1998 Minnesota Statutes

     237.51 Board. 

    Subdivision 1.    Creation.  The department of public 
 service shall administer through interagency agreement with the 
 department of human services a program to distribute 
 communication devices to eligible communication-impaired persons 
 and contract with a local consumer group that serves 
 communication-impaired persons to create and maintain a 
 telecommunication relay service.  For purposes of sections 
 237.51 to 237.56, the department of public service and any 
 organization with which it contracts pursuant to this section or 
 section 237.54, subdivision 2, are not telephone companies or 
 telecommunications carriers as defined in section 237.01. 

    Subd. 2. Repealed, 1995 c 190 s 17 

    Subd. 3. Repealed, 1995 c 190 s 17 

    Subd. 4. Repealed, 1995 c 190 s 17 

    Subd. 5.    Department of public service duties.  In 
 addition to any duties specified elsewhere in sections 237.51 to 
 237.56, the department of public service shall: 

    (1) prepare the reports required by section 237.55; 

    (2) administer the fund created in section 237.52; and 

    (3) adopt rules under chapter 14 to implement the 
 provisions of sections 237.50 to 237.56. 

    Subd. 5a.    Department of human services duties.  (a) 
 In addition to any duties specified elsewhere in sections 237.51 
 to 237.56, the department of human services shall: 

    (1) define economic hardship, special needs, and household 
 criteria so as to determine the priority of eligible applicants 
 for initial distribution of devices and to determine 
 circumstances necessitating provision of more than one 
 communication device per household; 

    (2) establish a method to verify eligibility requirements; 

    (3) establish specifications for communication devices to 
 be purchased under section 237.53, subdivision 3; 

    (4) inform the public and specifically the community of 
 communication-impaired persons of the program; and 

    (5) notwithstanding any provision of chapters 16B and 16C, 
 develop guidelines for the purchase of some communication 
 devices from local retailers and dispensers if the department 
 determines that otherwise they will be economically harmed by 
 implementation of sections 237.50 to 237.56. 

    (b) The department may establish an advisory board to 
 advise the department in carrying out the duties specified in 
 this section and to advise the department of public service in 
 carrying out its duties under section 237.54.  If so 
 established, the advisory board must include, at a minimum, the 
 following communication-impaired persons: 

    (1) at least one member who is deaf; 

    (2) at least one member who is speech impaired; 

    (3) at least one member who is mobility impaired; and 

    (4) at least one member who is hard-of-hearing. 

    The membership terms, compensation, and removal of members 
 and the filling of membership vacancies are governed by section 
 15.059.  Advisory board meetings shall be held at the discretion 
 of the commissioner. 

    Subd. 6. Repealed, 1995 c 190 s 17 

    HIST: 1987 c 186 s 15; 1987 c 308 s 2,8; 1988 c 621 s 3; 1990 
 c 571 s 41; 1990 c 598 s 3; 1992 c 430 s 1,2; 1992 c 518 s 1; 
 1993 c 272 s 7-11,17; 1995 c 190 s 2-4; 1998 c 386 art 2 s 70