1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to state government; providing for 
  1.3             proportional representation between the metropolitan 
  1.4             area and nonmetropolitan areas on administrative 
  1.5             boards and agencies; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.6             sections 15.0575, subdivision 2; 15.0597, subdivision 
  1.7             4; 214.09, subdivision 2. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 15.0575, 
  1.10  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 2.  [MEMBERSHIP TERMS; REPRESENTATION.] An 
  1.12  appointment to an administrative board or agency must be made in 
  1.13  the manner provided in section 15.0597.  The terms of the 
  1.14  members shall be four years with the terms ending on the first 
  1.15  Monday in January.  The appointing authority shall appoint as 
  1.16  nearly as possible one-fourth of the members to terms expiring 
  1.17  each year.  If the number of members is not evenly divisible by 
  1.18  four, the greater number of members, as necessary, shall be 
  1.19  appointed to terms expiring in the year of commencement of the 
  1.20  governor's term and the year or years immediately thereafter.  
  1.21  If the number of terms which can be served by a member of a 
  1.22  board or agency is limited by law, a partial term must be 
  1.23  counted for this purpose if the time served by a member is 
  1.24  greater than one-half of the duration of the regular term.  If 
  1.25  the membership is composed of categories of members from 
  1.26  occupations, industries, political subdivisions, the public or 
  2.1   other groupings of persons, and if the categories have two or 
  2.2   more members each, the appointing authority shall appoint as 
  2.3   nearly as possible one-fourth of the members in each category at 
  2.4   each appointment date.  Members may serve until their successors 
  2.5   are appointed and qualify but in no case later than July 1 in a 
  2.6   year in which a term expires unless reappointed. 
  2.7      The membership of all administrative boards or agencies 
  2.8   with statewide jurisdiction must represent as nearly as possible 
  2.9   the population balance between the metropolitan area, as defined 
  2.10  in section 473.121, and nonmetropolitan areas.  All appointments 
  2.11  made after the date of enactment of this section must be made 
  2.12  with the goal of achieving such balance.  This requirement does 
  2.13  not apply if the law authorizing the board or agency specifies 
  2.14  metropolitan or nonmetropolitan residence for some or all of its 
  2.15  membership. 
  2.16     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 15.0597, 
  2.17  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  2.18     Subd. 4.  [NOTICE OF VACANCIES.] The chair of an existing 
  2.19  agency, shall notify the secretary of a vacancy scheduled to 
  2.20  occur in the agency as a result of the expiration of membership 
  2.21  terms at least 45 days before the vacancy occurs.  The chair of 
  2.22  an existing agency shall give written notification to the 
  2.23  secretary of each vacancy occurring as a result of newly created 
  2.24  agency positions and of every other vacancy occurring for any 
  2.25  reason other than the expiration of membership terms as soon as 
  2.26  possible upon learning of the vacancy and in any case within 15 
  2.27  days after the occurrence of the vacancy.  The appointing 
  2.28  authority for newly created agencies shall give written 
  2.29  notification to the secretary of all vacancies in the new agency 
  2.30  within 15 days after the creation of the agency.  The secretary 
  2.31  may provide for the submission of notices required by this 
  2.32  subdivision by electronic means.  The secretary shall publish 
  2.33  monthly in the State Register a list of all vacancies of which 
  2.34  the secretary has been so notified.  Only one notice of a 
  2.35  vacancy shall be so published, unless the appointing authority 
  2.36  rejects all applicants and requests the secretary to republish 
  3.1   the notice of vacancy.  One copy of the listing shall be made 
  3.2   available at the office of the secretary to any interested 
  3.3   person.  The secretary shall distribute by mail copies of the 
  3.4   listings to requesting persons.  To encourage membership that 
  3.5   represents the population balance between the metropolitan area, 
  3.6   as defined in section 473.121, and nonmetropolitan areas, the 
  3.7   secretary of state, in addition to publication of vacancies in 
  3.8   the state register, shall make other arrangements for statewide 
  3.9   notification of vacancies by means including, at a minimum, 
  3.10  posting on the World Wide Web and the distribution of press 
  3.11  releases to the designated official legal newspaper of each 
  3.12  county of the state.  The listing for all vacancies scheduled to 
  3.13  occur in the month of January shall be published in the State 
  3.14  Register together with the compilation of agency data required 
  3.15  to be published pursuant to subdivision 3. 
  3.16     If a vacancy occurs within three months after an 
  3.17  appointment is made to fill a regularly scheduled vacancy, the 
  3.18  appointing authority may, upon notification to the secretary, 
  3.19  fill the vacancy by appointment from the list of persons 
  3.20  submitting applications to fill the regularly scheduled vacancy. 
  3.21     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 214.09, 
  3.22  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.23     Subd. 2.  [MEMBERSHIP TERMS; REPRESENTATION.] An 
  3.24  appointment to a board must be made in the manner provided in 
  3.25  section 15.0597.  The terms of the members shall be four years 
  3.26  with the terms ending on the first Monday in January.  The 
  3.27  appointing authority shall appoint as nearly as possible 
  3.28  one-fourth of the members to terms expiring each year.  If the 
  3.29  number of members is not evenly divisible by four, the greater 
  3.30  number of members, as necessary, shall be appointed to terms 
  3.31  expiring in the year of commencement of the governor's term and 
  3.32  the year or years immediately thereafter.  If the number of 
  3.33  terms which can be served by a member of a board is limited by 
  3.34  law, a partial term must be counted for this purpose if the time 
  3.35  served by a member is greater than one-half of the duration of 
  3.36  the regular term.  If the membership is composed of categories 
  4.1   of members from occupations, industries, political subdivisions, 
  4.2   the public or other groupings of persons, and if the categories 
  4.3   have two or more members each, the appointing authority shall 
  4.4   appoint as nearly as possible one-fourth of the members in each 
  4.5   category at each appointment date.  Members may serve until 
  4.6   their successors are appointed and qualify.  If the appointing 
  4.7   authority fails to appoint a successor by July 1 of the year in 
  4.8   which the term expires, the term of the member for whom a 
  4.9   successor has not been appointed shall extend until the first 
  4.10  Monday in January four years after the scheduled end of the 
  4.11  original term. 
  4.12     The membership of the boards must represent as nearly as 
  4.13  possible the population balance between the metropolitan area, 
  4.14  as defined in section 473.121, and nonmetropolitan areas.  All 
  4.15  appointments made after the date of enactment of this section 
  4.16  must be made with the goal of achieving such balance.  This 
  4.17  requirement does not apply if the law authorizing the board 
  4.18  specifies metropolitan or nonmetropolitan residence for some or 
  4.19  all of its membership. 
  4.20     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.21     Sections 1 to 3 are effective June 30, 2001.