Senate Counsel, Research
and Fiscal Analysis
Minnesota Senate Bldg.
95 University Avenue W. Suite 3300
St. Paul, MN 55155
(651) 296-4791
Alexis C. Stangl
Director
   Senate   
State of Minnesota
 
 
 
 
 
S.F. No. 3656 - Omnibus Supplemental Appropriations Bill - The Conference Committee Report
 
Author: Senator Julie A. Rosen
 
Prepared By: Bjorn E. Arneson, Senate Analyst (651/296-3812)
Kenneth P. Backhus, Senate Counsel (651/296-4396)
Krista Boyd, Senate Fiscal Analyst (651/296-7681)
Ann Marie Lewis, Senate Counsel (651/296-5301)
Carlon D. Fontaine, Senate Counsel (651/296-4395)
Andrew J. Erickson, Senate Fiscal Analyst (651/296-4855)
Stephanie James, Senate Counsel (651/296-0103)
Jenna Hofer, Senate Fiscal Analyst (651/296-5259)
Liam Monahan, Senate Analyst (651/296-1791)
Priyanka Premo, Senate Counsel (651/296-3914)
Alexis C. Stangl, Senate Counsel (651/296-4397)
Ben Stanley, Senate Counsel (651/296-4793)
Chris Turner, Senate Fiscal Analyst (651/296-4350)
Joan White, Senate Counsel (651/296-3814)
 
Date: May 19, 2018



 

                                                                    Article 1 - State Government Appropriations

Contains appropriations to the Office of the Revisor, Secretary of State, and Minnesota Management and Budget, and a reduction to the State Auditor.  See the budget tracing spreadsheet for the fiscal implications of the State Government Articles.

Article 2 – State Government Operations

Section 1 [Collective Bargaining Agreements] requires the commissioner of MMB to submit certain information when the commissioner submits collective bargaining agreements and compensation plans to the LCC for approval

Section 2 [Display of Business Addresses by Secretary of State] permits certain small businesses to request that their address not be displayed on the website of the secretary of state, if the business address is the same as the residential address of the business’ sole shareholder, member, manager, or owner.

Section 3 [CPA Audits] requires the State Auditor to provide CPA firms certain rights, including a right to respond, when the auditor conducts additional examinations or requires additional information from the firm.

Section 4 [Data Practices Advisory Opinions] modifies standards related to the issuance of advisory opinions on data practices and open meeting law issues by the commissioner of administration

Section 5 [Gifts to State Via Web site] requires the commissioner of management and budget to maintain a website that permits financial gifts to the state to be made online.

Section 6 [Clean Water Fund] eliminates language that provides for certain amounts to be allocated to the Clean Water Fund, if there is a positive unrestricted general fund balance at the close of a biennium

Section 7 [Local Government Testing of IT Projects] requires MN.IT to include local governments when testing certain business software applications.

Sections 8, 9, 21 [Hair Braiders] exempts the practice of hair braiding from registration with the Board of Cosmetologist Examiners

Sections 10 and 11 [Statewide Voter Registration System and Ineligible Voters] requires county auditor to use the statewide voter registration system to identify certain voters for possible ineligibility to vote, investigate each record challenged as to eligibility, and notify law enforcement if a voter that appears ineligible registered to vote or voted.

Sections 12 to 16 [Racing Commission] Modifies licensing and regulation provisions for pari-mutuel horse racing by defining the term “racing or gaming-related vendor;” reducing the racing commission’s reporting requirement to odd-numbered years; amending the appeal process for license revocations and suspensions; and extending the deadline by which certain payments must be made to the state.

Section 17 [Tax Incidence Study] requires the commissioner of revenue to conduct a study of the distribution of the federal tax burden borne by Minnesota residents.

Section 18 [State Lottery] provides standards for cancelling the contract of a lottery retailer upon multiple violation of certain rules related to retention of certain amounts necessary to pay prizes.

Section 19 [Valuation of Public Utility Property Rules] requires the commissioner of revenue to amend rules related to the valuation of public utility operating property

Section 20 [Nordic World Cup Ski Championship] directs the Amateur Sports Commission to support a bid to host an International Ski Federation Nordic World Cup Ski Championship event in Minnesota.

Article 3 – Legislative Budget Office


Sections 1 to 16 delay the shift of responsibility for the preparation of fiscal notes by the Legislative Budget Office until September 1, 2019, establish a Legislative Budget Office Oversight Commission, and makes several refinements to the operational statutes for the LBO.

Article 4 – Information Technology

Section 1 [Evaluation of Information Technology Projects] establishes a role for the Office of Legislative Auditor (“OLA”) to audit information technology projects. 

Section 2 [When], Section 3 [Information Technology and Cyber Security], and Section 4 [Cyber Security Systems] require an agency to budget at least 3.5 percent of its information technology budget for cyber security.

Article 5 – Energy Policy

Section 1.  Renewable development account. Beginning in 2018, fixes the annual contribution to the renewable development account required for Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island and Monticello nuclear generating plants at $23,000,000 in fiscal year 2019; $28,000,000 in fiscal year 2020; $28,000,000 in fiscal year 2021; and $20,000,000 in fiscal year 2022 and thereafter. Once both nuclear plants are closed, the amount collected would be fixed at $12,750,000 per year ($7,500,000 attributed to the Prairie Island plant and $5,250,000 for the Monticello plant). Clarifies that recovery of funds withheld shall be done through a rate rider. Directs Xcel to select members of the advisory group. Allows Xcel Energy to pay the third party evaluator from money withheld from the transfer to the renewable development account.  

Section 2. Solar energy incentive program.  Amends Xcel Energy’s Solar Rewards program, by expanding eligibility for the incentive by increasing the maximum capacity of a solar energy system from 20 kW to 40 kW.  Restricts funds for the program from being used for any other purpose or program. Provides that unspent funds from 2018, are available to spend in 2019.  After 2019, unspent funds must be returned to the renewable development account.

Section 3.  Prairie Island net zero project.  Awards $45,000,000 from the renewable development account to the Prairie Island Indian Community over six years to develop a zero emissions energy system.

Section 4. Energy storage system pilot projects. Allows a public utility to petition the public utilities commission to recover costs associated with implementation of an energy storage system pilot project.

Section 5. Pension rate base.  Allows a public utility to include excess pension contributions in the utility’s rate base.  If made part of the rate base, the excess contributions would be recovered from ratepayers.

Section 6. Community solar garden.  Eliminates requirement that a community solar garden plan must reasonably allow for financing of community solar gardens.

Section 7.  Solar energy standard. Allows systems up to 40 kW to be counted toward Xcel’s solar energy standard, which requires that 0.15 percent of the utility’s retail electric sales be generated from solar energy systems at or below that capacity by the end of 2020.

Section 8.  Technical assistance.  Sets the expiration date allowing a portion of the assessment for technical assistance to be used for a uniform electronic data reporting and tracking system at June 30, 2022, instead of June 20, 2018. Requires the commissioner to establish a utility stakeholder group to direct development and maintenance of the uniform electronic data reporting and tracking system. Allows the utility stakeholder group to direct 50 percent of the biennium expenditures. Specifies membership of the utility stakeholder group. Requires the stakeholder group to develop and submit a work plan to the commissioner.

Section 9.  Definitions. Provides definitions for “energy storage system” and “investor-owned utility” within the resource planning statute.

Section 10.  Energy storage systems assessment. Requires investor-owned utilities to include an assessment of energy storage systems in any integrated resource plan or plan modification filed by an investor-owned utility. Provides considerations for the Public Utilities Commission in approving a plan with respect to an energy storage system assessment submitted by an investor-owned utility.

Section 11.  Assessment for department regional and national duties. Extends the expiration date for the assessment until June 30, 2019.

Section 12.  Appropriation.  Conforms language to the Made-in-Minnesota program administration statute necessary for Prairie Island net zero project transfer.

Section 13. Contact information database. Requires the evacuation system’s notification center (Gopher One) to collect contact information for each owner or operator of underground facilities and create, maintain, and update annually a database that contains the contact information in case of an emergency or for purposes of damage prevention.

Sections 14 and 15.  Renewable development account.  Makes technical corrections to incorrect references.

Section 16Biomass Business Compensation.

Subdivision 1.  Office of Administrative Hearings; claims process.  Requires the chief administrative law judge of the Office of Administrative Hearings to name an administrative law judge to administer a claims award process to compensate businesses negatively affected by the sale and closure of a biomass plant located in the city of Benson. Allows the administrative law judge to create a process to consider claims for affected businesses and issue awards to eligible businesses.

Subd. 2.  Eligibility.  Establishes the eligibility threshold for compensation. Requires an affected business to verify that as of May 1, 2017, it was operating under the terms of a valid contract or provide other documentation demonstrating an ongoing business relationship with the biomass plant or the fertilizer plant integrated within the biomass plant. 

Subd. 3.  Calculation of award.  Requires an eligible business to demonstrate the extent of its lost business opportunity by providing copies of any contracts and other documentation. Requires a business seeking compensation to report any payment received from business interruption insurance policies or other payments, settlements, or awards, and also provide a valuation of the sales, salvage, or scrap value of real or personal property associated with the business. Allows a business seeking compensation to provide information documenting its stranded investment.  Provides that data submitted by businesses requesting compensation is classified as business data.

Subd. 4.  Priority.  Allows the administrative law judge to give priority to claims by eligible businesses that demonstrate a significant effort to mitigate losses resulting from the closure of the biomass plant and consider whether a business is requesting compensation for a total business loss without mitigation efforts.

Subd. 5.  Amount of claim.  Specifies that claims are limited by and proportional to the amount provided for compensation in the biomass business compensation fund and the number of claimants.

Subd. 6.  Deadlines.  Establishes deadlines for filing claims and for issuing orders on award determinations.

Subd. 7.  Appeals.  Allows appeals of final orders denying compensation using the contested case review procedures.

Section 17.  Biomass business compensation account.

Subdivision 1.  Account established.  Establishes a biomass business compensation account in the special revenue fund in the state treasury. 

Subd. 2.  Funding for the special account.  Requires $40,000,000 to be transferred on July 1, 2019, from the renewable development account to the biomass business compensation account and appropriated for payment of eligible obligations under the biomass business compensation program.

Subd. 3.  Payment of expenses.  Provides a mechanism for the chief administrative law judge to certify costs incurred to administer the biomass business compensation claims process. Specifies that the transfer of certified costs will come from the renewable development account, not to exceed $200,000 total.

Subd. 4. Expiration. Provides that the section expires the day following the final deposit to the renewable development account.

Section 18. Cost-benefit analysis of energy storage systems. Requires the commissioner of commerce to contract with an independent consultant selected through a request for proposal process to produce a report analyzing the potential costs and benefits of energy storage systems. Requires the study to be submitted to the Legislature by December 31, 2018.

Section 19.  Repealer.  Repeals Xcel Energy’s wind mandate, which was achieved in 2002.

Article 6 – Jobs and Economic Growth-Appropriations

Please see the spreadsheet for this article.  Includes energy appropriations.

Article 7 – Economic Development Policy

Sections 1 and 2.  Taconite economic development fund. Make changes to the taconite economic development fund.

Section 3.  Loan from, secured by U.S. Agriculture Department Agency.  Increases the maximum amount a city, county, or town may borrow from the USDA for public projects.

Section 4.  Transfer 2018 distribution only.  Directs for the 2018 distribution only, if there is a balance remaining in the taconite property tax relief account after the required property tax relief payments, ten cents per ton will be sent to the Iron Range resources and rehabilitation account.

Section 5.  Dislocated worker rapid response activity.  Creates a dislocated worker set aside for job losses at Electrolux in St. Cloud.

Section 6.  Revisor’s instruction; program name clarification. Provides a Revisor instruction to rename the “Minnesota Investment Fund Disaster Contingency Account” the “North Star Disaster Contingency Account” to resolve ambiguity.

Article 8 – Labor and Industry

Section 1.  Grant awards.  Clarifies that the commissioner of labor and industry shall award the youth skills training grants to local partnerships located throughout the state, with a cap of $100,000 per grant, and that the commissioner may use part of the appropriation for administration of the grant program. Increases the appropriation to the youth skills training program to $1,000,000 (from $500,000) each year beginning in fiscal year 2020.

Section 2.  Accessibility; public buildings.  Specifies that the state building code must require new public buildings and existing public buildings, when remodeled, to be accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities.

Sections 3 and 4.  Manufactured home installers; fees.  Modifies the licensing fee provisions for manufactured home installers to be consistent with other fee reductions and licensing changes made in 2017.

Article 9 – Workers’ Compensation General

Section 1.  Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals and compensation judges.  Increases the salaries of the judges and the chief judge in the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals. This is from S.F. 3630 (Dibble).

Section 2.  Retired judges.  Allows judges retired from the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals or the Office of Administrative Hearings to hear cases when there are not enough judges available for a quorum to hear a case before the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals.  Sections 2 to 4 are recommendations from the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council and contained in S.F. 3630 (Utke). 

Section 3.  Uses that may be made of reports.  Specifies who has access, with and without an authorization, to workers’ compensation reports of injury filed with the commissioner of labor and industry.

Section 4.  Coordination of the Office of Administrative Hearings’ case management system and the workers’ compensation imaging system. Governs coordination of the case management system and the workers’ compensation imaging system pending completion of the modernization program.  Provides that documents related to a workers’ compensation dispute that require action by the Office of Administrative Hearings must be filed with the office as provided by the chief administrative law judge.  Specifies the documents that must be filed with the commissioner of labor and industry.  Provides that documents filed with the Department of Labor and Industry under Chapter 176 (workers’ compensation) are private data on individuals and nonpublic data except that documents are available to: the office and the department, the parties to the workers’ compensation claim, intervenors in a dispute, attorneys to a party in a dispute, a person who has written authorization from a party to the workers’ compensation claim, and as otherwise allowed by law.   

Section 5.  Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals.  Amends Laws 2017 to increase the appropriation from the workers’ compensation fund by $33,000 in fiscal year 2019 necessary to pay for the increase in judges’ salaries in section 1.

Article 10 - Hospital Outpatient Fee Schedule

Section 1.  Workers’ compensation hospital outpatient fee schedule.  Establishes a workers’ compensation hospital outpatient fee schedule (HOFS) for payment of workers’ compensation hospital outpatient surgical, emergency room and clinic services, using Medicare’s Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) system as a framework.  Requires the commissioner of labor and industry to conduct a study of the HOFS, and report to the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council by January 15, 2021.  Authorizes the commissioner to adopt or amend rules to implement this section.

Article 11 - Outpatient Billing, Payment, and Dispute Resolution

Sections 1 and 2.  Billing, Payment, and Dispute Resolution.  Establish billing, payment, and dispute resolution standards for the hospital outpatient fee schedule (in Article 2) and ambulatory surgical center (ASC) payment amendments (in Article 4).

Article 12 - Ambulatory Surgical Centers

Section 1.  Ambulatory surgical center payment.  Establishes payment provisions for workers’ compensation treatment provided by Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs).

Article 13 - Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Section 1.  Occupational disease.  Creates a presumption for a defined class of occupations.  Allows if an employee who was on active duty in one of the listed occupations is diagnosed with “post-traumatic stress disorder” (PTSD), and has not been diagnosed with PTSD previously, then the PTSD is presumptively an occupational disease that is presumed to have been due to the nature of employment.  Allows the presumption to be rebutted by substantial factors brought by the employer and insurer. 

Section 2.  Temporary partial disability.  Provides that the maximum number of weeks that an employee is entitled to temporary partial workers’ compensation benefits is increased from 225 to 275 weeks.

Section 3.  Permanent partial disability.  Increases the amounts used in calculating permanent partial disability benefits.

Section 4.  Permanent total disability.  Deletes the retirement presumption at age 67 and instead provides that permanent total disability benefits cease at age 72.  Permanent total disability benefits currently cease at 67 because the employee is presumed retired from the labor market.  Provides an exception for employees who are injured after age 67, which permanent total disability benefits will cease after 5 years.

Section 5.  Retraining; compensation.  Provides a conforming change to reflect the change in section 2 from 225 weeks of temporary partial disability benefits being changed 275 weeks.  

Section 6.  Treatment standards for medical services.  Directs the commissioner of labor and industry to promulgate rules governing the treatment of PTSD using expedited rulemaking authority. Requires the treatment parameters to be developed in consultation with the Medical Services Review Board (MSRB).  Directs the commissioner and the MSRB to consider the guidance found in the American Psychological Association’s (APA) most recently adopted Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of PTSD in Adults.  Directs the commissioner to review and update the rules governing treatment of PTSD, using the expedited rulemaking process, each time the APA adopts a significant change to their clinical practice guideline.

