1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; providing a debt service 
  1.3             tuition rebate to public post-secondary students; 
  1.4             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, 
  1.5             section 16A.643, subdivision 1, and by adding a 
  1.6             subdivision. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 16A.643, 
  1.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [WHEN PAYMENT REQUIRED.] The commissioner 
  1.11  of finance shall assess each board, agency, or other public 
  1.12  entity, other than the higher education systems described in 
  1.13  Laws 1992, chapter 558, section 31, for the amount that would 
  1.14  otherwise need to be paid for debt service with respect to 
  1.15  general obligation bonds sold to finance capital improvement 
  1.16  projects for the entity if the law authorizing the project 
  1.17  requires debt service for the project to be paid by the agency. 
  1.18     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 16A.643, is 
  1.19  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.20     Subd. 3.  [HIGHER EDUCATION EXEMPTION.] The board of 
  1.21  regents of the University of Minnesota and the board of trustees 
  1.22  of the Minnesota state colleges and universities shall not be 
  1.23  assessed or otherwise required to pay any portion of the amount 
  1.24  of the debt service on general obligation bonds sold to finance 
  1.25  capital improvement projects for public higher education 
  1.26  facilities in Minnesota. 
  2.1      Sec. 3.  [DEBT SERVICE TUITION REBATE.] 
  2.2      Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] A one-time tuition rebate 
  2.3   is established for public post-secondary students.  The board of 
  2.4   trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities shall, 
  2.5   and the board of regents of the University of Minnesota is 
  2.6   requested to, allocate the amount available for the debt service 
  2.7   tuition rebate under section 4 to the respective campuses of 
  2.8   each system based on enrollment in fiscal year 2000 and to 
  2.9   establish a process for rebating a student's share of debt 
  2.10  service proportional to the student's credit-based enrollment 
  2.11  status.  Each campus must make an application for the rebate 
  2.12  available and work with campus student organizations to 
  2.13  advertise and publicize the availability of the rebate to 
  2.14  eligible students to ensure maximum participation in the debt 
  2.15  service tuition rebate program. 
  2.16     Subd. 2.  [ALLOCATION OF DEBT SERVICE TUITION REBATE.] Each 
  2.17  campus of the Minnesota state college and university system must 
  2.18  distribute its debt service allocation to eligible students as a 
  2.19  rebate of each student's share of debt service costs.  Each 
  2.20  campus of the University of Minnesota is requested to distribute 
  2.21  tuition rebates up to a maximum of $150 per full-year equivalent 
  2.22  student to recognize the students' contribution to capital 
  2.23  investments on University of Minnesota campuses.  A student is 
  2.24  eligible if the student was enrolled and paid tuition to attend 
  2.25  a Minnesota state colleges and universities or University of 
  2.26  Minnesota campus in fiscal year 2000.  A student enrolled in a 
  2.27  public college or university is eligible if the student (1) paid 
  2.28  tuition for fiscal year 2000, and (2) applies for the rebate by 
  2.29  June 1, 2000, through the campus that the student attended on an 
  2.30  application form provided by the institution.  A student who 
  2.31  attended more than one public college or university in fiscal 
  2.32  year 2000 must apply for the rebate separately at each 
  2.33  institution.  The college or university must begin making debt 
  2.34  service tuition rebates to students by August 1, 2000. 
  2.35     Sec. 4.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.36     (a) $25,014,000 is appropriated from the general fund for 
  3.1   the tuition rebate under section 1, including administrative 
  3.2   costs as provided in this section. 
  3.3      (b) $16,600,000 of the appropriation in paragraph (a) is 
  3.4   for the board of trustees of the state colleges and universities 
  3.5   to be allocated to campuses for distribution to students as a 
  3.6   one-time debt service tuition rebate and $300,000 of the 
  3.7   appropriation in paragraph (a) is for the costs of administering 
  3.8   the tuition rebate. 
  3.9      (c) $8,000,000 of the appropriation in paragraph (a) is for 
  3.10  the board of regents of the University of Minnesota to be 
  3.11  allocated to campuses for distribution to students as a one-time 
  3.12  debt service tuition rebate and $114,000 of the appropriation in 
  3.13  paragraph (a) is for the costs of administering the tuition 
  3.14  rebate. 
  3.15     Sec. 5.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.16     Sections 1 and 2 are effective for bonds authorized after 
  3.17  the effective date of this act.  Sections 3 and 4 are effective 
  3.18  the day following final enactment.