1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to transportation; appropriating $10,000,000 
  1.3             to the commissioner of transportation for a grant to 
  1.4             Ramsey county for a pilot program for assisting 
  1.5             community-based organizations in providing or 
  1.6             facilitating job-related transportation for certain 
  1.7             low-income persons. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  [TRANSPORTATION PILOT PROJECT.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.] Ramsey county shall 
  1.11  establish a pilot program to promote community-based programs in 
  1.12  the county to provide cost-effective transportation services to 
  1.13  persons making the transition from public assistance to 
  1.14  employment and for other low-income persons. 
  1.15     Subd. 2.  [DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.] The county shall 
  1.16  distribute funds under the pilot program as grants to 
  1.17  public-private partnerships and other nonprofit community-based 
  1.18  and neighborhood-based organizations that are primarily or 
  1.19  extensively involved in identifying, developing, assisting, or 
  1.20  providing transportation links to actual or potential places of 
  1.21  employment for persons described in subdivision 1.  An 
  1.22  organization applying for a grant under the pilot program must 
  1.23  include in its application: 
  1.24     (1) a description of the program that it will provide, 
  1.25  including a description of each transportation and 
  1.26  transportation-related service; 
  2.1      (2) identification of the population to be served by the 
  2.2   program; 
  2.3      (3) identification of sources of other funds that will 
  2.4   support the program; 
  2.5      (4) any political subdivision, organization, or nonprofit 
  2.6   corporation that will participate in the program; 
  2.7      (5) potential employers that will participate in or benefit 
  2.8   from the program, and the financial participation of each; 
  2.9      (6) a plan for obtaining funding for a continuation of the 
  2.10  program after the grant has been spent; 
  2.11     (7) the anticipated outcomes of the program and the methods 
  2.12  to be used for evaluating those outcomes; and 
  2.13     (8) other requirements the county determines to be 
  2.14  necessary to ensure that the grant will be spent in a 
  2.15  cost-effective manner, including but not limited to periodic 
  2.16  financial reports. 
  2.17     Subd. 3.  [ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS.] Programs eligible for 
  2.18  funding under the pilot program must provide services that will 
  2.19  assist persons described in subdivision 1 to obtain 
  2.20  transportation to and from work locations, including 
  2.21  transportation to or from child care facilities, that is 
  2.22  necessary for those persons to obtain employment.  Eligible 
  2.23  programs include: 
  2.24     (1) providing transportation service or arranging for 
  2.25  service by contract with a transportation provider; 
  2.26     (2) providing full or partial bus fare reimbursement; 
  2.27     (3) facilitating employer efforts to provide or coordinate 
  2.28  transportation services; 
  2.29     (4) coordinating transportation service already being 
  2.30  provided; 
  2.31     (5) providing or contracting for transportation links 
  2.32  between public transportation routes and major employment 
  2.33  locations; and 
  2.34     (6) providing, through other programs, cost-effective 
  2.35  transportation to the target population. 
  2.36     Subd. 4.  [REPORT.] Ramsey county shall report to the 
  3.1   legislature by February 1, 1999, on the results of the pilot 
  3.2   program. 
  3.3      Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.4      $10,000,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.5   commissioner of transportation for a grant to Ramsey county for 
  3.6   the pilot program established in section 1.  This appropriation 
  3.7   is available until June 30, 1999.  The county may spend up to 
  3.8   five percent of the grant for administration of the pilot 
  3.9   program. 
  3.10     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.11     Sections 1 and 2 are effective July 1, 1997.