Article 14 – Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council; Policy

Section. 1.  Multi-state employment.  Clarifies when employers must pay Minnesota unemployment taxes on employees that also work in other states. Amends terms used in the section to assist with clarification.

Section 2.  Coverage for J-1 Visa holders.  Adds J-1 Visa holders to the types of employment that are considered “non-covered employment.”

Section 3.  Unemployment insurance tax reduction.  Makes technical clarifications on application of a tax reduction mechanism to businesses that have experienced a change in business structure.

Section 4.  Additional unemployment benefits program for workers laid off from International Bildrite, Inc.  Provides a 13-week unemployment insurance extension for those laid off from the plant.

Article 15 – Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council; Interest

Sections 1 and 2.  Interest.  Clarify that interest on amounts past due will only be charged on unpaid principal, not on interest that has already accrued or other fees or penalties. Specify that interest is assessed at a rate of one percent per month or any part of a month.

Article 16 – Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council; Base Periods

Sections 1 and 2.  Base period.  Makes clear that the base period for the first month of each quarter does not include the most recently completed calendar quarter.

Article 17 – Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council; Housekeeping

Section. 1.  Employment.  Addresses a request from the U.S. Department of Labor regarding traveling salespeople by incorporating a reference to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.

Section 2.  Failure to timely report; late fees.  Adds a cross-reference to the statute authorizing compromise authority. 

Section 3.  Exceptions for taxpaying employers.  Clarifies the duration of “relief of charges,” by providing that the relief ends if an employer hires back a separated employee and employment relationship starts over.

Section 4.  Garnishment.  Clarifies language concerning garnishments.

Section 5.  Payments that delay unemployment benefits.  Clarifies when vacation or sick payments, which delay unemployment benefits, are considered effective.

Section 6.  Workers’ compensation and disability insurance offset.  Makes clarifications regarding application of the offset.

Section 7.  Leave of absence.  Clarifies that leaves of absence are not considered discharges or quits.  

Section 8.  Employment misconduct.  Eliminates “substantial lack of concern” from the definition of employment misconduct.

Section 10.  Aggravated employment misconduct.  Codifies a court decision regarding how the unemployment insurance program should evaluate criminal charges and convictions in determining aggravated misconduct.

Article 18 – Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council; Technical

Sections 1 to 13 provide technical corrections regarding electronic transactions, computation of experience ratings, reimbursement elections, cancellation of amounts due, compromise authority, misrepresentation, representation and fees, notification to applicants and priority of debt, and remedies; Revisor instructions and an effective date.

Article 19 – Environment and Natural Resources Appropriations

(See tracking spreadsheet)

Article 20 – Environment and Natural Resources Policy

Section 1 [Investment of Permit to Mine Financial Insurance Money] authorizes the State Board of Investment to invest permit to mine financial assurance money when requested to do so by the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Section 2 [Aquaculture Permits] provides that Pollution Control Agency (PCA) permits for saltwater aquatic farms must be classified as permits for agricultural operations.

Sections 3 to 5 [Aquaculture Definitions] define "saltwater aquaculture," "saltwater aquatic farm," and "saltwater aquatic life" for the purposes of regulation by DNR and the PCA.

Section 6 [Transportation and Importation of Saltwater Aquatic Life] provides for transportation and importation of saltwater aquatic life into Minnesota that is in lieu of the general transportation and importation of aquatic life under the aquaculture statutes, since saltwater aquatic life will be unable to live in waters of the state.

Section 7 [Road Vacation Proceedings] expands the type of legal actions that the department of natural resources can handle internally to include road vacations.

Section 8 [Engandered Species Exemption Clarification] clarifies that the exemption to the prohibition on taking endangered plant species on roadways extends to the full public right-of-way.

Section 9 [Civil citation; authority to issue] technical related to the removal of the ban on snorkel devices for ATVs.

Section 10 [Snowmobile Safety Instructor Fee Recovery] authorizes snowmobile safety instructors to recover fees paid for online training courses on behalf of trainees.

Section 11 [Acts Prohibited, ATV and Snowmobile] provides that a person convicted of a DWI in any type of vehicle or who refuses any DWI-related blood, breath, or urine testing will lose the person’s operating privileges for snowmobiles and ATVs. Changes the administrative and judicial review process for the snowmobile and ATV operating privilege prohibition to that applicable to nonrecreational vehicle DWIs.

Section 12 [Online ATV Training Program for Youth] requires DNR to establish a voluntary all-terrain vehicle online training program for youth aged six to ten and a parent or guardian.

Section 13 [ATV Safety Certificate Eligibility Clarification] clarifies that only youth aged ten or older may receive an ATV safety education and training certificate.

Section 14 [ATV Operation Generally] removes the ban on operating an ATV with a snorkeling device.

Section 15 [Harvesting of Gizzard Shad in Minnesota River] adds the Minnesota River downstream of Granite Falls to the list of waters from which gizzard shad may be harvested by cast net for noncommercial personal use as bait for angling under a permit. Repeals a related statutory sunset.

Section 16 [Use of Commercial Fishing Equipment in Infested Waters] expands the types of infested waters in which commercial fishing equipment must be tagged. Allows removal of tags by DNR only if equipment has been decontaminated in accordance with DNR protocol.

Sections 17 & 18 [Zebra Mussel Pilot Studies Changes] repeal statutory language that limits to certain access sites two pilot studies related to the reintroduction of equipment with zebra mussels attached into Gull Lake and Cross Lake.

Section 19 [Cayuna Country State Recreation Area Citizens Advisory Council Changes] amends the statute that creates the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area Citizens Advisory Council to correct the names of member organizations and to add legislative representation.

Section 20 [Acts prohibited, Motorboat] provides that a person convicted of a DWI in any type of vehicle or who refuses any DWI-related blood, breath, or urine testing will lose the person’s operating privileges for motorboats. Changes the administrative and judicial review process for the motorboat operating privilege prohibition to that applicable to nonrecreational vehicle DWIs.

Section 21 [Wildland Firefighters] corrects the inadvertent application of certain statutory requirements related to firefighter training and education requirements to wildland firefighters.

Section 22 [Misdemeanor Wildfire Act Violations] expands the type of legal actions that the department of natural resources can handle internally to include misdemeanor violations of the wildfire act.

Section 23 [Unlawful Firewood Possession] eliminates an enforcement provision related to dealers of unapproved firewood that DNR does not use.

Section 24 [Production of Fish and Game Laws Summary] repeals requirement that DNR produce enough copies of its summary of the hunting and fishing laws and rules for each person that obtains a hunting, fishing, or trapping license.

Section 25 [Use of Deer License Proceeds] requires $16 of each deer license to be credited to the deer management account.

Section 26 [Voter Registration Information] requires DNR to include voter registration information on the website that allows residents to purchase hunting and fishing licenses. The website must also include a link to the secretary of state’s online voter registration website. DNR must also include voter registration information in the printed and digital versions of its annual game and fish regulations summary.

Section 27 [Sale of Certain Separate Selection Elk Licenses] authorizes recipients of an elk license under the separate selection for owners of, or tenants on, at least 160 acres of agricultural or grazing land to sell those licenses for no more than it cost the recipient.

Section 28 [Consideration of Unsuccessful Elk License Applicants] requires elk license applicants who fail to obtain an elk license through the mandatory separate selection for repeat unsuccessful applicants to be included in the selection for the remaining available licenses.

Sections 29 & 31 [Hunting by Persons with Physical Disabilities] facilitates a person with a permanent physical disability obtaining a firearms hunting license authorizing the person to hunt when assisted by a parent, guardian, or other adult person.

Section 30 [Exceptions; Use of Spotlight] allows those hunting fox and coyotes to use artificial lights by removing the requirement that they use only a handlheld artificial light.

Section 32 [Gizzard Shad Cast Net Requirements] increases the permissible size of nets used to harvest Gizzard Shad to those having a radius of five feet from those having a diameter of seven feet. Provides that no more than two nets may be used at one time.

Section 33 [Local Water Resources Protection and Management Program – Local Government Eligibility] expands eligibility for assistance under the local water resources restoration, protection, and management program to include all local governments as opposed to just counties.

Section 34 [Local Water Resources Protection and Management Program – Eligibility Criteria] provides the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) with greater flexibility to determine eligibility criteria for the Local Water Resources Restoration, Protection, and Management Program.

Section 35 [Red River Basin Commission] establishes the Red River Basin Commission in statute.

Section 36 [One Watershed, One Plan Clarification] clarifies that plans developed as part of the one watershed, one plan program sometimes also serve purposes under the Clean Water Legacy Act (Chapter 114D).

Section 37 [Amendment of One Watershed, One Plan Transition Plan] current statutes require the Board of Soil and Water Resources to develop a plan for transitioning the state to comprehensive planning based on one watershed, one plan. This section provides that BWSR may not amend the plan more frequently than once every two years.

Sections 38 to 44 [Mississippi Headwaters Board Authority] clarifies that all zoning authorities are subject to the Mississippi Headwaters Board certification requirement with respect to certain land use actions undertaken in the area covered by the board’s comprehensive land use plan.

Section 45 [Wetland Banking Credits as Offset of Adverse Effect on Rare Natural Communities] provides that wetland banking credits are an acceptable mitigation measure for adverse effects on rare natural communities and authorizes DNR to approve wetland replacement plans that include restoration or credits from rare natural communities of substantially comparable character and public value as mitigation for any rare natural community adversely affected by a project.

Section 46 [Wetland Banking Fees] requires wetland banking fees to be based on the actual cost to BWSR of implementing the activities for which fees are charged.

Section 47 to 53 [Clean Water Legacy Act Definitions] adds definitions related to local water planning to the Clean Water Legacy Act (chapter 114D) and makes changes to other definitions in that Act, which will facilitate the use of local plans for Clear Water Legacy Act purposes.

Section 54 [WRAPS & TMDLs Priorities] provides that the commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency (PCA), in consultation with the Clean Water Council, must coordinate with the commissioners of natural resources, health, and agriculture, and with BWSR, to establish priorities for scheduling and preparing WRAPs and TMDLs.

Section 55 [Clean Water Council Recommendations] removes the requirement that the Clean Water Council’s recommendations be designed to improve the quality of surface waters that are listed as impaired but do not have a TMDL.  

Section 56 [Use of Local Plans for Clean Water Legacy Act Purposes] authorizes the commissioner of the PCA to submit certain local plans to the EPA as part of the TMDL approval process as opposed to developing a new TMDL proposal.

Section 57 [Local Plan Activities May Contribute to MS4 Permit Requirements] authorizes water quality measures taken under a local water plan to be considered as contributing to the requirements of a storm water pollution prevention plan for municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permit purposes.

Section 58 to 60 [Various Clean Water Legacy Act Refinements] makes various refinements to the statute that addresses the contents of WRAPS and to other sections of the Clean Water Legacy Act.

Section 61 [NPDES Exemption; Water Transfers] establishes an exemption from the Pollution Control Agency’s (PCA) National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirement for water transfers that do not introduce pollutants to the waters transferred. This exemption mirrors a similar federal exemption.

Section 62 [Remote Sugar Beet Storage Facilities] prohibits PCA from requiring a sugar beet company that has a NPDE permit or state permit to install a liner for a sugar beet storage site runoff pond unless the PCA confirms that there is a significant effect on groundwater.

Section 63 [External Peer Review of Water Quality Standards] directs the PCA to have peer review conducted on all new and revised numeric water quality standards.  This section also provides for the process of conducting the peer review and the development of technical support documents for the water quality standards.

Section 64 [Effluent Limitation Compliance] provides that to the extent allowed by federal law, a municipal or industrial NPDES or state disposal system permit holder that constructs a treatment work facility to comply with modified standards, may not be required to expend additional capital investment on the treatment works for 16 years.

Section 65 [Local Government Solid Waste Project Assistance] amends the application requirements for local government assistance with solid waste projects to require that capacity at existing facilities and the potential displacement of existing facilities be examined prior to application.

Section 66 [Conforming Change] updates statutory cross-references to reflect substantive changes made elsewhere in the bill.

Section 67 [Changes to Statutory References Related to Solid Waste] changes various statutory references from “organized collection” to “solid waste collection,” authorizing unorganized collection to be considered. The bill makes similar conforming in other sections. 

Section 68 [Solid Waste Collection Options Committee Procedure] provides that when a local government convenes a committee to examine solid waste collection options, the committee must include in its analysis an examination of the existing system of collection. This section also allows the committee’s evaluation to include an examination of potential collection methods’ impact on residential subscribers’ ability to have choices with respect to desired level of service and costs.

Section 69 [Conforming Change] makes a minor conforming change.

Section 70 [Negotiations with Licensed Solid Waste Collectors] changes the period during which local governments are required to negotiate with licensed collectors to “at least 60 days” from the current “60 days.” This section also changes the length of the resulting initial collection agreement to “seven” years from the current “three to seven years.”

Section 71 [Solid Waste Pre-Negotiation Conference] requires that prior to the negotiations a local government is required to conduct exclusively with licensed collectors, the collectors and elected officials of the local government must meet and confer on waste collection issues.

Section 72 [Joint Liability of Waste Collectors] prohibits an organized collection agreement from requiring a participating licensed collector to bear any liability for damages caused by any other participating licensed collector.

Section 73 [Conforming Change] makes a minor conforming change.

Section 74 [Natural Resources Damages Account] creates the natural resources damages account used by the PCA and DNR for purposes of tracking money received from certain natural resource damages related settlements and other actions. Requires the DNR to submit work plans to the commissioner of management and budget on how the funds are spent (similar to current practice). Requires the DNR to report to the legislature by November 1 each year on the expenditures from the account.

Section 75 [Establishment of Account for 3M Settlement Proceeds] establishes a water quality and sustainability account in the remediation fund for proceeds of the recent 3M settlement, appropriates those funds for settlement purposes, and imposes related reporting requirements.

Section 76 [3M Settlement Funding Recommendations] requires the commissioners of PCA and DNR to work with stakeholders to identify and recommend projects to receive funding from 3M settlement proceeds.

Section 77 [Exemption from Open Air Swine Basin Moratorium] exempts from the otherwise applicable ban on new open-air swine basins those that are used solely for wastewater from truck-washing facilities.

Section 78-80 [Conforming Changes] makes conforming changes to remediation fund statutes to accommodate the creation of the two new accounts (Section 74 and 75).

Section 81 [Small Business Environmental Improvement Loan Program – Eligibility] expands eligibility for loans under the PCA-administered Small Business Environmental Improvement Loan Program.

Section 82 [Small Business Environmental Improvement Loan Program – Loan Conditions] modernizes loan conditions by lowering permissible interest rates and increasing maximum loan amount.

Section 83 [Fences] clarifies that existing requirements to erect fencing, barriers, and signs when mining operations have ceased apply to fencing, barriers, and signs that are required under law.

Section 84 [Abandoned Mines] requires a fee owner of property with an abandoned mine to also maintain fencing, barriers, and signage in addition to the existing requirement to erect it.

Section 85 [Exemption] exempts certain property from fencing requirements applicable to closed/abandoned mines, including property owned by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB), property used for grant-in-aid trails, property owned by a municipality for park/recreational purposes, and property for certain economic development. Requires the posting of signs and requires any fencing erected by a recipient of an exemption to be maintained by the recipient. Allows a county mine inspector to inspect the exempted property and make recommendations regarding fencing, barriers, and signage.

Section 86 [Removal of Fence; Guard] Clarifies that existing provisions establishing a misdemeanor penalty for a person who opens, removes, or disturbs a fence, guard, barrier, or sign required under law.

Section 87 [Pipeline Definition] limits the definition of pipeline to those that are owned or operated by a condemning authority.

Section 88 [Discontinuance of Ramsey Soil & Water Conservation District] discontinues the Ramsey Soil and Water Conservation District and transfers its duties to the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners.

Section 89 [Extension of a DNR Reporting Date] extends by one year a DNR reporting date.

Section 90 [Sunset] extends the forest management and other requirements applicable to the Sand Dunes State Forest passed last session an additional year.

Section 91 [Action to Obtain Access Prohibited; Clearwater County] amends a law passed last session that prohibited the DNR from initiating a civil action to obtain access to Island Lake FMHA Wildlife Management Area in Clearwater County to make the prohibition permanent (it was a one-year ban initially).

