1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to educational community services; providing 
  1.3             funding for strategic investments in families 
  1.4             statewide; providing criteria for funding eligibility; 
  1.5             appropriating money. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [SCOPE.] For the purpose of sections 1 and 
  1.9   2, the following terms have the meanings given them. 
  1.10     Subd. 2.  [CITY.] "City" means a home rule charter or 
  1.11  statutory city with a population in excess of 15,000 according 
  1.12  to the last federal decennial census. 
  1.13     Subd. 3.  [COMMISSIONER.] "Commissioner" means the 
  1.14  commissioner of the department of children, families, and 
  1.15  learning. 
  1.16     Subd. 4.  [GRANT.] "Grant" means a strategic investment 
  1.17  grant. 
  1.18     Subd. 5.  [LOW INCOME.] "Low income" means a person living 
  1.19  in a household with an income at or below 150 percent of the 
  1.20  federal poverty level. 
  1.21     Sec. 2.  [STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS FOR FAMILIES.] 
  1.22     Subdivision 1.  [STRATEGIC INVESTMENT PROGRAM FOR FAMILIES; 
  1.23  CREATION.] The strategic investment program for families is 
  1.24  created, to be administered by the commissioner.  The program 
  1.25  must provide funding for community-based activities by nonprofit 
  2.1   organizations or school districts operating in areas of poverty 
  2.2   within cities throughout the state.  Seventy percent of the 
  2.3   appropriations received for the program are allocated for 
  2.4   expenditure in cities of the first class.  Thirty percent of the 
  2.5   appropriations are available to cities, other than a city of the 
  2.6   first class, on a competitive basis. 
  2.7      Subd. 2.  [LOW-INCOME AREAS.] A city may, by resolution, 
  2.8   designate areas within the city as in need of and eligible for 
  2.9   grants under this section. 
  2.10     Subd. 3.  [ELIGIBILITY.] An area within a city is eligible 
  2.11  for grants if the median household income for the area is no 
  2.12  more than one-half of the median household income for the state 
  2.13  as determined by the last federal decennial census. 
  2.14     Subd. 4.  [STRATEGIC INVESTMENT GOALS.] Grants may be used 
  2.15  in a designated area to: 
  2.16     (1) provide services to low-income area residents to 
  2.17  facilitate the move from welfare to work, including residents of 
  2.18  affordable housing; 
  2.19     (2) assist families, including older adults, to attain or 
  2.20  maintain stability in their neighborhoods; 
  2.21     (3) promote physical and emotional health for children from 
  2.22  early childhood through the teen years; and 
  2.23     (4) reduce area crime, including family violence and 
  2.24  racially motivated acts. 
  2.25     Subd. 5.  [REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL CITIES AND GRANTS.] A city 
  2.26  must create an advisory committee to rank proposals and make 
  2.27  recommendations for implementing grants.  Recipients of grants 
  2.28  must be nonprofit community-based organizations or school 
  2.29  districts.  Each grant must require a 25 percent local match 
  2.30  either in kind or in cash. 
  2.31     Sec. 3.  [APPROPRIATIONS.] 
  2.32     $....... in fiscal year 1998 and $....... in fiscal year 
  2.33  1999 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
  2.34  of children, families, and learning for the purposes of section 
  2.35  2.