1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to public safety; authorizing grants from fire safety account to local fire 
1.3 	departments; amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 299F.012.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 299F.012, is amended to read:
1.6 	299F.012 FIRE SAFETY ACCOUNT.
1.7 		Subdivision 1.Authorized programs within Expenditures for department
1.8 	programs; grants to fire departments.  (a) From the revenues appropriated from the fire 
1.9 	safety account, established under section 297I.06, subdivision 3, the commissioner of 
1.10 	public safety may expend funds for the activities and programs identified by the advisory 
1.11 	committee established under subdivision 2 and recommended to the commissioner of 
1.12 	public safety. The commissioner shall not expend funds without the recommendation of 
1.13 	the advisory committee established under subdivision 2. These funds are to be used to 
1.14 	provide resources needed for identified activities and programs of the Minnesota fire 
1.15 	service and to ensure the State Fire Marshal Division responsibilities are fulfilled.
1.16 	(b) The commissioner may make grants annually to fire departments from the money 
1.17 	authorized by the revenues appropriated from the fire safety account to qualifying fire 
1.18 	departments. These grants must be for the activities and programs, including training, that 
1.19 	are recommended by the fire service advisory committee established under subdivision 
1.20 	2. The commissioner may make block grants. Block grants must be awarded on a 
1.21 	per-firefighter basis and these funds must be used for the purpose of firefighter training. 
1.22 	The commissioner shall consult with the fire service advisory committee in establishing 
1.23 	grant distribution guidelines. In addition, the commissioner may make matching grants 
1.24 	to a qualifying fire department applicant's base on criteria established by the fire service 
2.1 	advisory committee. Grants made pursuant to this subdivision may only be given to those 
2.2 	departments that are certified as eligible by the commissioner. Grant funds not expended 
2.3 	by a department during the first year of the biennium do not cancel and may be carried 
2.4 	over into the second fiscal year.
2.5 		Subd. 2.Fire Service Advisory Committee. The Fire Service Advisory Committee 
2.6 	shall provide recommendations to the commissioner of public safety on fire service-related 
2.7 	issues and shall consist of representatives of each of the following organizations: two 
2.8 	appointed by the president of the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association, two appointed 
2.9 	by the president of the Minnesota State Fire Department Association, two appointed by 
2.10 	the president of the Minnesota Professional Fire Fighters, two appointed by the president 
2.11 	of the League of Minnesota Cities, one appointed by the president of the Minnesota 
2.12 	Association of Townships, one appointed by the president of the Insurance Federation 
2.13 	of Minnesota, one appointed jointly by the presidents of the Minnesota Chapter of the 
2.14 	International Association of Arson Investigators and the Fire Marshals Association of 
2.15 	Minnesota, and the commissioner of public safety or the commissioner's designee. The 
2.16 	commissioner of public safety must ensure that at least three of the members of the 
2.17 	advisory committee work and reside in counties outside of the seven-county metropolitan 
2.18 	area. The committee shall provide funding recommendations to the commissioner of 
2.19 	public safety from the fire safety fund for the following purposes:
2.20 	(1) for the Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training and Education;
2.21 	(2) for programs and staffing for the State Fire Marshal Division; and
2.22 	(3) for fire-related regional response team programs and any other fire service 
2.23 	programs that have the potential for statewide impact.
2.24 		Subd. 3.Report Reports; accounting; carryover. (a) The commissioner of public 
2.25 	safety shall, by December 1 of each year, (1) provide an accounting of how the funds in 
2.26 	the fire safety account were spent in the preceding fiscal year and (2) report any funds not 
2.27 	spent in a fiscal year to the chairs of the committees of the house of representatives and 
2.28 	the senate having jurisdiction over public safety finance. 
2.29 	(b) Each fire department receiving a grant shall report annually by August 1 to 
2.30 	the commissioner the purposes for which the money was used in the past year and the 
2.31 	anticipated use of the money in the next year. For block grants, this report must be 
2.32 	submitted along with a new grant request submission. If the report is not submitted, the 
2.33 	commissioner may redistribute that money to other departments and applicants. The 
2.34 	commissioner may establish a procedure to audit expenditure of money appropriated for 
2.35 	grants to fire departments under this section.
3.1 	(c) Money in the account does not cancel but remains available for expenditures 
3.2 	for the programs identified in subdivisions 1 and 2.