Section 92 [Recreation Trails; Environmental Review; Rulemaking] requires the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to adopt rules to exempt certain recreational trails from mandatory environmental assessment worksheet (EAW) requirements. The new rules would expand existing exemptions, including increasing the total miles certain exempted trails can be from 10 to 25 miles, and providing specific exemptions for motorized trails that use certain existing recreational trails or routes.

Section 93 [Wetland Replacement; Frameworks for In-lieu Fee Program] allows BWSR to complete planning frameworks and other application requirements for an in-lieu fee program for wetland replacement.

Section 94 [Testing for Private Wells; East Metro Area] requires the PCA to develop a process for private and public well sampling for PFC’s in the east metropolitan area.

Section 95 [Temporary Enforcement of Groundwater Appropriation Permit Requirements] prohibits the DNR from using funds to take certain enforcement action against a permit holder in the North and East Groundwater Management Area for violating permit requirements established as a result of a 2017 court order.

Section 96 [Groundwater Management Area Permit Requirements] allows a permit holder, in a groundwater management area within the seven-county metropolitan area, to use alternative measures of water use and alternatives to residential irrigation bans and removes a requirement that they have a contingency plan to use surface water.

Section 97 [Sewage Sludge Application Training Requirements] directs the Pollution Control Agency to amend its training requirements for those who apply sewage sludge and industrial byproducts to land so that 6 rather than 9 hours of annual training are required.

Section 98 [MS4 Stormwater Permit Modification] provides that when an MS4 stormwater permit is required for partially organized cities or townships, it is only required for the urbanized portion of the city or township.

Section 99 [Forest Inventory Recommendations] requires the Minnesota Forest Resources Council, in cooperation with the Interagency Information Cooperative and the University of Minnesota, to make recommendations for improving stand-level forest inventories.

Section 100 [Lake Winona Management] requires the PCA to take certain actions if the Alexandria Lake Area Sanitary District undertakes lake management activities designed to reduce phosphorous levels in Lake Winona and Lake Agnes.

Section 101 [Otter Tail County Muskellunge Stocking Moratorium] imposes a five-year moratorium on the stocking of muskellunge in waters wholly located in Otter Tail County (but not including lakes wholly within the boundaries of a state park) . Requires DNR to convene a stakeholder group to examine the effects of muskellunge stocking in Otter Tail County.

Section 102 [Natural Resources Youth Safety Education Programs Delivery] requires DNR to review and research options for state-delivered online safety training programs for youth and adult students, including off-highway vehicles and hunter education.

Section 103 [Nonpoint Priority Funding Plan Workgroup] requires BWSR to convene a workgroup to review the biennial nonpoint priority funding plan.

Section 104 [Chronic Wasting Disease Task Force] creates a Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) task force to examine whether and how CWD-related recommendations of the legislative auditor should be implemented, methods to improve the coordination and effectiveness of CWD prevention and response, and whether it is possible to develop new methods for CWD detection.

Section 105 [Board of Animal Health Task Force] creates a Board of Animal Health (BAH) task force to examine BAH effectiveness, whether the structure and membership of the board is optimally designed, and related issues.

Section 106 [1837 Ceded Territory Fisheries Technical Committee] allows the DNR to invite two fish managers to all meetings of the 1837 Ceded Territory Fisheries Technical Committee.

Section 107 [Carbon Monoxide Exposure; Fish Houses and Ice Shelters; Report] requires the DNR to work with fish house and ice shelter manufacturers and others to identify best practices to reduce carbon monoxide exposure of users and to increase outreach and education efforts relating to the dangers of carbon monoxide and submit a report with recommendations to the legislature.

Section 108 [Hayes Lake State Park Recommendations; Report] requires the DNR to develop recommendations to expand access to recreational opportunities within Hayes Lake State Park and report back to the Legislature.

Section 109 [Snowmobile Trails and Enforcement Account] requires the DNR to work with the Minnesota United Snowmobilers Association to develop recommendations on the use of the money in the snowmobile trails and enforcement account and report back to the Legislature.

Section 110 [Hill-Annex Mine State Park] requires the DNR to operate the Hill-Annex State Park through June 30, 2021, and work with stakeholders to review park activities and alternative operation models and submit a report to the legislature with recommendations. Requires the DNR to work with local governments to identify and coordinate volunteer opportunities to supplement park operations.

Section 111 [Repealer]

  1. Repeals M.S. 169A.07, dealing with DWI  violations for operators of ATV and motorboats.
  2. Repeals M.S. 169A.33, subdivision 1, dealing with the definition of a motor vehicle for DWI purposes.

Article 21 – Accelerated Buffer Strip Implementation

Section 1 [Agriculture Best Management Practices Loan Program] amends the purposes of the agriculture best management practices (AgBMP) loan program to include the provision of low or no-cost financing to local units of government, including drainage authorities, watershed districts, and counties.

Section 2 [AgBMP Loan Program Definitions] modifies AgBMP loan program definitions to allow municipalities and drainage authorities to be local lenders under the program and to make other clarifying changes.

Section 3 [Loans Issued to Borrower] allows a drainage authority to request a loan on behalf of multiple landowners.

Section 4 [Incremental Establishment of Vegetated Ditch Buffer Strips and Side Inlet Controls] clarifies that drainage authorities’ findings that the establishment of vegetated ditch buffer strips and side inlet controls is necessary to control erosion and sedimentation, improve water quality, or maintain efficiency is sufficient to confer authority to order the measures to be installed.

Section 5 [Drainage Authority Attorney] clarifies that assistant county attorneys hired under existing law may assist with drainage matters.

Section 6 [Conditions for Redetermination of Benefits and Damages] allows more than 50 percent of the owners of property or owners of 50 percent of the property benefited or damaged by a drainage system to petition for a redetermination of benefits and damages.  The drainage authority will retain their discretion in conducting the redetermination of benefits and damages.  Current law only allows for a petition by over 50 percent of the landowners to petition for corrections for errors made at the time of drainage system establishment. 

Section 7 [Drainage Buffer Strip Planting after Acquisition and Compensation] allows a drainage authority to install buffer strips, with the consent of the landowner, along a drainage ditch after acquiring rights and compensating the landowner. This section sunsets on June 30, 2019. .

Article 22 – Higher Education

Section 1. Appropriations. Specifies that the appropriations under sections 2 and 3 are made from the general fund and added to appropriations provided in 2017, unless otherwise specified.

Section 2. Minnesota Office of Higher Education. Makes appropriations to the Office of Higher Education for: (1) the state grant program; (2) the agricultural educators loan forgiveness program; (3) student loan debt counseling; and (4) a grant to design a preparation program for special education teachers providing instruction to the blind or visually impaired.

Section 3. Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Makes an appropriation to Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to be used for campus support and renewal of workforce development scholarships awarded during academic year 2018-2019. The workforce development scholarship program was established in 2017.

Section 4. Powers and duties; report. The Minnesota P-20 Education Partnership consists of major statewide educational groups and was created to maximize achievements of students from early childhood to postsecondary education. Under the P-20 Partnership’s direction, the OHE and the Department of Education are required to provide the public and policymakers with data and reports. Section 1 adds research related to early childhood development and investments in young children and their families to the reporting requirements (via data contained in the Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System).

Section 5. Victim’s rights. Requires postsecondary institutions to notify sexual assault victims of campus or local programs providing information on legal resources. 

Section 6. Data collection and reporting. Requires the University of Minnesota to collect statistical data on incidents of sexual harassment. The types of data that must be collected are coextensive with the current requirements for sexual assault data. The statistical data on sexual harassment incidents must be reported to the legislature by October 1 of each year.

Section 7. Eligibility. Clarifies how applicants to the teacher candidate grant program may demonstrate their intent to teach in a shortage area.

Section 8. Administration; repayment. Eliminates a 2017 requirement that the commissioner of the OHE develop a repayment process for teacher candidate grant recipients who do not complete student teaching or who leave Minnesota in the first year of student teaching.

Section 9. Eligible student. Moves the definition of “eligible student” from section 136A.1701 and combines it with the existing “eligible student” in section 136A.15, the general definition section for student loan programs.

Section 10. Designation. Corrects a statutory cross-reference.

Section 11. Rules, policies, and conditions. Eliminates a compatibility requirement for a federal loan program.

Section 12-14. Student loan programs. Corrects statutory cross-references.

Section 15. Classification of data. Adds a statutory cross-reference to the student loan refinancing statute.

Section 16. Repayment of loans. Strikes repayment procedures provided for supplemental loans under section 136A.1701, inserts a cross-reference to OHE’s general rules and policies for student loan programs in section 136A.16.

Section 17. Legislative oversight. Requires OHE to annually report to the legislature on the balances of the loan forgiveness program accounts in the special revenue fund.

Section 18. Student loan debt counseling. Establishes a permanent, statutory program administered by the OHE to provide a grant to an organization offering student loan debt counseling. This program is similar to a 2015 pilot program grant provided to Lutheran Social Services.

Subdivision 1. Grant. Permits an organization receiving a grant to offer counseling to those capable of being served with available appropriations. Sets a goal that a grantee provide at least two counseling sessions to 75 percent of borrowers receiving counseling. Establishes that the purpose of the counseling is to enable borrowers to understand their loan and repayment options, manage loan repayments, and develop a workable budget.

Subd. 2. Qualified debt counseling organization. Defines a qualified debt counseling organization as one that has experience in student loan counseling, employs certified financial loan counselors, and is based in Minnesota and has offices in multiple rural and metropolitan locations.

Subd. 3. Grant application and award. Requires that applications be made in a form and manner specified by the commissioner. Describes the components that must be included on the application. Requires the commissioner to select one grant recipient every two years. The grant recipient would receive funding for both years of the biennium.

Subd. 4. Program evaluation. Requires a grant recipient to submit a report to the commissioner every two years. Specifies data elements to be included in the report.

Subd. 5. Report to legislature. Requires the commissioner to submit a report on the program to the higher education committees of the legislature every two years.

Section 19 & 40. Creation of account. Specifies that the aviation loan forgiveness program account is established in the special revenue fund and makes conforming changes to a prior appropriation.

Section 20 & 37. Account established. Specifies that the teacher shortage loan forgiveness account is established in the special revenue fund and makes conforming changes to a prior appropriation.

Section 21 & 38. Establishment; administration. Establishes the large animal veterinarian loan forgiveness program in the special revenue fund and requires OHE to use the account money to establish and administer the program. Any appropriations to OHE for this program are for transfer to the fund. Makes conforming changes to a prior appropriation.

Section 22. Schools to provide information. 2017 legislation established a student complaint process for private and out of state public postsecondary institutions. This section requires schools, during registration, to provide to the OHE the school’s disclosure to students regarding the student complaint process.

Section 23. Additional security. In the Minnesota Private and Out of State Public Postsecondary Education Act, adds a specific calculation for the surety bond amount required for new schools with conditional approval (not < $10,000 and at least 10% of the school’s net revenue from tuition and fees in the prior fiscal year). Provides, for failing registered institutions, that if the letter of credit required by the U.S. Department of Education is greater than ten percent of federal financial aid funds the institution received in the most recently completed fiscal year, then OHE will reduce the surety requirement to ten percent of federal financial aid funds the institution received in the most recently completed fiscal year, as long as it is at least $10,000 but not more than $250,000.

Section 24. Disclosure. Requires private and out-of-state public postsecondary schools to disclose to students the 2017 student complaint process.

Section 25. Bond. Corrects technical accounting terminology.

Section 26. Catalog, brochure, or electronic display. 2017 legislation established a student complaint process for private career schools. Section 15 requires private career schools, during their licensure, to provide to OHE the school’s disclosure to students regarding the student complaint process.

Section 27. Disclosure. Requires private career schools to disclose to students the 2017 student complaint process.

Section 28 & 35. Spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury research grant program. Establishes an account in the special revenue fund for the spinal cord and traumatic brain injury grant program. OHE must use the account money to administer the grant program. Appropriations to OHE for the program are for transfer to the fund, do not cancel, and are available until expended. Makes changes to a prior appropriation.

Section 29-32. Regent Candidate Advisory Council. Requires representation from each congressional district for appointments to the advisory council made on or after July 1, 2018. Requires the advisory council to report to the legislature methods and tools used to screen each regent candidate and the name of the person who conducted screening for each candidate. Requires the Legislative Coordinating Commission to collect all application materials from regent candidates, conduct backgrounds checks at the direction of the legislature, and forward all materials to the advisory council.

Section 33. County scholarship endowment account. Authorizes counties to establish an endowment account using certain unencumbered revenues, private donations, gifts, or grants.  The county board may invest account funds and the account is subject to audit by the state auditor.  Income derived from investments must be used for scholarships for students residing in the county and attending a two-year MnSCU institution. The county scholarship program was established in 2017.

Section 34. MnSCU two-year public college program. The MnSCU College Occupational Scholarship Pilot Program was established in 2016 for the academic years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. This section reduces the appropriation made for the program in 2017 by $1,000,000 to capture funds that are unused and unencumbered by the program. This section is effective June 30, 2018.

Section 36. Emergency assistance for postsecondary students. Makes a technical change to clarify that the program is limited to Minnesota schools.

Section 39. Agricultural educators loan forgiveness. Clarifies a transfer made to the agricultural educators loan forgiveness account in the special revenue fund in a prior appropriation.

Section 41. Transfers. Confers upon the commissioner of OHE the authority to transfer unencumbered balances from 2017 appropriations for: (1) interventions for college attendance program grants; (2) the summer academic enrichment program; and (3) student-parent information.

Section 42. Affordable textbook plan and report. Requires Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to develop a plan to increase the use of affordable textbooks and instructional materials and to explore registration software to disclose the cost of textbooks and materials prior to or during course registration. The plan must establish a goal for the percentage of all courses offering affordable materials. The plan and a report providing data on affordable course materials are due to the legislature by January 15, 2020

Section 43. Teacher preparation program design grant. Requires OHE to provide a grant to a higher education institution to explore, design, and plan a teacher preparation program for special education teachers instructing blind and visually impaired students. OHE may develop guidelines and an application process and may use up to two percent of the appropriation for administrative costs. The grant recipient must submit a report describing the plan and any potential ongoing costs to the legislature by January 15, 2020.

Section 44. Appeal process for sexual misconduct findings involving University of Minnesota employees. Requests the Board of Regents to update their sexual misconduct policies to provide university employees and their victims a right of appeal from findings of the university’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, and timely notice of those appeal rights.

Section 45. Repealer. Technical change repealing certain definitions relating to student loan programs.

Article 23 - Transportation Appropriations

Article 24 - Transportation Policy

Section 1.  Certain transit financial activity reporting.  Changes the frequency of the legislative auditor's review of the Metropolitan Council’s transportation financial records from quarterly to two times per year.  Strikes an outdated reference to the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB).  Effective June 1, 2018.

Section 2.  Metropolitan Council special transportation service.  Identifies a cross-reference in the Data Practices Act on data sharing between the Department of Human Services and the Metropolitan Council in order to administer and coordinate special transportation services.

Section 3.  Motor vehicle registration.  Identifies a cross-reference in the Data Practices Act on vehicle registration data.

Section 4.  Transportation service data.  Allows disclosure of private data on individuals between the Department of Human Services and the Metropolitan Council in order to administer and coordinate special transportation services between the agencies

Section 5.  Unfair practices by manufacturers, distributors, factory branches.  It is unlawful for a motor vehicle manufacturer to charge back a motor vehicle dealer due solely to an unreasonable delay in the transfer or registration of a new motor vehicle. This provision expires June 30, 2021.

Section 6.  Bikeway.  Centralizes bicycle-related definitions.

Section 7.  Powers of political subdivisions.  Prevents a local unit of government from creating a bikeway route that eliminates or moves a designated disability parking space. Effective the day after enactment.

Section 8.  Rural agricultural business or tourist-oriented business.  Broadens the hours of operation conditions under a MnDOT sign program, to authorize signs for a farm winery that provides a staffed food operation and is open at least four hours a day, two days a week.

Section 9.  Route No. 180.   Modifies the route of Highway 54 in Grant County, which allows part of the road to be turned back to the county.

Sections 10 to 12 designate portions of highways or bridges for Trooper Ray Krueger, Warrant Officer Dennis A. Groth, and Specialist Noah Pierce Bridge.

