2004 Minnesota Statutes

     13.591 Business data. 

    Subdivision 1.    Not public data when benefit requested. 
  The following data, that are submitted to a government entity 
 by a business requesting financial assistance or a benefit 
 financed by public funds, are private or nonpublic data:  
 financial information about the business, including credit 
 reports; financial statements; net worth calculations; business 
 plans; income and expense projections; balance sheets; customer 
 lists; income tax returns; and design, market, and feasibility 
 studies not paid for with public funds. 

    Subd. 2.    Public data when benefit received.  Data 
 submitted to a government entity under subdivision 1 become 
 public when public financial assistance is provided or the 
 business receives a benefit from the government entity, except 
 that the following data remain private or nonpublic:  business 
 plans; income and expense projections not related to the 
 financial assistance provided; customer lists; income tax 
 returns; and design, market, and feasibility studies not paid 
 for with public funds. 

    Subd. 3.    Business as vendor.  (a) Data submitted by a 
 business to a government entity in response to a request for 
 bids as defined in section 16C.02, subdivision 11, are private 
 or nonpublic until the bids are opened.  Once the bids are 
 opened, the name of the bidder and the dollar amount specified 
 in the response are read and become public.  All other data in a 
 bidder's response to a bid are private or nonpublic data until 
 completion of the selection process.  For purposes of this 
 section, "completion of the selection process" means that the 
 government entity has completed its evaluation and has ranked 
 the responses.  After a government entity has completed the 
 selection process, all remaining data submitted by all bidders 
 are public with the exception of trade secret data as defined 
 and classified in section 13.37.  A statement by a bidder that 
 submitted data are copyrighted or otherwise protected does not 
 prevent public access to the data contained in the bid. 

    If all responses to a request for bids are rejected prior 
 to completion of the selection process, all data, other than 
 that made public at the bid opening, remain private or nonpublic 
 until a resolicitation of bids results in completion of the 
 selection process or a determination is made to abandon the 
 purchase.  If the rejection occurs after the completion of the 
 selection process, the data remain public.  If a resolicitation 
 of bids does not occur within one year of the bid opening date, 
 the remaining data become public. 

    (b) Data submitted by a business to a government entity in 
 response to a request for proposal, as defined in section 
 16C.02, subdivision 12, are private or nonpublic until the 
 responses are opened.  Once the responses are opened, the name 
 of the responder is read and becomes public.  All other data in 
 a responder's response to a request for proposal are private or 
 nonpublic data until completion of the evaluation process.  For 
 purposes of this section, "completion of the evaluation process" 
 means that the government entity has completed negotiating the 
 contract with the selected vendor.  After a government entity 
 has completed the evaluation process, all remaining data 
 submitted by all responders are public with the exception of 
 trade secret data as defined and classified in section 13.37.  A 
 statement by a responder that submitted data are copyrighted or 
 otherwise protected does not prevent public access to the data 
 contained in the response. 

    If all responses to a request for proposal are rejected 
 prior to completion of the evaluation process, all data, other 
 than that made public at the response opening, remain private or 
 nonpublic until a resolicitation of the requests for proposal 
 results in completion of the evaluation process or a 
 determination is made to abandon the purchase.  If the rejection 
 occurs after the completion of the evaluation process, the data 
 remain public.  If a resolicitation of proposals does not occur 
 within one year of the proposal opening date, the remaining data 
 become public.  

    HIST: 2001 c 202 s 7