1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to state government; requiring state 
  1.3             agencies, educational institutions, and businesses to 
  1.4             include a multiracial classification on all forms 
  1.5             requesting information on racial identification; 
  1.6             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.7             chapter 15. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  [15.63] [DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL.] The terms defined in this 
  1.11  subdivision apply to sections 15.631 to 15.633. 
  1.12     Subd. 2.  [MULTIRACIAL.] "Multiracial" means having parents 
  1.13  of different races. 
  1.14     Subd. 3.  [STATE AGENCY.] "State agency" means any state 
  1.15  department, board, bureau, commission, authority, council, 
  1.16  committee, and any other state agency or instrumentality. 
  1.17     Sec. 2.  [15.631] [STATE AGENCY MULTIRACIAL 
  1.18  CLASSIFICATION.] 
  1.19     Subdivision 1.  [FORM REQUIREMENT.] All written forms, 
  1.20  applications, questionnaires, and other written documents or 
  1.21  material produced by or for or used by any state agency that 
  1.22  requests information on the racial or ethnic identification of a 
  1.23  respondent and that contains an enumeration of racial and ethnic 
  1.24  classifications from which the respondent must select one shall 
  1.25  include among its choices the classification multiracial. 
  1.26     Subd. 2.  [PROHIBITION.] No written document or computer 
  2.1   software described in subdivision 1 may bear the designation 
  2.2   "other" as a racial or ethnic classification after August 1, 
  2.3   1997, unless the document was printed and in stock before August 
  2.4   1, 1997. 
  2.5      Subd. 3.  [FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS.] In any instance in which 
  2.6   it is required that racial data collected by a state agency be 
  2.7   reported to a federal agency, the computation of all persons 
  2.8   designated on state forms or other documents as multiracial 
  2.9   shall be reported by the state agency as multiracial.  However, 
  2.10  if the federal agency considers the multiracial designation 
  2.11  unacceptable, then the reporting state agency shall, upon 
  2.12  resubmission of the data, redesignate the multiracial population 
  2.13  by allocating a percentage of the number of persons comprising 
  2.14  the population to each federally acceptable racial or ethnic 
  2.15  classification at the same rate as each such classification 
  2.16  comprises the general population of the collected group. 
  2.17     Sec. 3.  [15.632] [EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION MULTIRACIAL 
  2.18  CLASSIFICATION.] 
  2.19     Subdivision 1.  [FORM REQUIREMENT.] All written forms, 
  2.20  applications, questionnaires, and other written documents or 
  2.21  materials produced by or for or used by any public elementary or 
  2.22  secondary school in the state that requests information on the 
  2.23  racial or ethnic identification of a respondent and that 
  2.24  contains a list of racial and ethnic classifications from which 
  2.25  the respondent must select one shall include among its choices 
  2.26  the classification multiracial. 
  2.27     Subd. 2.  [PROHIBITION.] No written document or computer 
  2.28  software described in subdivision 1 shall bear the designation 
  2.29  "other" as a racial or ethnic classification after August 1, 
  2.30  1997, unless such document was printed and in stock before 
  2.31  August 1, 1997. 
  2.32     Sec. 4.  [15.633] [BUSINESS AND LABOR MULTIRACIAL 
  2.33  CLASSIFICATION.] 
  2.34     Subdivision 1.  [FORM REQUIREMENT.] All written forms, 
  2.35  applications, questionnaires, and other written documents or 
  2.36  materials produced by or for or used by any person, firm, 
  3.1   association, or corporation conducting business within this 
  3.2   state requiring the employment of labor which requests 
  3.3   information on the racial or ethnic identification of an 
  3.4   employee and which contains a list of racial and ethnic 
  3.5   classifications from which such employee must select one shall 
  3.6   include among its choices the classification multiracial. 
  3.7      Subd. 2.  [PROHIBITION.] No written document or computer 
  3.8   software described in subdivision 1 shall bear the designation 
  3.9   "other" as a racial or ethnic classification after August 1, 
  3.10  1997, unless the document was printed and in stock before August 
  3.11  1, 1997. 
  3.12     Subd. 3.  [CIVIL ACTION NOT CREATED.] The failure of any 
  3.13  person, firm, or corporation to comply with the provisions of 
  3.14  subdivision 1 shall not be construed to create any civil cause 
  3.15  of action. 
  3.16     Sec. 5.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.17     Sections 1 to 4 are effective August 1, 1997, and apply to 
  3.18  those forms, applications, questionnaires, and other written 
  3.19  documents printed or typed or otherwise originating after August 
  3.20  1, 1997.  However, all documents printed and in stock on August 
  3.21  1, 1997, which bear the racial designation "other" shall be used 
  3.22  and the stock depleted before reordering under sections 1 to 4 
  3.23  even if the date occurs after August 1, 1997.