Section 13.  Direct negotiation.  Raises the limit on direct negotiations for trunk highway projects from $150,000 to $250,000.

Section 14.  Passenger automobile; hearse.  For first registrations of a new vehicle sold by a dealer, the dealer may choose to determine the base value of the vehicle using suggested retail price information from the manufacturer.

Section 15.  Listing by dealers.  Allows dealers to withhold tax due from the prior registration period. A lien for registration tax does not attach.

Section 16.  Collector military vehicle.  Allows for some former military vehicles to be registered and operated as general motor vehicles for on-road use.  The provision applies to decommissioned military vehicles for which a civilian model having the same size and weight was also manufactured and sold (which includes a Humvee).

Section 17.  Failure to submit within ten days.  Allows deputy registrars to accept applications for registration or transfer by mail. Effective July 1, 2019.

Section 18.  Filing registration applications.  Allows all deputy registrars to accept and process fleet registrations. Effective July 1, 2019.

Section 19.  Fee.  Deputy registrars may collect a filing fee for fleet registration transactions. The commissioner may impose an equivalent administrative fee instead of the filing fee. Effective July 1, 2019.

Section 20.  Multiple licenses.  Allows a dealer with more than one location in the state to move vehicles between the lots without assigning vehicle ownership or title to the lot where the vehicle is located.

Section 21.  Designated dealer title and registration liaison.  The commissioner of public safety must designate one or more department employees to respond to questions from dealers and troubleshoot dealer issues related to vehicle titles and registration.

Section 22.  Late fee.  The $2 late fee for failure to deliver a title transfer within ten days does not apply to transfers from licensed vehicle dealers.

Section 23.  Expedited driver and vehicle services; fee.  Allows driver’s license agents and deputy registrars to expedite processing of licenses, permits, ID cards, and vehicle title transactions. The commissioner must not decline an expedited service request solely based on the limitations of the DPS technology systems. Effective November 1, 2019.

Section 24.  Electronic transmission.  Requires the commissioner of public safety to establish standards to approve and allow software companies that provide software to dealers to electronically transmit vehicle title transfer and registration information. Approved companies must be allowed access to department facilities, staff, and technology.

Section 25.  Transactions by mail.  Allows deputy registrars to accept and process applications submitted by mail. Effective July 1, 2019.

Section 26.  Lessees; information.  Allows the Department of Public Safety to provide information about vehicle lessees to trade associations for motor fuel retailers, if the association is acting on behalf of a retailer who had fuel taken without payment.

Section 27.  Vehicle registration data; federal compliance.  Prohibits the commissioner of public safety from restricting the uses for which a licensed dealer may obtain specific data about an individual obtained by the department in connection with a motor vehicle record.

Section 28.  Application for certificate of title.  Allows for some former military vehicles to be titled for on-road use.  The provision applies to decommissioned military vehicles for which a civilian model having the same size and weight was also manufactured and sold (which includes a Humvee).

Section 29.  Owner’s interest terminated or vehicle sold by secured party.  Allows an assignee of a secured party to perform certain actions in place of the assignee.

Section 30.  Salvage titles.  Broadens the requirements to obtain a salvage title to apply to all vehicles, regardless of age or value.  Under current law, a salvage title is only required for late-model vehicles (five-years old or newer) or high-value vehicles (worth over $9,000 before being damaged or an older vehicle having a gross weight of over 26,000 pounds).

Section 31.  Notice of perfection by dealer.  When a security interest in a vehicle sold by a dealer is perfected, the dealer may provide a statement of perfection to the secured party.

Section 32.  Motor vehicle title and registration advisory committee.  Establishes the Motor Vehicle Title and Registration Advisory Committee to advise the commissioner of public safety on title and registration issues. Identifies membership, committee duties, and expiration. The commissioner of public safety must annually submit reports to the legislature summarizing the committee’s activities and recommendations for legislative action.

Section 33.  Amounts.  Strikes references to the expired technology surcharge.

Section 34.  Bicycle lane.  Establishes that bicycle lanes are part of the roadway (that is, the main traveled portion of a road) and not a shoulder (the contiguous portion of the road that is not traveled upon).

Section 35.  Bikeway.  Broadens a definition of “bikeway” for the chapter of statutes on traffic regulations.

Section 36.  Railroad train.  Amends the definition of “railroad train” to include other on-track equipment and rolling stock operated on rails that activates grade crossing signals.

Section 37.  Zoning within local area.  Allows the commissioner of transportation, at the request of a county board, to establish a speed limit in excess of 55 m.p.h., based on an engineering study. The county engineer must erect signs.  Effective June 1, 2018.

Section 38.  Passing.  Requires clearance when passing a bicycle of at least three feet or half of a vehicle’s width, whichever is greater, unless passing in a separate lane.  Makes technical changes, to modernize language.

Section 39.  Laned highway.  Allows semis and other similarly large vehicles to deviate from the driving lane when approaching and going through a roundabout.

Section 40. Slow-moving vehicle.   Requires a mandatory fine of at least $100 (in addition to the $75 criminal and traffic surcharge) for a person who operates a vehicle at less than the speed of traffic in the left driving lane. This does not apply if the vehicle is passing another vehicle, is preparing for a left turn, or is preparing to exit a controlled access highway via a left side exit, or if a specific lane is designated for a specific type of traffic.

Section 41.  Passing parked emergency vehicle; citation; probable cause.  If it is not possible to move to another lane, a driver must slow down to a reasonable and prudent speed while passing a stopped emergency vehicle with its lights on.  Effective August 1, 2018.

Section 42.  Passing certain parked vehicles.  If it is not possible to move to another lane, a driver must slow down to a reasonable and prudent speed while passing a stopped maintenance, utility, or construction vehicle.  Effective August 1, 2018.

Section 43.  Roundabouts.  If two semis or other similarly large vehicles drive through a roundabout at the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the right must yield to the vehicle on the left.

Section 44.  Traffic laws apply.  Clarifies that bicyclists operating in a shoulder have the same rights and duties as when operating on the road generally. Makes a technical change, to reproduce language on sidewalk and crosswalk operating authority that is being moved from another subdivision in the statute.

Section 45.  Riding rules.  Permits bicyclists to proceed straight through an intersection from a right-hand turn lane, and allows the bicyclist to situate the bike anywhere in the lane (not just farthest to the right). Makes technical changes, including to eliminate language that is being moved to another subdivision in the statute.

Section 46.  Requirements.  Drivers must stop at a railroad crossing when on-track equipment or rolling stock is moving on the tracks.

Section 47.  Certain vehicles to stop at railroad crossing.  Requires busses and other vehicles for hire to stop, listen, and look at railroad track for the approach of on-track equipment or rolling stock. On-track equipment or rolling stock must not proceed across an exempt crossing unless a person is present to warn traffic.

Section 48.  Crossing railroad tracks with certain equipment.  Requires drivers of tractors or other slow-moving equipment to stop, listen, and look for when on-track equipment or rolling stock at railroad crossings.

Section 49. White strobe lamps on certain buses transporting children.  Makes technical changes.

Section 50.  Supplemental warning system.  Authorizes school buses to be equipped with supplemental flashing lights or electronic signs that are approved by the Department of Public Safety.

Section 51.  Restrictions on appearance; misdemeanor.  Makes conforming and technical changes.

Section 52.  Colors.  Broadens the permissible colors for the rub rails running around a school bus, to allow them to be yellow (which is in addition to black).

Section 53.  Identification.  Authorizes use of a changeable electronic message sign instead of specified static text on the rear of a school bus, if it is used in conjunction with school bus warning and stop lighting and is an approved supplemental warning system.

Section 54.  Supplemental warning system; temporary authority.  Permits the Department of Public Safety to approve school buses to be equipped with supplemental flashing lights or changeable electronic message signs. The authority expires August 1, 2021 (buses previously approved to be equipped can continue to use the system). Specifies considerations for granting approval and requires research and consultation with stakeholders.

Section 55.  Lights or reflectors required.  Makes technical changes. (The language being stricken is substantially reproduced in other sections of statutes.)

Section 56.  Maintenance.  Makes technical changes. (The language being stricken is substantially reproduced in another section of statutes.)

Section 57.  Flashing lights; glaring lights.  Makes conforming and technical changes, including to centralize restrictions on flashing and glaring lights.

Section 58.  White light.  Makes conforming, technical, and clarifying changes, to create a centralized provision on when a vehicle can display white lights.  (This includes language being reproduced from another section of statutes.)

Section 59.  Strobe lamp.  Modifies the minimum intensity of authorized strobe lamps on vehicles to be based on an engineering standard produced by SAE International, instead of referencing a candela measure of light output.  Makes technical changes.

Section 60.  Manner of loading.  It is not an unsecured load for a vehicle hauling unprocessed thawing sugar beets to leak liquid.  Makes technical and format changes. Effective June 1, 2018.

Section 61.  Automobile transporter.  Allows stinger-steered combination automobile transporters 80 feet or less in length to be operated on interstate highways and other designated highways and may carry a load that extends four feet or less in front of the vehicle and six feet or less in the rear. An automobile transporter may transport cargo or freight on a backhaul, as long as it complies with the weight limitations for a truck tractor and semitrailer combination.

Section 62.  Conditions.  Allows a vehicle hauling raw or unfinished forest products to operate on a segment of Interstate 35 between Carlton County and St. Louis County.

Section 63.  Certain emergency vehicles.  Subjects emergency vehicles designed to transport personnel and equipment to support fire suppression or mitigate other hazardous situations to specified weight limits when operated on an interstate highway.

Section 64.  Sewage septic tank trucks.  Provides for some adjusted and exempted motor vehicle weight limits for sewage septic tank trucks that exclusively haul sewage from septic or holding tanks, including a year-round ten percent weight limit increase for single-unit trucks. Allows for operation without a special permit. Effective June 1, 2018.

Section 65.  Recycling and garbage vehicles.  Broadens an exemption from vehicle weight limits (and associated criminal penalties) imposed (1) by local units of government for roads under their respective jurisdiction, and (2) under spring load restrictions. The exemption applies to sewage septic tank trucks that exclusively haul sewage from septic or holding tanks. Makes technical changes. Effective June 1, 2018.

Section 66.  Suspension of driver’s license.  The commissioner of public safety is prohibited from suspending a person’s driver’s license based only on the fact that the person did not appear in court for a petty misdemeanor citation or for a driving after suspension.

Section 67.  Restricted license for farm work.  Allows an individual to use a restricted license for farm work on any type of farm. Expands the operation radius from 20-miles to 40-miles from the farmhouse. Effective June 1, 2018.

Section 68.  Fees.  Removes references to the expired technology surcharge.

Section 69.  Commissioner shall suspend. The commissioner of public safety is prohibited from suspending a person’s driver’s license if the person was convicted only of driving after suspension or revocation.

Section 70.  Failure to pay fine.  The commissioner of public safety is prohibited from suspending a person’s driver’s license based only on the fact that the person was convicted of violating traffic laws, has been fined for the violation, and failed to pay that fine. Eliminates court reporting provisions.

Section 71.  Offenses.  The commissioner of public safety may suspend a person’s driver’s license when any court reports to the commissioner that the person has eight unpaid parking tickets within a year or ten unpaid parking tickets within two years. The commissioner is prohibited from suspending the driver’s license of a person who is convicted of driving after suspension or revocation.

Section 72.  Legislative report. The commissioner of transportation is not required to submit a report on the Transportation Economic Development (TED) program if no funds were granted in the previous 24 months.

Section 73.  Tribal training program; costs.  Requires MnDOT to charge other agencies for the costs of that agency’s participation in MnDOT’s tribal training program.

Section 74.  Continuation of carrier rules.  Makes a conforming change.

Section 75.  Operation of on-track equipment.  Requires operators of equipment running on rail that does not trigger grade crossing warning systems to use due care at the crossing..

Section 76.  Hours of service exemptions; agricultural purposes.  Federal hours of services regulations do not apply to drivers engaged in intrastate transportation within a 150-air-mile radius from the source or distribution point.  Because specific harvest periods are eliminated, these exemptions apply year-round. Clarifies that the exemption covers all hours of service regulations (which includes electronic logging device rules).

Section 77.  Hours of service exemptions; utility construction.  Creates an exemption from hours of service requirements for intrastate transportation of utility construction materials within a 50-air mile radius from a project site.

Section 78.  Hours of service of driver.  Incorporates a federal exemption on agricultural operations during planting and harvesting periods. Establishes the planting and harvest period as January 1 through December 31 of each year, so that the federal exemption applies year-round.

Section 79.  Order.  Eliminates the commissioner of transportation’s authority to issue orders regarding tariffs and accounting.

Section 80.  Amount of penalty; considerations.  Eliminates the commissioner of transportation's authority to assess administrative penalties for motor carrier violations related to tariffs and accounting requirements. Makes technical changes.

Section 81.  Registration, insurance, and filing requirements.  Eliminates the requirement of the certificate or permit holder to file rates and tariffs with the commissioner.

Section 82.  Tariff maintenance and contents.  A household goods mover must maintain a tariff showing rates and charges for transporting household goods. The tariff must be prepared in accordance with federal regulations.

Section 83.  Tariff availability.  A household good mover must maintain all of its tariffs at its principal place of business and at each of its terminal locations. The tariffs must be available for public inspection.

Section 84.  Compensation fixed by schedule on file.  Makes technical and conforming changes.

Section 85.  Highway user tax distribution fund use limitation.  Prohibits the commissioner of public safety from using money from the highway user tax distribution fund to pay for the public information center.

Section 86.  Driver and vehicle services fund.  Creates the driver and vehicle services fund within the state treasury.

Section 87.  Driver and vehicle services accounts.  Moves the existing vehicle services operating account, driver services operating account, and driver and vehicle services technology account into the new driver and vehicle services fund; these accounts are currently in the special revenue fund. This section also removes references to the expired technology surcharge and makes other technical and conforming changes.  Requires annual reporting on the driver and vehicle services technology account; project costs; and an estimate of maintenance costs.

Section 88.  Comprehensive plan.  Defines “comprehensive plan” by cross-reference to county and municipal planning and zoning statutes.

Section 89.  Creation; authorized disbursements.  Strikes the prohibition against giving a municipality assistance from the state airports fund if its comprehensive plan is incompatible with the state aviation plan.                                                                               

Section 90.  Authority to establish.  States that the operation and maintenance of airports is an essential public service. Allows the commissioner of transportation to fund airport safety projects that maintain an existing infrastructure, regardless of a zoning authority’s effort to complete zoning. The commissioner may withhold funding from an airport subject to a proposed zoning ordinance.

Section 91.  Air transportation service.  Requires MnDOT to charge users of agency provided air transportation services for the capital costs of the aircraft, including for aircraft acquisition, replacement, or leasing. Establishes a new account for the revenue. Makes technical changes.

Section 92.  Airport hazard prevention; protecting existing land uses.  Broadens the application of the section to all land uses, not just built up urban areas.  States that lighting of airport hazards is an essential public service, not just a public purpose.

Section 93.  Enforcement under police power.  A municipality may regulate the following in airport hazard areas:  land use; height restrictions; location, size, and use of buildings; and population density.  Strikes the two-mile distance limitation.

Section 94.  Joint airport zoning board.  Inserts cross-reference to proposed airport zoning regulation standards in sections 76 and 77, and strikes a reference to the section repealed in the bill.

Section 95.  Comprehensive regulations.  Requires a municipality that has adopted a comprehensive plan to include in the plan any airport zoning regulations that apply to an area in the plan.  This is permissive under current law.

Section 96.  Notice of proposed zoning regulations, hearing.  Modifies the notice provisions for hearings related to adopting or amending airport zoning regulations.

Section 97.  Airport zoning regulations based on commissioner’s standards; submission process.  Establishes the process to adopt airport zoning regulations using standards prescribed by the commissioner of transportation.  Requires review of the regulations by the commissioner of transportation.  Local ordinances may be more stringent than the commissioner’s standards.  Preserves substantive rights existing and exercised before August 1, 2018.  Provides for protection of existing uses.

Section 98.  Custom airport zoning standards.  Provides an alternate process for a local government to establish and adopt custom airport zoning regulations.  Specifies the factors that must be addressed in the custom regulations.  Requires review of the regulations by the commissioner of transportation.  Preserves substantive rights existing and exercised before August 1, 2018.

Section 99.  Reasonableness.  Strikes the nonexclusive list of considerations in determining reasonableness of regulations.

