relating to BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.4    Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 13.319, is amended by adding a
1.5subdivision to read:
1.6    Subd. 9. Early learning scholarships. Section 124D.143 governs data under the
1.7early learning scholarship program.

1.8    Sec. 2. [124D.143] EARLY LEARNING SCHOLARSHIPS.
1.9    Subdivision 1. Early learning scholarships established. The Office of Early
1.10Learning must oversee the early learning scholarship program in consultation with the
1.11Minnesota Departments of Education, Human Services, and Health.
1.12    Subd. 2. Duties. The Office of Early Learning shall administer the early learning
1.13scholarship program, establish participation standards for children and their families,
1.14develop criteria for qualifying providers based on section 124D.142, and contract for
1.15administrative services as necessary with a resource and referral organization under
1.16section 119B.19, or other nonprofit or public entity.
1.17    Subd. 3. Definitions. (a) The terms defined in the subdivision apply to this section.
1.18(b) "Director" means the director of the Office of Early Learning.
1.19(c) "Eligible program" means a Head Start program under section 119A.50, school
1.20readiness program under section 124D.15, or other school district child-based program
1.21designed to provide early education services to children not yet in kindergarten, licensed
1.22center-based child care program under chapter 245A, or licensed family child care
1.23program under chapter 245A or other program providing early learning opportunities.
1.24(d) "Income" has the meaning given in section 119B.011, subdivision 15.
1.25(e) "Parent" means the parent or legal guardian of a child.
1.26(f) "Prospective program" means an eligible program that makes a commitment to
1.27enhance its quality of education and care and demonstrates to the director's satisfaction that
1.28the program is pursuing a program rating. For fiscal years 2016 and later, a prospective
1.29program must cite a hardship or demonstrate a special circumstance as to why the program
1.30is not yet ready to enter the rating process, before the director may grant it eligibility.
1.31(g) "Rated program" means an eligible program that receives one, two, three, or four
1.32stars under the quality rating and improvement system established in section 124D.142.
1.33    Subd. 4. Participant eligibility. The parent of a child who will be at least three
1.34years of age as of September 1 of the year of application, is eligible to apply for an early
2.1learning scholarship if the family's income is at or below 185 percent of the federal
2.2poverty level. The director of the Office of Early Learning may specify the form and
2.3manner of the application for a scholarship. The director may establish a method to
2.4determine family income but a parent meets this requirement by documenting their child's
2.5identification through another public funding eligibility process, including the free and
2.6reduced-price lunch program, National School Lunch Act, United States Code, title
2.742, section 1751, part 210; Head Start under federal Improving Head Start for School
2.8Readiness Act of 2007; Minnesota Family Investment Program under chapter 256J; the
2.9Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and child care assistance programs
2.10under chapter 119B and no further information to verify income is required. A parent
2.11under age 21 who is pursuing a high school or general education equivalency diploma is
2.12eligible for an early learning scholarship, if the parent has a child age zero to five years old
2.13and meets the income eligibility requirements in this subdivision.
2.14    Subd. 5. Scholarship amount. (a) The director annually shall determine the
2.15maximum scholarship amounts based on the results of the rate survey conducted under
2.16section 119B.13, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), and may establish a range of scholarship
2.17amounts taking into account the child's level of need and geographic location. The
2.18director shall establish a scholarship amount schedule according to the eligible program's
2.19rating under subdivision 3, paragraph (g), and prospective programs under subdivision
2.203, paragraph (f). The scholarship amounts may be designed to be layered around other
2.21assistance programs available to that child. The director shall not consider local funds
2.22allocated to support an early learning program when layering scholarships around other
2.23assistance programs. Eligible providers must be notified of the scholarship allocations
2.24available in their geographic location.
2.25(b) The director shall try to maintain a statewide annual average scholarship amount
2.26of $6,000 per scholarship recipient and report annually to the legislature the actual average
2.27statewide scholarship amount per scholarship recipient.
2.28    Subd. 6. Award of scholarships. (a) The director shall establish application
2.29timelines and determine the schedule for awarding scholarships that meets operational
2.30needs of eligible programs. The director may prioritize applications on factors including
2.31family income, geographic location, and needs of the child. By March 15, eligible
2.32programs may notify the director of the number of scholarship-eligible children who are
2.33eligible under subdivision 4, and who have applied for enrollment in that program. To
2.34facilitate enrollment planning, by April 15, the director shall notify eligible programs that
2.35have provided enrollment information under this paragraph of the scholarship status of
2.36each applicant. To the extent practicable and taking into account family mobility, the
3.1scholarships must be awarded to eligible recipients beginning April 15 of each year for a
3.2child's participation in a program starting in July, August, or September of that year. Any
3.3siblings of a child who has been awarded a scholarship under this section must be awarded
3.4a scholarship upon request provided the sibling attends the same program. A child who
3.5has received a scholarship under this section must continue to receive a scholarship until
3.6that child enrolls in kindergarten or turns six years of age.
3.7(b) A three- or four-star rated program that has a waiting list of children eligible for
3.8scholarships may notify the director of the program's desire to serve additional children in
3.9order to accommodate scholarship recipients. The director may designate a predetermined
3.10number of scholarship slots for that program and notify the program of that number.
3.11(c) A scholarship recipient may choose any available program and is not required to
3.12enroll in a program with a predetermined number of slots.
3.13(d) A child who receives a scholarship who has not completed development
3.14screening under sections 121A.16 to 121A.19 must complete that screening within 45
3.15days of first attending an eligible program.
3.16(e) The director shall report annually to the legislature on a summary of the
3.17geographic distribution of scholarships throughout the state.
3.18    Subd. 7. Scholarship recipient choice of programs. A scholarship recipient may
3.19choose to apply to any rated program or prospective program for acceptance. If the
3.20scholarship recipient has not been accepted and subsequently enrolled in a rated program
3.21within ten months of receipt of the scholarship, the scholarship cancels and the recipient
3.22must reapply in order to be eligible for another scholarship.
3.23    Subd. 8. Building quality. For fiscal years 2014 and 2015 only, the director must
3.24develop a streamlined process to encourage eligible programs to enter the rating program.
3.25As a part of building quality in the system of providers, the director may grant a parent
3.26authority to use a scholarship at a prospective program.
3.27    Subd. 9. Provider reimbursement. The director may determine the form and
3.28method of payment to the fiscal agent for each program serving a scholarship recipient.
3.29The director may make quarterly payments on behalf of the scholarship recipient in
3.30advance of the services provided to the child, or arrange other payment methods for
3.31providers. The director may request information as necessary from providers to verify
3.32scholarship payments.
3.33    Subd. 10. Earned income calculation. Scholarships paid to providers on behalf
3.34of eligible parents must not be counted as earned income for the purposes of medical
3.35assistance, MinnesotaCare, Minnesota Family Investment Program, diversionary work
3.36program, child care assistance, or Head Start programs. Scholarships paid to providers on
4.1behalf of eligible parents must not be considered child care funds for the purposes of the
4.2child care assistance program under chapter 119B.
4.3    Subd. 11. Student identification number. The director shall collect from
4.4participating programs data including, but not limited to, demographic, socioeconomic,
4.5participation, and assessment information related to scholarship recipients. Data on
4.6scholarship recipients are private data on individuals as defined in section 13.02,
4.7subdivision 12.
4.8    Subd. 12. Report required. The director, in consultation with the children's
4.9cabinet, shall develop and implement a plan to publicize and increase parent awareness of
4.10early learning scholarships. The director must report the results of the outreach efforts to
4.11the legislature by January 15 of each year.

