2, 5, 7; 15.0599, subdivision 4.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 15.0597, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Collection of data.

The chair of an existing agency or the chair's designee, or the appointing authority for the members of a newly created agency, shall provide the secretary, in an electronic format prepared and distributed by the secretary, with the following data pertaining to that agency:

(1) the name of the agency, its mailing address, and telephone number;

(2) the legal authority for the creation of the agency and the name of the person appointing agency members;

(3) the powers and duties of the agency;

(4) the number of authorized members, together with any prescribed restrictions on eligibility such as employment experience or geographical representation;

(5) the dates of commencement and expiration of the membership terms and the expiration date of the agency, if any;

(6) the compensation of members, and appropriations or other funds available to the agency;

(7) the regular meeting schedule, if any, and approximate number of hours per month of meetings or other activities required of members;

(8) the roster of current members, including mailing addresses, electronic mail addresses, and telephone numbers; and

(9) a breakdown of the membership showing distribution by county, legislative district, and congressional district, and, only if the member has voluntarily supplied the information, the sex, political party preference or lack of party preference, race, new text begin veteran status, new text end and national origin of the members.

The secretary may require the submission of data in accordance with this subdivision by electronic means. The publication requirement under clause (8) may be met by publishing a member's home or business address and telephone number, the address and telephone number of the agency to which the member is appointed, the member's electronic mail address, if provided, or any other information that would enable the public to communicate with the member.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 15.0597, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Nominations for vacancies.

Any person may make a self-nomination for appointment to an agency vacancy by completing an application on a form prepared and distributed by the secretary. The secretary may provide for the submission of the application by electronic means. Any person or group of persons may, on the prescribed application form, nominate another person to be appointed to a vacancy so long as the person so nominated consents on the application form to the nomination. The application form shall specify the nominee's name, mailing address, electronic mail address, telephone number, preferred agency position sought, a statement that the nominee satisfies any legally prescribed qualifications, a statement whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a felony, and any other information the nominating person feels would be helpful to the appointing authority. The nominating person has the option of indicating the nominee's sex, political party preference or lack thereof, status with regard to disability, race, new text begin veteran status, new text end and national origin on the application form. The application form shall make the option known. If a person submits an application at the suggestion of an appointing authority, the person shall so indicate on the application form. Twenty-one days after publication of a vacancy on the Web site of the secretary of state pursuant to subdivision 4, the secretary shall submit electronic copies of all applications received for a position to the appointing authority charged with filling the vacancy. If no applications have been received by the secretary for the vacant position by the date when electronic copies must be submitted to the appointing authority, the secretary shall so inform the appointing authority. Applications received by the secretary shall be deemed to have expired one year after receipt of the application. An application for a particular agency position shall be deemed to be an application for all vacancies in that agency occurring prior to the expiration of the application and shall be public information.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 15.0597, subdivision 7, is amended to read:

Subd. 7.

Report.

Together with the compilation required in subdivision 3, the secretary shall annually deliver to the governor and the legislature a report in an electronic format containing the following information:

(1) the number of vacancies occurring in the preceding year;

(2) the number of vacancies occurring as a result of scheduled ends of terms, unscheduled vacancies and the creation of new positions;

(3) breakdowns by county, legislative district, and congressional district, and, if known, the sex, political party preference or lack thereof, status with regard to disability, race, new text begin veteran status, new text end and national origin, for members whose agency membership terminated during the year and appointees to the vacant positions; and

(4) the number of vacancies filled from applications submitted by (i) the appointing authorities for the positions filled, (ii) nominating persons and self-nominees who submitted applications at the suggestion of appointing authorities, and (iii) all others.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 15.0599, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Registration; information required.

(a) The appointing authority of a newly established agency or the authority's designee shall provide the secretary with the following information:

(1) the name, mailing address, electronic mail address, and telephone number of the agency;

(2) the legal authority for the establishment of the agency and the name and the title of the person or persons appointing agency members;

(3) the powers and duties of the agency and whether the agency, however designated, is best described by section 15.012, paragraph (a), (b), (c), (e), or (f);

(4) the number of authorized members, together with any prescribed restrictions on eligibility;

(5) the roster of current members, including mailing addresses, electronic mail addresses, and telephone numbers;

(6) a breakdown of the membership showing distribution by county, legislative district, and congressional district and compliance with any restrictions listed in accordance with clause (4);

(7) if any members have voluntarily provided the information, the sex, age, political preference or lack of preference, status with regard to disability, race, new text begin veteran status, new text end and national origin of those members;

(8) the dates of commencement and expiration of membership terms and the expiration date of the agency, if any;

(9) the compensation of members and appropriations or other money available to the agency;

(10) the name of the state agency or other entity, if any, required to provide staff or administrative support to the agency;

(11) the regular meeting schedule, if any, and the approximate number of hours a month of meetings or other activities required of members; and

(12) a brief statement of the goal or purpose of the agency, along with a summary of what an existing agency has done, or what a newly established agency plans to do to achieve its goal or purpose.

The publication requirement under clause (5) may be met by publishing a member's home or business address and telephone number, the address and telephone number of the agency to which the member is appointed, the member's electronic mail address, or any other information that would enable the public to communicate with the member.

(b) The chair of an existing agency or the chair's designee shall provide information, covering the fiscal year in which it is registering, on the number of meetings it has held, its expenses, and the number of staff hours, if any, devoted to its support. The chair or designee shall also, if necessary, update any of the information previously provided in accordance with paragraph (a).

(c) The secretary shall provide electronic forms for the reporting of information required by this subdivision and may require reporting by electronic means.

Presented to the governor May 10, 2018

Signed by the governor May 14, 2018, 12:00 p.m.