Section 100.  Federal no hazard determination.  Permits a custom regulation to allow a structure or tree higher than otherwise allowed if the Federal Aviation Administration has analyzed it and determined it does not pose a hazard, require a change in operations, or require mitigation that cannot be accomplished.

Section 101.  Membership.  Allows for staggered term length for initial terms of a board of adjustment.  For the Metropolitan Airport Commission, the commission chair makes the appointments.

Section 102.  Zoning required.  Allows the commissioner of transportation to fund airport safety projects to maintain existing infrastructure regardless of a zoning authority’s efforts to complete zoning, but otherwise prohibits funding unless the municipality, county, or joint airport zoning board is proceeding on with zoning.

Section 103.  Airport safety zone.  Defines “airport safety zone” in the county planning and zoning statute.

Section 104.  Comprehensive plan.  Requires county boards to consider the location and dimension of airport safety zones, as well as improvements identified in the airport’s most recent approved layout plan.

Section 105.  Comprehensive plans in greater Minnesota; open space.  In adopting a comprehensive plan, counties must consider encouraging land uses in airport safety zones that are compatible with safe operation of the airport and the safety of people in the area.

Section 106.  In district zoning, maps.  Requires county zoning maps to include airport safety zones.

Section 107.  Airport safety zone.  Adds a cross-reference to the definition of “airport safety zone” to municipal planning and zoning statutes.

Section 108.  Preparation and review.  When preparing or amending a comprehensive plan, a municipality must consider the location and dimensions of airport safety zones in the municipality and any improvements identified in the airport’s most recent airport layout plan.

Section 109.  Airport safety zoning on zoning maps.  Requires municipal zoning maps to include airport safety zones.

Section 110.  Development goals and objectives.  When adopting municipal plans, a municipality must consider encouraging land use in airport safety zones that are compatible with safe operation of the airport and the safety of people in the area.

Section 111.  Budget changes or variances; reports.  Requires the Metropolitan Council to submit quarterly reports to the Legislative Commissions on Metropolitan Governance and the legislature on any changes or variances it has made from its adopted budget. Effective June 1, 2018.

Section 112.  Overview of revenues and expenditures; forecast.  Requires the council to develop a financial overview and forecast in conjunction with the state forecasts in November and February. Specifies financial overview content, including identification of actuals for the previous four years and anticipated financials for the forecast period. The council must review the information with the legislature within two weeks of each forecast. Effective June 1, 2018.

Section 113.  Budget assumptions.  Requires the Metropolitan Council to do three things as part of its budget submission to the legislature:  (1) identify the budget assumptions used to prepare the submission; (2) provide copies of any reports or applications that were submitted to the Federal Transit Administration and identify the assumptions made in those reports and applications; and (3) explain the impact of the identified assumptions on the Council’s forecast.

Section 114.  Duties of council.  Modifies the required coverage area for the Metropolitan Council’s Metro Mobility service area, which has the effect of adding Lakeville.

Section 115.  Data practices. Specifies what data may be shared between the Department of Human Services and the Metropolitan Council for purposes of administering and coordinating special transportation services. Requires the data subject, when applying for or renewing eligibility to use special transportation services to give consent prior to data sharing. Provides for individual opt-out from the data sharing.

Section 116.  Operating costs.  Provides a definition of “operating costs” for purposes of light rail transit funding.

Section 117.  Capital costs.  Prevents state funds from being used for light rail transit capital costs, which applies for funds encumbered on or after June 1, 2018.

Section 118.  Legislative report.  Requires the Metropolitan Council, as part of its legislative report on transit finance in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, to identify and explain assumptions and methodologies used to prepare the report.

Section 119.  Employees, others, affirmative action; prevailing wages.  Exempts the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) employees from the political subdivision salary cap.

Section 120.  Exemptions; certain manufacturers; commissioner of transportation; road maintenance.  Allows the commissioner of transportation to waive payment and performance bonds on direct negotiation contracts.

Section 121.  Pilot program evaluation.  Modifies the due date and recipients for a legislative report on a pilot program (which is being extended in the next section).

Section 122.  Expiration.  Extends an expiration date from 2021 to 2024 for a pilot program that allows for community destination signs in Two Harbors.

Section 123.  Editing MNLARS transactions.  Requires the commissioner of public safety to ensure that deputy registrars are able to edit specified transactions in MNLARS. The ability to edit a transaction ends at the end of the business day after the transaction was completed. Any edits made are tracked in MNLARS. Effective July 1, 2019.

Section 124.  Legislative Route No. 180 turnback; speed limit.  If the commissioner of transportation turns back any portion of Highway 54 in Grant County, the speed limit on the highway must remain at 60 miles per hour.  Effective June 1, 2018.

Sections 125 to 132.  Turns back state highways to local jurisdictions

Section 133.  Department of Transportation loan conversion lien release.  Directs the commissioner of transportation to convert the outstanding balance on a loan made to Minnesota Commercial Railway to become a grant, cancel all future payment, and release liens on two locomotives established as part of the loan.

Section 134.  Northstar corridor extension; negotiations.  Directs commissioner of transportation to contact BNSF Railway to commence negotiations on an extension of the Northstar Commuter Rail line to go to St. Cloud. Specifies conditions and aspects of the negotiations, including on frequency of service, train crews, fare collection, and limitations on use of state funds and state expenditures for operating costs.

Section 135.  Northstar Commuter rail operating costs; exception.  Permits the Anoka County Regional Railroad Authority to expend reserve funds on Northstar Commuter Rail operations. The authority expires January 1, 2021.

Section 136.  Marked Interstate Highway 35 signs.  Requires the commissioner of transportation to erect signs on Interstate Highway 35 that direct motorists to the campuses of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf and Minnesota State Academy for the Blind. The commissioner is prohibited from removing signs for the campuses that are posted on Highway 60.  Effective the day following final enactment.

Section 137.  Motor Vehicle Title and Registration Advisory Committee; First Appointments; First Meeting.  Requires appointments to the Motor Vehicle Title Transfer and Registration Advisory Committee to be made by September 15, 2018, and the first meeting must be by November 1, 2018.

Section 138.  Public awareness campaign.  Requires the commissioner of public safety to conduct a public awareness campaign to increase knowledge about slow-moving traffic in left-hand lanes.

Section 139.  Retroactive driver’s license reinstatement.  The commissioner of public safety must make a person’s driver’s license eligible for reinstatement if the license was suspended only for driving after suspension or revocation, for a failure to pay a fine, or both. Provides a process by which a person may have his or her license reinstated. Effective April 1, 2019.

Section 140.  Commercial driver’s license federal regulation waiver request.  Directs the Department of Public Safety to request a federal waiver from a school bus endorsement requirement on a driver’s license in order to deliver a purchased bus.

Section 141.  Revisor’s instruction.  Provides technical direction to the Revisor of Statutes. Paragraph (a) makes a conforming change to centralize bicycle-related definitions. Paragraph (b) directs the revisor to change statutory references to the “special revenue fund” to the “driver and vehicle services fund” where appropriate.

Section 142.  Repealer.  Repeals various sections in conjunction with other provisions in the bill.

Paragraph (a) repeals language on a technology surcharge that has expired.

Paragraph (b) repeals provisions on the administrative process for household goods mover tariffs filed with MnDOT.

Paragraph (c) repeals provisions related to airport zoning and planning, including language being replaced in the bill.

Article 25 - Agriculture Appropriations

Please see the spreadsheet for this article.

Article 26 - Agriculture Statutory Changes

Sections 1 to 4 [AFREC extension] extends the Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council (AFREC) and the 40 cent per-ton fertilizer fee to pay for the work for an additional ten years.  The fee is extended to 2029 and the council to 2030.

Section 5 [Grass and wildflower seed permits] removes commercial labelers of native grasses that produce commercial or agricultural quantities from being treated the same as seed packed for use in homes and gardens for the purposes of the seed permit fee.  They will be treated the same as labelers of agricultural seeds.

Section 6 [Food handler license fee clarification] clarifies that a liquor store licensed as a food handler due to making their own ice shall pay a food handler license fee based solely on ice sales.

Section 7 [Biomass definition] defines “biomass” for the purpose of the three Bioeconomy producer incentive programs.

Section 8 [Renewable chemical definition] modifies the term “renewable chemical” for the purpose of the three Bioeconomy producer incentive programs.

Section 9 [Advanced biofuel producer payments; minimum production level] decreases the minimum advanced biofuel production level to 1,500 million metric British thermal units (MMbtu) from 23,750 MMbtu to be eligible for producer payments.  This section also makes technical changes.

Section 10 [Advanced biofuel producer payments; raw materials] adds oil and animal fats as raw materials that may be used to produce advanced biofuel and be eligible for producer payments.

Section 11 [Renewable chemical producer payments; minimum production level] decreases the minimum renewable chemical production level to 250,000 pounds from 750,000 pounds to be eligible for producer payments.  This section also makes technical changes.

Section 12 [Biomass thermal producer payments clarification] makes technical changes to the biomass thermal production incentive eligibility.

Section 13 [RFA microloan program; aquaculture] adds crops and fish produced in an aquaculture system as eligible under the Rural Finance Authority’s microloan program.

Article 27 - Housing Statutory Changes

Section 1 [Trailer use; building moves] provides for overdimensional loads when moving building structures, including manufactured and modular homes.

Section 2 [Definition] defines “modular home” for the purposes of the manufactured home park law as single-family dwellings that are substantially manufactured or constructed at an off-site location with final on-site assembly and attached to a permanent foundation site.

Section 3 [Placement of modular homes] provides that modular homes may be placed in manufactured home parks and classified as a manufactured home with prior approval of a manufactured home park owner and is subject to all rights, obligations, and duties of a manufactured home under state law.

Section 4 [Manufactured home park closing; neutral third party] provides that a qualified neutral third party for the purposes of manufactured home park closings must be familiar with manufactured housing and the closing provisions of Minnesota law.  The neutral third party must keep a detailed accounting of all payments from the manufactured home trust fund and provide the information to the manufactured park owner, the municipality, and the Housing Finance Agency.

Section 5 [Manufactured home park closing; right of first refusal] requires manufactured homeowners who are making an offer to meet the cash price for the manufactured home park to covenant and warrant that the land will be continued as a manufactured home park for at least six years after sale.

Section 6 [Manufactured home relocation trust fund] increases the minimum balance amount in the manufactured home relocation trust fund to trigger an assessment on manufactured homes to $3 million from $1 million.  This section also waives the annual assessment for any manufactured home park owner who has not received an assessment from the Commissioner of Management and Budget by August 30.

Section 7 [Relocation expenses; report] increases the maximum relocation payment for relocation of a single manufactured home section within a 25-mile radius to $9,000 from $7,000.  This section also:

  1. requires the neutral third party to process reimbursement payments within 14 days;
  2. increases the maximum amount that may be deducted for demolition and removal of a manufactured home to $3,000 from $1,000 when a manufactured home owner tenders title to the home in lieu of moving;
  3. moves the date required for the manufactured home relocation trust fund annual report to August 15 each year; and
  4. provides additional information on the annual manufactured home relocation trust fund annual report.

Section 8 [Reporting on manufactured home parks] requires the Department of Health and delegated local authorities to annually report to the Department of Management and Budget with the names, addresses, and other data on manufactured home parks licensed by the department or local authority.

Section 9 [Manufactured home park redevelopment program] broadens the use of the manufactured home park redevelopment program to include all ownership types.

Section 10 [Manufactured home park infrastructure grants] adds land acquisition as qualifying for manufactured home park infrastructure grants.

Sections 11 and 12 [Economic development and housing challenge grants; manufactured housing] make manufactured housing eligible for economic development and housing challenge grants.

Section 13 [Housing infrastructure bonds; definition] adds a definition of “senior” for the purposes of housing infrastructure bonds.

Section 14 [Housing infrastructure bonds; manufactured and senior housing] adds manufactured home parks and senior housing as eligible for financing from housing infrastructure bonds.  This section also provides for priorities for senior housing based on affordability, leverage, and services provided to seniors; directs the Housing Finance Agency to balance the loans between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.

Sections 15 to 22 [Definitions] define “aggregate bond limitation,” “AMI” (area median income),  “LITHC,” “preservation project,” “30 percent AMI residential rental project,” “50 percent AMI residential rental project,” “100 percent LIHTC project,” and “20 percent LIHTC project” for the purpose of issuing residential rental housing bonds under the Minnesota Bond Allocation Act.  Note that the definition for “aggregate bond limitation” provides a 55 percent limit on use of the bonds for residential rental projects.

Section 23 [Single-family housing allocation reservation] eliminates the single-family housing allocation reservation during calendar years 2019 and 2020.

Section 24 [Entitlement reservations] moves up the date for return of an entitlement issuer amounts returned to be reallocated to the housing pool to June 15 from July 15.  Any amounts returned by an entitlement issuer on or after July 1 will be allocated through the unified pool.

Section 25 [Eligibility; residential rental bonds] broadens the application on a binding agreement for residential rental bonds receiving federal rental assistance payments.

Section 26 [15-year agreement] requires a developer to agree to maintain the type of residential rental project as part of the 15-year agreement for use of the bonds.

Section 27 [Bond pools] 

 Subd. 1 [Small issue and public facilities pool] makes the allocation application process apply only to the small issue and public facilities pools and modifies the dates to reflect the change in the single-family housing allocation reservation.  This section also eliminates any reference to the housing pool that is being created separately in the next section and the requirement to specify if it will be senior housing.

 Subd. 1a [Allocation application; housing pool] establishes a separate process for applying for allocations from the housing pool for residential rental projects.

 Subd. 2a [Housing pool allocation] moves up the date for housing pool allocations for residential rental housing to June 15 from July 15, and eliminates the prohibition on allocations to senior housing prior to May 15.  This section also provides for random award of allocation when there is insufficient bonding authority for two or more projects in the allocation at the same priority level, increases the time period to 180 days or 18 months from 120 days for use of the allocation, and provides a 24-month carryforward for residential rental projects.  To increase the time period to 18 months from 180 days, the issuer must submit one percent of the allocation amount within 180 days after the allocation date.

 Subd. 2b [Small issue and public facilities pool allocations] modify the dates for small issue and public facilities pool allocations to reflect the change in the single-family housing allocation reservation.

 Subd. 4 [Return of allocation; small issue and public facilities pools] makes the return of allocations apply only to the small issue and public facilities pools and modifies the dates to reflect the change in the single-family housing allocation reservation.  This section also eliminates any reference to the housing pool that is covered separately in the next section.

           Subd. 4a [Return of allocation; housing pool] provides a separate process for return of a housing pool allocation.

Section 28 [Higher education bonds] clarifies that none of the time limitations on bonds apply to higher education bonds, even when it is not a 120-day period.

Section 29 [Unified pool]     

            Subd. 1 [Unified pool amount] modifies the date to reflect changes.

            Subd. 2 [Application for residential rental projects; unified pool] modifies the general application process for the unified pool to apply to residential housing projects and moves the general process, other than residential rental housing, to the next subdivision.

            Subd. 2a [Application process for all other types of qualified bond; unified pool] moves the general application process for the unified pool to a new subdivision.

            Subd. 3 [Allocation procedure; unified pool] moves up the unified pool allocation to the first Monday in July to reflect the change in the bill.  This section also removes the lack of priority for nonsenior housing projects; includes 24-month carryforward  for residential rental projects; and provides a priority for housing projects based on whether it is a:  (1) preservation project; (2) 30 percent AMI residential rental project; (3) 50 percent AMI residential rental project; (4) 100 percent LIHTC project; (5) 20 percent LIHTC project; (6) other residential rental projects with up to 55 percent financing; or (7) other residential rental projects exceeding 55 percent of financing that apply after September 1.

            Subd. 3a [Mortgage bonds] modifies the date to reflect changes.

            Subd. 4 [Return of allocation; unified pool] updates this section to reflect that residential rental housing have longer than 120 days to be issued and provides for a portion of the application deposit for residential rental project allocation based on when the bonding authority is returned.

Section 30 [Notice of issue; notice of carryforward] 

            Subd. 1 [Notice of issue] makes changes related to the application deposit.

            Subd. 1b [Technical] relating carryforward for a residential rental project.

            Subd. 4 [Allocation plan] establishes a separate process for deadlines for residential rental projects requiring that the Housing Finance Agency reserve any carryforward for the residential rental project described in the original application.

Sections 31 and 32 [Technical] are technical changes related to other changes to the Minnesota Bond Allocation Act in the bill.