4.12    Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 124D.531, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
4.13    Subdivision 1. State total adult basic education aid. (a) The state total adult basic
4.14education aid for fiscal year 2011 equals $44,419,000, plus any amount that is not paid
4.15during the previous fiscal year as a result of adjustments under subdivision 4, paragraph
4.16(a), or section 124D.52, subdivision 3. The state total adult basic education aid for later
4.17fiscal years equals:
4.18    (1) the state total adult basic education aid for the preceding fiscal year plus any
4.19amount that is not paid for during the previous fiscal year, as a result of adjustments under
4.20subdivision 4, paragraph (a), or section 124D.52, subdivision 3; times
4.21    (2) the lesser of:
4.22    (i) 1.02 1.03; or
4.23    (ii) the average growth in state total contact hours over the prior ten program years.
4.24    Beginning in fiscal year 2002, two percent of the state total adult basic education
4.25aid must be set aside for adult basic education supplemental service grants under section
4.26124D.522 .
4.27    (b) The state total adult basic education aid, excluding basic population aid, equals
4.28the difference between the amount computed in paragraph (a), and the state total basic
4.29population aid under subdivision 2.
4.30EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective for revenue for fiscal year 2014
4.31and later.

4.32    Sec. 4. EARLY LEARNING SCHOLARSHIPS; FISCAL YEAR 2014 ONLY.
4.33Notwithstanding the timelines in Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.143, for fiscal
4.34year 2014, only, the director shall establish an expedited process to award scholarships
5.1to eligible recipients attending three- or four-star rated programs to accommodate those
5.2eligible programs with fall enrollment deadlines.

