2007 Minnesota Statutes

3.97 LEGISLATIVE AUDIT COMMISSION.
    Subdivision 1. Policy. Continuous legislative review of the spending of public funds and
financing at all levels of government is required in the public interest to enable the enactment
of appropriate legislation.
    Subd. 2. Membership; terms; meetings; compensation; powers. The Legislative Audit
Commission consists of:
(1) three members of the senate appointed by the Subcommittee on Committees of the
Committee on Rules and Administration of the senate;
(2) three members of the senate appointed by the senate minority leader;
(3) three members of the house appointed by the speaker of the house; and
(4) three members of the house appointed by the house minority leader.
Members shall serve until replaced, or until they are not members of the legislative body from
which they were appointed. Appointing authorities shall fill vacancies on the commission within
30 days of a vacancy being created.
The commission shall meet in January of each odd-numbered year to elect its chair and
vice-chair. They shall serve until successors are elected. The chair and vice-chair shall alternate
biennially between the senate and the house. The commission shall meet at the call of the chair.
The members shall serve without compensation but be reimbursed for their reasonable expenses as
members of the legislature. The commission may exercise the powers prescribed by section 3.153.
    Subd. 3.[Repealed, 2006 c 262 s 2]
    Subd. 3a. Evaluation topics. (a) The commission shall periodically select topics for the
legislative auditor to evaluate. Topics may include any agency, program, or activity established by
law to achieve a state purpose, or any topic that affects the operation of state government, but
the commission shall give primary consideration to topics that are likely, upon examination,
to produce recommendations for cost savings, increased productivity, or the elimination of
duplication among public agencies. Legislators and legislative committees may suggest topics for
evaluation, but the legislative auditor shall only conduct evaluations approved by the commission.
(b) The commission is requested to direct the auditor, in response to a suggestion from an
individual legislator of an evaluation topic, to estimate the scope of the proposed evaluation and
the time required to complete it. The estimate must be reported to the legislator who submitted the
suggestion and to the commission. The commission must determine within 60 days of receiving
the estimate whether to proceed with the suggested evaluation and must convey its decision to the
legislator along with the reasons for its decision.
    Subd. 4.[Renumbered 3.971, subdivision 1]
    Subd. 5.[Renumbered 3.971, subd 2]
    Subd. 6.[Renumbered 3.971, subd 3a]
    Subd. 7.[Renumbered 3.971, subd 4]
    Subd. 8.[Renumbered 3.971, subd 5]
    Subd. 9.[Renumbered 3.979, subdivision 1]
    Subd. 10.[Renumbered 3.979, subd 2]
    Subd. 11.[Renumbered 3.979, subd 3]
    Subd. 11a.[Renumbered 3.979, subd 4]
    Subd. 12.[Renumbered subd 3a]
History: 1973 c 492 s 12; 1973 c 720 s 76 subd 2; 1975 c 204 s 90; 1980 c 484 s 1-3; 1981 c
311 s 39; 1982 c 545 s 24; 1983 c 317 s 1; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986 c 444; 1988 c 469 art 1 s 1;
1989 c 351 s 1; 1991 c 345 art 1 s 38; 1993 c 4 s 5; 1994 c 632 art 3 s 15; 1997 c 184 s 1; 1999 c
99 s 1,23; 1Sp2001 c 10 art 2 s 10; 2006 c 262 s 1; 2007 c 13 art 1 s 1