Sections 33 to 35 [Discharge of restrictive covenants] provide for conditions on the discharge of restricted covenants affecting protected classes.

Section 36 [Assigned risk transfer] transfers $3 million from the assigned risk plan to the manufactured home relocation trust fund on July 1, 2018.

Section 37 [Advances to the manufactured home relocation trust fund] allows for advances from state appropriations to the manufactured home relocation trust fund, if the balance in the fund is insufficient to pay all claims.  All advances would be reimbursed.

Section 38 [Housing affordability fund set aside in 2019] allows the MHFA to establish for 2019 a ten percent set-aside in the housing affordability fund, pool 3, for single-family housing and rental housing up to a four-plex in municipalities with a population under 10,000, and for manufactured housing.

Section 39 [Repealer] repeals the exceptions to adopting municipal rent control ordinances that require a vote of the residents.

Section 40 [Effective date] makes the bond allocation changes effective January 1, 2019.

Article 28: Public Safety Appropriations

Section 1.  Appropriations. Summarizes direct appropriations by fund.

Section 2.  Guardian ad litem board. Appropriates an additional $2,940,000 in FY19 to the GAL board to hire additional staff.

Section 3.  Public Safety. Appropriates an additional $423,000 in FY19. Of this amount, $48,000 is for the task force on missing and murdered indigenous women; $100,000 from the driver services operating account is for ignition interlock and $275,000 is for two forensic scientists and laboratory supplies for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Section 4.  Corrections. Appropriates an additional $6,600,000 in FY19 to the department of corrections for the inmate healthcare contract.

Section 5.  Human Services. Appropriates $12,000 in FY19 to the Department of Human Services to update a paternity training video.

Section 6.  Transfer; peace officer training account deficiency. Transfers $125,000 in fiscal year 2019 only from the general fund to the peace officer training account to pay for a projected deficiency in that account.

Section 7.  Transfer; federal disaster, DR-4069. Requires the commissioner of management and budget to transfer any unexpected balance appropriated to the Department of Public Safety for Federal Disaster DR-4069 to the disaster contingency account. This is a onetime transfer.

Article 29: Courts

Section 1.  Actions under section 257.55, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), (b), or (c). Changes when an action for nonpaternity can be brought in cases where the parents are married from two years after the father had a reason to believe he is not the father to three years. Removes the bar to bringing an action from three years after the child’s birth.

Section 2.  Actions under other paragraphs of section 257.55, subdivision 1. Creates a limit to the time in which an action for nonpaternity can be brought after a father starts holding a child out as his own without paternity being established under any other section.

Section 3.  Nonexistence of father-child relationship. Provides what should be in a petition for nonpaternity, what factors the court should consider in determining nonpaternity, what the court order must contain if the court grants the relief requested, and requires the proof to declare nonpaternity be proven by clear and convincing evidence. Current law does not provide a specific procedure for declaring nonpaternity.

Section 4. Action to vacate a recognition. Allows an action to vacate a recognition of paternity to be brought within three years of the time the person believes the father listed on the recognition of parentage is not the father of the child. This section is effective on July 1, 2018, and applies to recognition of parentage signed on or after that date.

Section 5.  Court technology fund. Extends the sunset of the Court Technology Fund to June 30, 2023, and requires continuing reports to the Legislature regarding fund activity.  The 2013 Legislature established the Court Technology Fund to develop, support, maintain, and upgrade court and court-related computer systems and initiatives.  A $2 technology fee, which pays for the projects, is collected on court filings and motions and deposited in the court technology account in the special revenue fund.  Under current law, the fund sunsets June 30, 2018.

Section 6.  Reopening. Provides that in actions to review a divorce decree for issues of mistake, fraud, or other reasons, when the basis of the action is to declare the nonexistence of the father and child relationship then the action must be brought within a reasonable time and within three years of the time the person has reason to believe the father is not the father of the child. Current law for all motions under this section is that the action must be brought within one year of the entry of the judgment and decree.

Section 7.  Definition. Amends the definition of “exonerated” to mean either:

  • a court vacated or reversed a judgment of conviction on grounds consistent with innocence and either (a) there are no remaining felony charges in effect against the petitioner arising from the same behavioral incident or (b) if there are remaining felony charges arising from the same behavioral incident, the prosecutor dismissed those charges; or
  • a court ordered a new trial on grounds consistent with innocence and either (a) the prosecutor dismissed all felony charges against the petitioner that arose from the same behavioral incident or (b) the petitioner was found not guilty of all felony charges that arose from the same behavioral incident.

Further amends the definition to apply only to situations where 60 days have passed since the court reversed or vacated the judgment of conviction and either (a) the prosecutor has not filed new felony charges arising out of the same behavioral incident or (b) any newly filed felony charges were dismissed or resulted in a not guilty verdict at trial. Defines “on grounds consistent with innocence” as either exonerated through (1) a pardon based on factual innocence or (2) the vacation or reversal of a judgment of conviction based on evidence of factual innocence.

Section 8.  Procedure. Eliminates a deadline for individuals exonerated before the law went into effect in 2014 which required those individuals to file a petition for compensation based on exoneration by July 1, 2016. Permits a person who did not meet both requirements of subdivision 1, clause (1), item (i) before July 1, 2018, to file a petition for compensation based on exoneration at any time between July 1, 2018, and July 1, 2020.

Section 9.  Elements. Removes references to “in prison” and “imprisonment” and inserts the term “incarceration.” Expands the category of individuals permitted to file a petition for compensation despite serving a term of incarceration for another crime to include those sentenced to additional executed sentences that had been stayed, but were executed as a result of the conviction that is the basis of the petition.

Section 10.  Order. Replaces the term “imprisonment” with “incarceration.”

Section 11.  Common law crimes abolished. Amends the statute abolishing common law crimes to clarify that the common law doctrine known as amelioration does not apply unless a statute specifically states otherwise. The amelioration doctrine arises from common law. Under the doctrine, an act mitigating or otherwise reducing the punishment for an offense applies to all cases that were not final at the time the new law took effect, even if the offense took place earlier.

Section 12.  Reimbursement; monetary damages; attorney fees. Permits a person to apply for actual damages in addition to statutory damages for each year of incarceration.

Section 13.  Limits on damages. Replaces the term “imprisonment” with “incarceration.”

Section 14.  Compensating exonerated persons; appropriations. Removes the requirement that consideration of an appropriation for the amount of any award to an exonerated person take place during the next legislative session.

Section 15.  Short title. Amends the title of provisions related to compensation based on exoneration from the “Imprisonment and Exoneration Remedies Act” to the “Incarceration and Exoneration Remedies Act.”

Section 16.  Application and orders. Amends the statute concerning the sealing and disclosure of a warrant for wire, electronic, or oral communications to distinguish and exempt location-tracking warrants from the general requirements. Location-tracking warrants have unique restrictions and requirements under statute.

Section 17.  Nondisclosure of existence of pen register, trap and trace device, or mobile tracking device. Amends the statute concerning the sealing of a warrant for a pen register, trap-and-trace device, or mobile tracking device to distinguish and exempt location-tracking warrants from the requirements.

Article 30: Public Safety, Corrections, and General Crime


Section 1.  Violations; driving without valid license. Enhances the penalties for driving without a valid license under some circumstances.  Under current law, it is generally a misdemeanor to drive after a license has been suspended, revoked, or canceled, or after the person is disqualified for or denied a commercial driver’s license.  The bill makes it a gross misdemeanor if the person drives after loss of driving privileges and:

  • causes a crash resulting in substantial bodily harm or death; or
  • commits the violation for a third or subsequent time within ten years and, at the time of the current violation, the loss of driving privileges was due to (1) committing one of the listed driving offenses, (2) being an habitual offender, (3) having been found to be incompetent or unsafe to drive a motor vehicle, or (4) being classified as legally blind or having a vision impairment.

Section 2.  Cancellation for disqualifying and other offenses. Requires the Commissioner of Public Safety to cancel the school bus driver’s endorsement for a person who receives as stay of adjudication for a disqualifying offense.

Section 3.  Background check. Prohibits the Commissioner of Public Safety from issuing or renewing a school bus driver’s endorsement to a person who receives a stay of adjudication for a disqualifying offense.

Section 4.  Charges to counties. Removes the requirement that expenses and revenue balance over a two-year period from the formula used to calculate the per diem cost of confinement for juveniles committed to the commissioner or corrections.

Section 5.  Annual transfer. Directs the commissioner of management and budget to make an annual transfer of $461,000 to the community justice reinvestment account.

Section 6.  Prohibition on disarming local law enforcement officers. Requires law enforcement agencies to allow peace officer’s employed by the agency who are in good standing to carry firearms while on duty.

Section 7.  Certified copy of disqualifying offense convictions sent to public safety and school districts.  Requires a criminal court to notify the Department of Public Safety and relevant school districts if the court grants a stay of adjudication for a disqualifying offense to an offender who has a school bus driver’s endorsement.

Section 8.  Task force on missing and murdered indigenous women. Creates a task force to address violence against indigenous women and defines the standards and requirements for the task force.

Subd. 1. Creation and duties. Creates a task force effective September 1, 2018 and directs that the task force examine and report on five specific subjects addressing the systemic causes behind violence against indigenous women, appropriate methods for tracking and collecting data, government policies and institutions that impact violence against indigenous women, and appropriate measures to address the violence and assist victims and their families.

Subd. 2. Membership. Identifies multiple categories of individuals to serve on the task force including legislators, representatives from law enforcement, prosecutors or judges, the Department of Health, tribal governments, and nongovernment agencies who work with indigenous women and girls.

Subd. 3. Officers; meetings. Directs the task force to elect a chair and vice-chair from its legislative members and meet at least quarterly. Further directs the task force to enlist the cooperation of experts and hold open meetings.

Subd. 4. Report. Requires a report to the legislature by June 30, 2020.

Subd. 5. Expiration. States that the task force expires on June 30, 2020.

Section 9.  Superseding amendment. States that the amendment to section 631.40, subdivision 1a, in section 10, supersedes any other amendment to that section that is enacted in this act.

Section 10.  Revisor’s instruction. Directs the revisor to make cross-referencing changes to statutes and rules relating to 2016 changes to the criminal vehicular operation crime.

Section 11.  Repealer. Repeals section 401.13 which directs the commissioner to charge the Community Corrections Act (CCA) counties the full per diem cost for juveniles confined in a state correctional facility. This change treats CCA counties in the same manner as other counties from which the commissioner of corrections charges 65 percent of the per diem cost of confinement of juveniles.

Article 31: Sex Offenders

Section 1.  Duty to ensure placement prevention and family reunifications; reasonable efforts. Provides that family reunification efforts otherwise required under the CHIPS law are not required when a parent receives a stay of adjudication for an offense that constitutes sexual abuse.

Section 2.  Limits of sentences. Requires a sentencing judge to justify in writing a stay of adjudication for felony criminal sexual conduct offenses.

Section 3.  Current or recent position of authority. Broadens the definition of “position of authority” in the criminal sexual conduct statutes.  Currently, felony penalties apply to an adult who sexually penetrates or contacts a 16 or 17 year old juvenile when the adult is in a position of authority over the juvenile. This section:

  • Extends the definition so that an adult who was recently (i.e., within the past 120 days) in a position of authority over a 16 or 17 year old is also subject to criminal penalties for having a sexual relationship with the juvenile.
  • Extends the definition of position of authority to cases where an adult “assumed” authority over a victim.  Currently, the provision only applies when the adult is “charged” with providing some parental obligation to the juvenile.

Section 4.  Crime defined. Updates a reference to “position of authority” to reflect changes made to the definition of the term in section 3.

Section 5.  Crime defined. Updates a reference to “position of authority” to reflect changes made to the definition of the term in section 3.

Section 6.  Crime defined. Contains two changes to the offense of 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct:

  • Updates a reference to “position of authority” to reflect changes made to the definition of the term in section 3. 
  • Creates a new criminal sexual conduct offense specific to peace officers.  Prohibits a peace officer from sexually penetrating a person who is restrained by the peace officer or otherwise does not reasonably feel free to leave the officer’s presence.  A peace officer would not be entitled to assert victim consent as a defense.  Provides an exception for lawful searches. 

Section 7.  Crime defined. Contains three changes to the offense of 4th degree criminal sexual conduct:

  • Updates a reference to “position of authority” to reflect changes made to the definition of the term in section 3. 
  • Strikes language related to the marital rape exception which is repealed in section 18.
  • Creates a new criminal sexual conduct offenses specific to peace officers.  Prohibits a peace officer from sexually contacting a person who is restrained by the peace officer or otherwise does not reasonably feel free to leave the officer’s presence.  A peace officer would not be entitled to assert victim consent as a defense.

Section 8.  Crime defined.  Eliminates the exclusion to fifth degree criminal sexual conduct—a first-time violation of which is a gross misdemeanor—for intentionally touching the clothing covering the immediate area of the buttocks.

Section 9.  Surreptitious intrusion; observation device. Creates a new enhanced felony penalty (statutory maximum sentence of up to four years imprisonment and/or $5,000 fine) for a violation of section 609.746, subdivision 1 (surreptitious intrusion), if the offense involved use of a recording device, the victim was a minor, the offender was more than 36 months older than the victim, the offender knew or had reason to know of the minor’s presence, and the offense was committed with sexual intent.  A person convicted under this provision must also register as a predatory offender.   (See Article 5 summary.)

Section 10.  Use of minor. Increases the statutory maximum penalty for using a minor in a sexual performance or pornographic work if the victim is under the age of 13 or the offender is a repeat offender or is registered as a predatory offender.

Section 11.  Operation or ownership of business. Increases the statutory maximum penalty for a business owner who shows a pornographic work involving a minor if the victim is under the age of 13 or the offender is a repeat offender or is registered as a predatory offender.

Section 12.  Dissemination. Increases the statutory maximum penalty for dissemination of child pornography for a profit to 15 years if the victim is under the age of 13 or the offender is a repeat offender or is registered as a predatory offender.

Section 13.  Conditional release term. Increases the conditional release term for offenders convicted of child pornography for profit from ten years to 15 years for repeat offenders.

Section 14.  Dissemination prohibited. Increases the statutory maximum sentence for dissemination of child pornography to 15 years for offenses that have a victim under the age of 13.

Section 15.  Possession prohibited. Increases the statutory maximum sentence for possession of child pornography to ten years for offenses that have a victim under the age of 13.

Section 16.  Conditional release term. Increases the conditional release term for offenders convicted of child pornography from 10 years to 15 years for repeat offenders.

Section 17.  Sentencing Guidelines Modification. Directs the Sentencing Guidelines Commission to comprehensively review the issue and consider modifications of the sex offender grid for the offenses of manufacturing, disseminating, and possessing child pornography.

Section 18.  Repealer. Repeals the shield to prosecution for certain criminal sexual conduct offenses granted to participants in designated voluntary relationships, commonly referred to as the marital rape exception.  

Article 32: Predatory Offenders
 

Section 1.  Filing photograph or image. Authorizes the use of an offender’s driver’s license photograph to locate a non-compliant predatory offender. 

Section 2.  Registration required. Adds the new enhanced felony surreptitious intrusion crime involving a minor to the list of crimes that require predatory offender registration. 

Section 3.  Notice. Provides the correct name for a court form and directs that local law enforcement with jurisdiction over an offender provide notice of the registration requirements to the offender, if the offender does not have an assigned corrections agent.

Section 4.  Contents of registration. Requires collection of a DNA sample as part of registration.  Authorizes a corrections agent or law enforcement authority to determine if an individual is in compliance with the registration requirements chosen by the agent or authority.  Establishes the protocol that existing registrants who do not already have a DNA sample on file will comply with the new DNA requirement.

Section 5.  Notices in writing; signed. Defines a signature to include ink, electronic means established by the BCA, or biometrics established by the BCA.

Section 6.  Criminal penalty. Amends the knowledge requirement in the criminal penalty section of the predatory offender statute to say that a person who was given notice, knows, or reasonably should know of the duty to register is guilty of a felony if that person commits an act, or fails to fulfill a requirement, in violation of the registration requirements.  This change is in response to State v. Mikulak, a recent Minnesota Supreme Court decision which overturned a conviction for failing to register as a predatory offender because the defendant claimed he did not know about the specific registration requirement that he was convicted of violating.

Section 7.  Registration period. Provides that if an individual is not in compliance with his registration requirement at the end of his registration period, the offender is required to register for an additional two years.