5.3    Sec. 5. APPROPRIATIONS.
5.4    Subdivision 1. Department of Education. The sums indicated in this section are
5.5appropriated from the general fund to the Department of Education for the fiscal years
5.6designated.
5.7    Subd. 2. School readiness. For revenue for school readiness programs under
5.8Minnesota Statutes, sections 124D.15 and 124D.16:

5.9		$	,000	.....	2014
5.10		$	,000	.....	2015

5.11The 2014 appropriation includes $...,000 for 2013 and $...,000 for 2014.
5.12The 2015 appropriation includes $...,000 for 2014 and $...,000 for 2015.
5.13    Subd. 3. Early childhood family education aid. For early childhood family
5.14education aid under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.135:

5.15		$	,000	.....	2014
5.16		$	,000	.....	2015

5.17The 2014 appropriation includes $...,000 for 2013 and $...,000 for 2014.
5.18The 2015 appropriation includes $...,000 for 2014 and $...,000 for 2015.
5.19    Subd. 4. Early childhood education scholarships. For early childhood education
5.20scholarships under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.143:

5.21		$	,000	.....	2014
5.22		$	,000	.....	2015

5.23The 2014 appropriation includes $950,000 for administrative costs to run the
5.24program.
5.25The 2015 appropriation includes $950,000 for administrative costs to run the
5.26program.
5.27Any balance in the first year does not cancel but is available in the second year.
5.28    Subd. 5. Health and developmental screening aid. For health and developmental
5.29screening aid under Minnesota Statutes, sections 121A.17 and 121A.19:

5.30		$	,000	.....	2014
5.31		$	,000	.....	2015

5.32The 2014 appropriation includes $...,000 for 2013 and $...,000 for 2014.
6.1The 2015 appropriation includes $...,000 for 2014 and $...,000 for 2015.
6.2    Subd. 6. Head Start program. For Head Start programs under Minnesota Statutes,
6.3section 119A.52:

6.4		$	...,000	.....	2014
6.5		$	...,000	.....	2015

6.6    Subd. 7. Educate parents partnership. For the educate parents partnership under
6.7Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.129:

6.8		$	,000	.....	2014
6.9		$	,000	.....	2015

6.10    Subd. 8. Kindergarten entrance assessment initiative and intervention
6.11program. For the kindergarten entrance assessment initiative and intervention program
6.12under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.162:

6.13		$	,000	.....	2014
6.14		$	,000	.....	2015

6.15    Subd. 9. Early childhood education scholarships. For early childhood education
6.16scholarships under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.165:

6.17		$	,000	.....	2014
6.18		$	,000	.....	2015

6.19Up to $...,000 each year is for department administration of this program.
6.20Any balance in the first year does not cancel but is available in the second year.
6.21The base for this program is $...,000 each year.
6.22    Subd. 10. Community education aid. For community education aid under
6.23Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.20:

6.24		$	,000	.....	2014
6.25		$	,000	.....	2015

6.26The 2014 appropriation includes $...,000 for 2013 and $...,000 for 2014.
6.27The 2015 appropriation includes $...,000 for 2014 and $...,000 for 2015.
6.28    Subd. 11. Adults with disabilities program aid. For adults with disabilities
6.29programs under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.56:

6.30		$	,000	.....	2014
6.31		$	,000	.....	2015

6.32The 2014 appropriation includes $...,000 for 2013 and $...,000 for 2014.
7.1The 2015 appropriation includes $...,000 for 2014 and $...,000 for 2015.
7.2    Subd. 12. Hearing-impaired adults. For programs for hearing-impaired adults
7.3under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.57:

7.4		$	,000	.....	2014
7.5		$	,000	.....	2015

7.6    Subd. 13. School-age care revenue. For extended day aid under Minnesota
7.7Statutes, section 124D.22:

7.8		$	,000	.....	2014
7.9		$	,000	.....	2015

7.10The 2014 appropriation includes $0 for 2013 and $...,000 for 2014.
7.11The 2015 appropriation includes $0 for 2014 and $...,000 for 2015.
7.12    Subd. 14. Adult basic education aid. For adult basic education aid under
7.13Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.531:

7.14		$	,000	.....	2014
7.15		$	,000	.....	2015

7.16The 2014 appropriation includes $..... for 2013 and $..... for 2014.
7.17The 2015 appropriation includes $..... for 2014 and $..... for 2015.
7.18    Subd. 15. GED tests. For payment of 60 percent of the costs of GED tests under
7.19Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.55:

7.20		$	,000	.....	2014
7.21		$	,000	.....	2015