Section 8.  Use of data. Authorizes corrections agents to share predatory offender data with child protection services as required under section 244.057.  (See also section 10.)

Section 9.  Availability of information on offenders who are out of compliance with registration law. Authorizes the BCA to disclose to the public that an offender—who is over 16 years old and out of compliance for 30 days or more—is out of compliance because the offender absconded.

Section 10.  Database of registered predatory offenders. Authorizes corrections agents to share predatory offender data with child protection services as required under section 244.057.

Article 33: DWI

Section 1.  Degree described. Expands the list of prior convictions that enhance an offense to first-degree driving while impaired by including convictions for a felony in another state for criminal vehicular homicide and injury committed while under the influence of a substance when the other state’s statute is in conformity with Minnesota law. Under current law, a person who drives while under the influence commits a first-degree offense if the person:

  • commits the violation within ten years of the first of three or more qualified prior impaired driving incidents;
  • has previously been convicted of a first-degree driving while impaired offense; or
  • has previously been convicted of a felony under Minnesota statutes addressing criminal vehicular homicide and injury committed while under the influence of a substance.

A qualified prior impaired driving incident can take place under Minnesota law or under the law of another state that is in conformity with Minnesota law.

Section 2.  Reinstatement of driving privileges; multiple incidents. Requires certain DWI offenders to either (1) participate in the ignition interlock program or (2) not own or lease a vehicle and have no DWI or driver’s license violations before the person’s driver’s license may be reinstated.

For a person who uses ignition interlock, that person must comply with the program for one year if the individual’s license was revoked for (1) a second qualified prior impaired driving incident in ten years or more, or (2) a third qualified prior impaired driving incident in the person’s lifetime. The provision requires two years of ignition interlock for a person whose license was revoked for either of those reasons and the person either (1) had an alcohol concentration of twice the legal limit or (2) refused to submit a required breath, blood, or urine sample. Under current law, offenders with fewer than three DWIs may either: (1) go on ignition interlock to be able to drive during their revocation period; or (2) not drive and “wait out” the revocation period. At the end of the revocation period, the offender can seek reinstatement of full driving privileges regardless of which option was chosen.

Requires the commissioner of public safety to follow the full rulemaking process in establishing performance standards and a process for certifying chemical monitoring devices. Under current law, those standards and procedures are exempt from rulemaking requirements.

Section 3.  Conditions of issuance. Allows limited licenses for DWI offenders with drug-related offenses. Restricts limited licenses under the ignition interlock program to DWI offenders with alcohol-related offenses.

Section 4.  Other waiting periods. Reinstates pre-2011 hard revocation periods that apply before a DWI offender with a drug-related offense can receive a limited license.

Section 5.  Definitions. Limits participation in the ignition interlock program to DWI offenders with alcohol-related offenses.

Section 6.  Performance standards; certification; manufacturer and provider requirements. Requires contracts between ignition interlock manufacturers and program participants to include a provision requiring the manufacturers to pay any towing or repair costs caused by device failure or malfunction, or by damage caused during device installation, servicing, or monitoring.

Article 34 - Health Care

Section 1 (3.3005, subdivision 8) requires state agencies when making a request to the Legislative Advisory Commission, to spend federal funds to provide with the request a narrative description of the commitments required that includes whether continuation of any FTE positions will be a condition of receiving the federal funds.

Section 2 (13.69, subd. 1.)  Requires the Department of Public Safety to provide the last four digits of drivers’ Social Security numbers to DHS for purposes of recovery of Minnesota health care program benefits paid.  Provides a July 1, 2018 effective date.

Section 3 (62J.90) establishes the Minnesota Health Policy Commission to make recommendations to the legislature on changes in health care policy and financing.  The commission is required to: (1) compare private market health care costs and public health care program spending to that of other states; (2) compare the private health care market care costs and public health care program spending in any given year to its costs and spending in previous years; (3) identify factors that influence and contribute to Minnesota’s ranking for private market health care costs and public health care program spending; (4) monitor efforts to reform the health care delivery and payment system to understand emerging trends in the health insurance market; (5) make recommendations for health care reform; and (6) conduct any additional reviews as required by the legislature. This commission expires June 15, 2024.

Section 4 (256.0113) requires the commissioner to contract with a vendor to verify eligibility of MA, MinnesotaCare, child care assistance programs, and SNAP.

     Subd. 1.  Verification required; vendor contract.  (a) Requires the commissioner to ensure that MA, MinnesotaCare, child care assistance programs, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility determinations include the verification of income, residency, identity, and when applicable, assets and compliance with SNAP work requirements.

(b) Requires the commissioner to contract with a vendor to verify the eligibility of MA, MinnesotaCare, child care assistance programs, and SNAP enrollees during a specified audit period.

 (c) Specifies the vendor to comply with data privacy requirements and to use encryption.  Requires penalties for noncompliance.

(d) Requires the contract to include a data sharing agreement, under which vendor compensation is limited to a portion of the savings.

(e) Requires the commissioner to use existing resources to fund agency administrative and technology-related costs.

(f) Requires state savings, after vendor payment, to be deposited into the health care access fund.

     Subd. 2.  Verification process; vendor duties. (a) Specifies requirements for the verification process, which includes data matches against federal and state data sources.

(b) Requires the vendor, upon preliminary determination that an enrollee is eligible or ineligible, to notify the commissioner.  Requires the commissioner to accept or reject this determination within 20 days.  States that the commissioner retains final authority over eligibility determinations.  Requires the vendor to keep a record of all preliminary determinations.

(c) Requires the vendor to recommend to the commissioner a process that allows ongoing verification of enrollee eligibility under MNsure and other agency eligibility determination systems.

(d) Requires the commissioner and the vendor to jointly submit an eligibility verification audit report to legislative committees.  Specifies requirements for the report.

(e) Requires the vendor contract to be awarded for a one-year period, beginning January 1, 2019.  Allows renewal for up to three years and additional verification audits, if the commissioner or legislative auditor determines that state eligibility determination systems cannot effectively verify MA, MinnesotaCare, child care assistance, and SNAP enrollee eligibility.

Section 5 (256.969, subd. 9) requires the commissioner to create an additional disproportional share hospital payment adjustment for discharges occurring between January 1, 2019, and June 30, 2019, for hospitals that provide high levels of administering high-cost drugs to enrollees covered under the FFS medical assistance program.  The total nonfederal share of the payment adjustment cannot exceed $1,500,000.

Section 6 (256B.04, subdivision 14) prohibits the commissioner from utilizing volume purchasing through competitive bidding for incontinence products and related supplies.

Section 7 (256B.04, subd. 21) exempts a rehabilitation agency from termination or denial of enrollment as a medical assistance provider if the agency is unable to retain Medicare certification solely because it does not bill Medicare and other requirements are met.

Section 8 (256B.0625, subdivision 3b) adds community paramedics to the health care providers who can receive medical assistance (MA) reimbursement for telemedicine services.  This section also creates an exception to the telemedicine visit limit if the telemedicine services are for the treatment and control of tuberculosis and are consistent with the best practices specified by the CDC and the commissioner of health.

Sections 9 to 11 (256B.0625, subds. 13e and 13f) modify the medical assistance reimbursement payments for outpatient prescription drugs to comply with the federal covered outpatient drug final rule.

Section 12 (256B.0625. subdivision 17d) requires DHS to perform ongoing program integrity audits of NEMT services to ensure that fee-for-service providers are complying with state and federal standards.

Section 13 (256B.0625, subdivision 17e) applies a five-year enrollment exclusion for terminated NEMT providers and requires a one-year probationary period upon reenrollment.

Section 14 (256B.0625, subdivision 17f) requires the commissioner to provide documentation training for NEMT providers.

Section 15 (256B.758) increases the MA reimbursement rate for doula services to $47 per prenatal or postpartum visit up to a total of six visits; and $488 for attending and providing doula services at a birth, beginning July 1, 2018.

Section 16 (Covered Outpatient Drug Rule) requires the commissioner of human services to assess the impact of implementing the federal 2017 covered outpatient drug rule and develop a proposal to minimize negative impacts to medical assistance enrollees and providers, and submit the proposal to the legislature by February 15, 2019.

Section 17 (Pain Management) requires the Health Services Policy Committee, established by the Commissioner of Human Services, to evaluate the integration and make recommendations based on best practices for effective treatment for musculoskeletal pain provided by certain health practitioners and covered by medical assistance.  Requires the commissioner to consult with certain health practitioners and report to the legislature due August 1, 2019, on the commissioner's recommendations. The final report to the legislature must include a pilot program to assess integrated nonpharmacologic, multidisciplinary treatments for managing musculoskeletal pain.

Section 18 (Contract to Recover Third-Paty Liability) requires the commissioner of human services to contract with a vendor to implement a health insurance third-party liability recovery program for MA and MinnesotaCare.  Provides that the vendor is to be reimbursed using a percentage of the money recovered.  States that all money recovered, after reimbursement of the vendor and the return of any federal funds, is for the operation of the MA and MinnesotaCare programs, and that the use of this money must be authorized in law by the legislature.

Section 19 (Minnesota Health Policy Commissioner; First Appointments; First Meeting) specifies that the Legislative Coordinating Commission shall make the first appointments to the Minnesota Health Policy Commission by January 15, 2019.

Section 20 (Repealer) repeals section 256B.0625, subdivision 31c, (preferred incontinence product program passed last session).

Article 35 - Health Department

Section 1 (103I.005, subdivision 2) modifies the definition of "boring" to include temporary borings.

Section 2 (1031.005, subdivision 8a) specifies that an environmental well does not include an exploratory boring.

Section 3 (103I.005, subdivision 17a) adds a definition of a temporary boring.

Section 4 (103I.205, subdivision 1) changes environmental well to a temporary boring and states that notification is not required before construction of a temporary boring.

Section 5 (103I.205, subdivision 4) specifies who needs a well contractor’s license to drill, construct, repair, or seal a well or boring. Removes the license exemption for a licensed plumber who is repairing submersible pumps or water pipes associated with a well water system if the repair location is within an area where there is no licensed well contractor within 50 miles, and the licensed plumber complies with all relevant selections of plumbing code.

Section 6 (103I.205, subdivision 9) extends the period of time for reporting verification information to the commissioner from 30 days to 60 days following completion or sealing of a well or boring.

Section 7 (103I.208, subdivision 1) extends the well sealing fee of $75 to each boring, except that a single $75 fee for all temporary borings recorded on the sealing notification for a single property sealed within 72 hours of start of construction and exempts temporary environmental borings less than 25 feet in depth from the notification and fee requirements of this chapter.  Also specifies that there is no fee required for construction of a temporary boring.

Section 8 (103I.235, subdivision 3) states that section 103I.235 (disclosure of location of wells at property sale) does not apply to temporary borings or unsuccessful wells that have been sealed by a licensed contractor in compliance with chapter 103I.

Section 9 (103I.301, subdivision 6) states that a person may not seal a boring until a notification of the proposed sealing is filed as prescribed by the commissioner and exempts from the notification requirements of chapter 103I temporary borings that are less than 25 feet in depth.

Section 10 (103I.601, subdivision 4) requires an explorer to submit to the Commissioner of Health ten days before beginning exploratory boring notification of the proposed boring map and a fee of $275, and submit to the Commissioners of Health and Natural Resources a county road map on a single sheet of paper that is 8 ½ by 11 inches in size showing the location of each proposed exploratory boring. (Current law requires a fee of $275 for each exploratory boring).

Section 11 (137.68) Requests the establishment of an advisory council on rare diseases at the University of Minnesota.

Subd 1. Establishment. Requests that the Board of Regents establish a Chloe Barnes Advisory Council on Rare Diseases at the University of Minnesota. Defines rare disease as any disease (1) that affects less than 200,000 people in the U.S., or (2) that affects more than 200,000 people in the U.S. and for which the cost of developing and making available a drug for that disease would not be recovered from the U.S. sales of that drug.

Subd. 2. Membership. Lists suggested advisory council membership.

Subd. 3. Meetings. Requests the first meeting of the advisory council to occur by September 1, 2018, and requires it to meet at the call of the chair or the request of a majority of the council members.

Subd. 4. Duties. Lists permitted duties for the advisory council.

Subd. 5. Conflicts of interest. Makes advisory council members subject to the Board of Regents policy on conflicts of interest.

Subd. 6. Annual report. Requires the advisory council to annually report to certain legislative committees on the council’s activities and other issues on which it chooses to report.

Section 12 (144.121, subdivision 1a) includes security screening systems that are used in correctional and detention facilities for security screenings of humans who are in custody of the facility in the list of facilities that use ionizing radiation-producing equipment and are required to be regulated by the Commissioner of Health, including the payment of a base fee of $100 and an additional fee of $100 to the commissioner.

Section 13 (144.121, subdivision 9) exempts the operators of a security screening system from having to meet the examination requirement and the facility from having to meet the inspection requirement and permits a variance in accordance with rules.   This exemption expires when permanent rules are published in the State Register by the Commissioner of Health regarding the security screening systems.

Section 14 (144.1506, subd. 2) allows training grants for residency slots under the primary care residency program to be awarded for the duration of the residency period, but prohibits training grants from exceeding an average of $100,000 per residency slot per year.

Sections 15, 16 and 17 (144.225) modify vital records statutes to allow tribal health departments access to birth and death records.

Section 18 (144.397) requires the Commissioner of Health to administer statewide tobacco cessation services to assist individuals who are seeking advice or services to help them quit using tobacco products.  The commissioner is required to establish statewide public awareness activities to inform the public of the availability of the services and encourage the public to use the services.

Section 19 (144A.43, subdivision 11) modifies the definition of “medication administration.”

Section 20 (144A.43, subdivision 12a) adds a new definition for “medication reconciliation.”

Section 21 (144A.43, subdivision 27) replaces the term “service plan” with “service agreement.”  Conforming changes appear throughout the bill.

Section 22 (144.43, subdivision 30) modifies the definition of “standby assistance.”

Section 23 (144A.472, subdivision 5, paragraph (a)) clarifies the meaning of a change of ownership.

Paragraphs (b) and (c) clarify that when a change of ownership occurs, employees who are continuously employed in the same capacity during the transition are not required to repeat various training, testing, and background studies, unless the new owner adopts new policies and procedures.         

Section 24 (144A.472, subdivision 7) imposes a new $1,000 fee on a home care provider with a temporary license who fails to notify the commissioner within five days that the provider has begun to provide service to clients.

Section 25 (144A.473, subdivisions 1 to 3) allows temporary licenses to be extended for up to an additional 90 days while the temporary licensee tries to come into compliance with the home care licensing requirements.

Subdivision 2, paragraph (b), requires an initial survey to be completed within 90 days of the provider beginning to provide services.

Subdivision 3, paragraph (e), also specifies limited circumstances under which a home care provider whose license was denied can continue to operate.

Section 26 (144.474, subdivision 2) adds a definition of “change of ownership survey" and makes conforming changes.

Section 27 (144A.475, subdivision 1) makes conforming changes

Section 28 (144A.475, subdivision 2) clarifies that a home care provider whose license is suspended or conditional may continue to provide services to clients while clients are transferred to other providers.

Section 29 (144A.475, subdivision 5) allows a provider with a suspended or revoked license to continue operating while its clients are transferred to other providers.

Sections 30 and 31 (144A.476, subdivision 1; 144A.479, subdivision 7) make conforming changes.

Sections 32 to 37 make conforming changes, clarify the meaning of “initiation of services,” and require disclosure regarding how staff will be supervised.

Section 38 (144A.4792, subdivision 1) requires home care providers that store controlled substances to have policies and procedures to ensure the security of those substances within state and federal requirements.

Section 39 (144A.4792, subdivision 2) requires any assessment for medication management services to include providing a client with instructions on how to manage medications and prevent medication diversion.

Section 40 (144A.4792, subdivision 5) makes conforming changes and requires medication reconciliation to be completed whenever medication management services are provided.

Section 41 (144A.4792, subdivision 10) modifies the medication management standards when a client is away from home.

Section 42 (144A.4793, subdivision 6) clarifies the required elements of a treatment or therapy order and requires such orders to be renewed at least every 12 months.

Section 43 (144A.4796, subdivision 2) clarifies which policies and procedures must be reviewed during an employee’s orientation.

Section 44 (144A.4797, subdivision 3) clarifies the timeline for required supervision of staff performing delegated tasks.

Section 45 (144A.4798) modifies, clarifies, and updates the requirements for home care providers’ infection control programs.

Sections 46 and 47 (144A.4799, subdivision 1; 144A.4799, subdivision 3) modify the membership and duties of the Home Care and Assisted Living Program Advisory Council.

Section 48 (144A.484, subdivision 1) deletes obsolete language.

Section 49 (145.56, subd. 2) authorizes the commissioner of health as part of the commissioner's existing suicide prevention program to distribute a grant to a nonprofit organization to provide crisis telephone counseling services statewide to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

Section 50 (146B.03, subd. 7a) Authorizes a body piercing technician who has been licensed for at least one year in Minnesota or a jurisdiction with reciprocity, to supervise a temporary body piercing technician.  Also allows a body piercing technician to supervise up to four temporary technicians, rather than two temporary technicians as in current law, without providing the commissioner with a supervisory plan. 

Section 51 (149A.40, subd. 11) Amends continuing education requirements to renew a license to practice mortuary science, to require continuing education on cremations. Makes this requirement effective January 1, 2019, and applicable to mortuary science licenses renewed on or after that date.

Section 52 (149A.95, subd. 3) Establishes qualifications that unlicensed personnel must meet, in order to perform cremations at a licensed crematory: completion of a certified crematory operator course approved by the commissioner; obtaining crematory operator certification; public posting of the certification at the licensed crematory where cremations are performed; and maintenance of crematory operator certification. Makes this section effective January 1, 2019, and applicable to unlicensed personnel performing cremations on or after that date.

Section 53 requires the Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the Commissioners of Human Services and Education, to submit a plan to the legislature to reconstitute the Autism Spectrum Disorder Task Force, including a proposed membership that takes into account all points of view.

Section 54 Variance to requirements for sanitary dumping station. Requires the commissioner of health to provide a variance to the requirement in Minnesota Rules, part 4630.0900 that a resort must provide a sanitary dumping station, for a resort in Hubbard County that is located on an island and for which it is impractical to build a sanitary dumping station on the resort property.

Section 55 requires the commissioner of health to develop a strategic state plan outlining strategies regarding human herpes virus cytomegalovirus (CMV).

Section 56 requires the Legislative Commission on Data Practices and Personal Data Privacy to study the Minnesota Health Records Act on improving coordinated health care and makes recommendations regarding amendments to the Act on improving coordinated care.

Section 57 (Revisor’s Instruction) directs the revisor of statutes to modify terms in specified statutes.

Section 58 Paragraph (a) repeals obsolete provisions regarding tuberculosis prevention and control and the transition to a new licensing structure for home care providers.

Paragraph (b) repeals requirements for body artists to supervise temporary artists; these requirements are being modified in part and moved to another statutory section.

Article 36 - Health Coverage

Section 1 (62A.30, subd. 4) provides health care coverage for preventive mammogram screening that includes digital breast tomosynthesis (3D) for enrollees who are at risk for breast cancer.  At risk for breast cancer includes having a family history; testing positive for BRCA1 or BRCA2; having dense breasts; or having a previous diagnosis of breast cancer.

Section 2 (62J.824)  Paragraph (a) requires a provider-based clinic that charges a facility fee to provide notice to a patient that states that the clinic is a part of a hospital and the patient might receive a separate charge or billing for the facility component which may result in a higher out-of-pocket expense.

Paragraph (b) requires a health care facility to prominently post a statement that the provider-based clinic is part of a hospital and the patient may receive a separate billing for the facility.

Paragraph (c) exempts laboratory services, imaging services, and other ancillary services that are provided by staff who are not employed by the health care facility or clinic.

Paragraph (d) defines facility fee and provider-based clinic.

Section 3 (62Q.48) Paragraph (a) prohibits a health plan company or a pharmacy benefits manager from requiring an individual to pay, for a covered prescription medication at the point of sale, an amount greater than the allowable cost to consumers as defined in paragraph (b).

Paragraph (b) defines “allowable cost to consumers” as the lowest of: (1) the applicable copayment; or (2) the cost of the medication if purchased without using a health plan benefit.

Section 4 (151.214, subdivision 2) states that no contract between a health plan company or a pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy may prohibit a pharmacist from informing a patient when the amount the patient may be required to pay under the patient’s health plan for a particular drug is greater than the amount the patient would be required to pay if purchased out-of-pocket at the pharmacy’s usual and customary price.

Section 5 (151.555) creates a prescription drug repository program. 

 Subd. 1. Defines the following terms:  central repository, distribute, donor, drug, health care facility, local repository, medical supplies, and practitioner.

Central repository” means a wholesale distributor that meets certain requirements and enters into a contract with the Board of Pharmacy.

“Donor” means a health care facility, skilled nursing facility, assisted living facility meeting certain requirements, pharmacy, drug wholesaler, or drug manufacturer.

“Health care facility” means a physician’s office or health care clinic, hospital, pharmacy, or nonprofit community clinic.

“Local repository” means a health care facility that elects to accept donated drugs and meets certain requirements.

Subd. 2. Requires the Board of Pharmacy to establish, by January 1, 2019, a drug repository program through which donors may donate a drug or medical supply, to be used by eligible individuals.  Requires the board to contract with a central repository to implement and administer the program.

Subd. 3. Requires the board to select a wholesale drug distributor to act as central repository using a request for proposal process.  Specifies related requirements.

Subd. 4.  In order to serve as a local repository, requires a health care facility to agree to comply with all federal and state requirements related to the drug repository program, drug storage, and dispensing, and maintain any required state license or registration.  Specifies application requirements.  Provides that participation as a drug repository is voluntary and specifies the process to be used to withdraw from participation.

 Subd. 5. Requires an individual to submit an application form to the local repository that attests that the individual:  (1) is a state resident; (2) is uninsured, has no prescription drug coverage, or is underinsured; (3) acknowledges that the drugs or medical supplies received may have been donated; and (4) consents to a waiver of child resistant packaging requirements.  Requires the local repository to issue eligible individuals with an identification card that is valid for one year, can be used at any local repository, and may be reissued upon expiration.  Requires the local repository to send a copy of the application form to the central repository.  Requires the board to make available on its Web site an application form and the format for the identification card.

 Subd. 6. (a) Allows a donor to donate to the central repository or a local repository prescription drugs and medical supplies that meet specified requirements.

(b) Specifies requirements for prescriptions drugs to be eligible for donation.

(c) Specifies requirements for medical supplies to be eligible for donation.

(d) Requires the board to develop a drug repository donor form, which must accompany each donation.  Specifies requirements for the form and requires the form to be available on the board’s Web site.

(e) Allows donated drugs and supplies to be shipped or delivered to the central repository or a local repository.  Requires the drugs and supplies to be inspected by the pharmacist or other practitioner designated by the repository to accept donations.  Prohibits the use of a drop box to deliver or accept donations.

(f) Requires the central repository and local repository to inventory all drugs and supplies that are donated, and specifies related requirements.

Subd. 7. (a) Specifies requirements for the pharmacist or authorized practitioner to follow when inspecting all donated drugs and supplies.

(b) Specifies storage requirements for donated drugs and supplies.

(c) Requires the central repository and local repositories to dispose of all drugs and supplies not suitable for donation in compliance with applicable federal and state requirements related to hazardous waste.

(d) Requires shipments or deliveries of controlled substances or drugs that can only be dispensed to a patient registered with the drug’s manufacturer to be documented by the central or local repository, and returned immediately to the donor or donor’s representative that provided the drugs.

(e) Requires each repository to develop drug and medical supply recall policies and procedures, and specifies related requirements.

(f) Specifies record keeping requirements related to donated drugs and supplies that are destroyed.

 Subd. 8. (a) Allows donated drugs and supplies to be dispensed if they are prescribed by a practitioner for the eligible individual.

Specifies a priority order for dispensing and other requirements.

(b) Requires the visual inspection of a drug or supply for adulteration, misbranding, tampering, and expiration, and prohibits dispensing or administering of drugs meeting these criteria.

(c) Requires individuals to sign a drug repository recipient form and specifies form requirements.

Subd. 9. (a) Allows a repository to charge an individual receiving a drug or supply a handling fee of no more than 250 percent of the MA dispensing fee.

(b) Prohibits a repository from receiving MA or MinnesotaCare reimbursement for a drug or supply provided through the program.

Subd. 10. (a) Allows the central repository and local repositories to distribute donated drugs and supplies to other repositories.

(b) Requires a local repository that elects not to participate to transfer all donated drugs and supplies to the central repository, and provide copies of the donor forms at the time of the transfer.

Subd. 11. (a) Specifies forms that must be available on the board’s Web site.

(b) Requires all records to be maintained by a repository for at least five years, and maintained pursuant to all applicable practice acts.

(c) Requires data collected by the program from local repositories to be submitted quarterly or upon request of the central repository.

(d) Requires the central repository to submit reports to the board as required by contract or upon request.

Subd. 12.  (a) Provides that manufacturers are not subject to criminal or civil liability for causes of action related to:  (1) alteration of a drug or supply by a party not under the control of the manufacturer; or (2) failure of a party not under the control of the manufacturer to communicate product or consumer information or the expiration date of a donated drug or supply.

(b) Provides civil immunity for a health care facility, pharmacist, practitioner, or donor related to participation in the program and also prohibits a health-related licensing board from taking disciplinary action.  States that immunity does not apply if the act or omission involves reckless, wanton, or intentional misconduct, or malpractice unrelated to the quality of the drug or supply.

Subd. 13. Sunsets this program July 1, 2022.

Section 6 (151.71, subd. 3) requires a contract between a pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy to permit for the synchronization of prescription drug refills for a patient on at least one occasion per year if the following conditions are met:

  1. The drugs are covered under the patient’s health plan or have been approved by a formulary exceptions process;
  2. The drugs are maintenance medications and have one or more refills available at time of synchronization;
  3. The drugs are not Schedule II, III or IV controlled substances;
  4. The patient meets all utilization management criteria ;
  5. The drugs are of a formation that can be safely split into short fill periods; and
  6. The drugs do not have special handling or sourcing needs that require a single designated pharmacy to fill or refill the prescription.

Section 7 [Testimony on Use of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis] Testimony on use of digital breast tomosynthesis by members of state employee group insurance program.  Directs the director of the state employee group insurance program to prepare and submit written testimony to legislative committees by March 1, 2020, on the impact of coverage of digital breast tomosynthesis, and specifies requirements for the testimony.

Section 8 [Study and Report on Disparities Between Geographic Rating Areas in Individual and Small Group Market Health Insurance Rates.]

Subd. 1. Paragraph (a) requests a study from the OLA to examine the differences between the geographic rating areas for individual and small group health insurance rates. The report should examine the factors that cause higher rates in certain geographic areas, the impact referral centers have on rates in southeastern Minnesota, and the extent that those located in a geographic area with higher rates have obtained health insurance from a lower-cost area. The report should also develop at least three options to redraw the geographic boundaries, at least one of which must reduce the number of rating areas. Specifies other requirements for these options.

Paragraph (b) allows the OLA to secure de-identified data necessary to complete the study directly from health carriers. Defines “de-identified” and provides that data classified as nonpublic data or private data on individuals retains these classifications.

Subd. 2 allows the OLA to contract with another entity for technical assistance in conducting the study and developing recommendations.

Subd. 3. Requests that the OLA complete the study and recommendations by January 1, 2019, and submit the report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over health care and health insurance.

Section 9 [Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Work Group.]

Subd. 1. Establishes a mental health and substance use disorder parity work group and specifies membership and related requirements.

Subd. 2. Requires appointments to be made by July 1, 2018. Requires the commissioner of commerce or a designee to convene the first meeting by August 1, 2018, and to act as chair.

Section 10 [Provider Grants for Administration of Peripheral Nerve Blocks] permits the commissioner of human services within the limits of the remaining funds appropriated last session for substance use disorder provider capacity grant program to design and implement a program to assist providers in purchasing devices for administering continuous peripheral nerve blocks to treat substance disorders.

Section 11 repeals section 151.55 (cancer drug repository program).

Article 37 - Health-Related Licensing Boards

Section 1 (Section 144A.26, subd. 2) Authorizes the Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators to issue a health services executive license to a person who (1) is validated by the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards as a health services executive; and (2) has met the education and practice requirements to be qualified as a nursing home administrator, assisted living administrator, and home and community-based services provider.

Sections 2 through 29, and section 31 convert the allied health professionals regulated by the Board of Medical Practice (physician assistants, acupuncture practitioners, respiratory care practitioners, traditional midwives, registered naturopathic doctors and genetic counselors) to a licensure renewal cycle that is based on birth month.  These sections do the following for each occupation:

Specifies that a licensee whose license has lapsed before January 1, 2019, and is seeking to regain licensed status after January 1, 2019, shall be treated as a first-time licensee for purposes of establishing a license renewal schedule and shall not be subject to the license cycle conversion provisions.

Requires a licensee to maintain a correct mailing address with the board.  Specifies that placing the license renewal application in the mail constitutes valid service and failure to receive renewal documents does not relieve a licensee of the obligation to comply with this section.

Specifies that the name of the licensee who does not return a complete renewal application with the applicable fee within the time period required shall be removed from the list of individuals authorized to practice during the current renewal period.

Converts the license renewal cycle to an annual cycle where renewal is due on the last day of a licensee’s month of birth beginning for licensees, beginning January 1, 2019, for licensees who are licensed before December 31, 2018.  Specifies the conversion of license renewal cycle for current licenses and for noncurrent licenses.  Specifies that after the conversion renewal cycle, subsequent renewal cycles are annual and begin on the last day of the month of the licensee’s birth.

Establishes and adjusts license fees for the conversion license period.

Section 30 (148.59) increases annual licensure renewal fee for the Board of Optometry and adds fees for jurisprudence state examination, Optometric Education Continuing Education data bank registration, and data requests and labels.

Section 32 (148E.180) implements Board of Social Work fee increases for applications, licenses, and renewals, and specifies that all Board of Social Work fees are nonrefundable.

Section 33 (150A.06) adds dental therapy to the lists of programs in schools, relating to the school’s faculty dentist requirements. Modifies circumstances under which the Board of Dentistry may issue a full faculty license to faculty members.

Section 34 (150A.06, subd. 10) establishes an emeritus inactive license for a licensed dental professional who retires from active practice. Specifies that the emeritus inactive licensee may not practice in a dental profession, and that the license is a formal recognition of the completion of the licensee’s career in good standing.

Section 35 (150A.06, subd. 11) establishes an emeritus active license for a licensed dental professional who retires, to practice only on a pro bono or volunteer basis, or limited paid consulting or supervision practice. Specifies practice limitations and renewal requirements.

Section 36 (150A.091, subd. 19) adds application fee for emeritus inactive dental license.

Section 37 (150A.091, subd. 20) adds application fees for emeritus active licenses in dentistry, dental therapy, dental hygiene, and dental assisting.

Section 38 (151.15, subd. 5) adds subdivision allowing a pharmacist to accept a prescription drug order when not present in a pharmacy, in specified circumstances.

Section 39 (151.15, subd. 6) adds subdivision outlining the required processes for accepting and filling a prescription under subdivision 5, in emergency circumstances.

Section 40 (151.19, subd. 1) specifies that pharmacy licensing requirements do not apply to manufacturers, wholesale drug distributors, and logistics providers who distribute home dialysis supplies and devices, if:

  • the manufacturer leases or owns the licensed manufacturing or wholesaling facility from which the dialysate or devices will be delivered;
  • the dialysis supplies meet certain specifications;
  • the supplies are only delivered pursuant to physician's order by a Minnesota licensed pharmacy;
  • the entity keeps records for at least 3 years, available to the board upon request; and
  • the entity delivers the supplies directly to a patient with end-stage renal disease or the patient’s designee, for dialysis, or to a health care provider or institution, for the same purpose.

Section 41 (151.46) provides exception to prohibition on licensed wholesale drug distributors that are not pharmacies directly dispensing or distributing drugs, for home dialysis supplies under section 3.

Section 42 (214.075, subd. 1) specifies that the following individuals must submit to a criminal background check: (1) applicants for initial licensure or licensure by endorsement; (2) applicants seeking reinstatement or relicensure if more than one year has elapsed since the

applicant’s license or registration expiration date; or (3) licensees applying for eligibility to participate in an interstate licensure compact.  Specifies that an applicant’s criminal background check results are valid for one year from the date the results were received by the board.

Section 43 (214.075, subd. 4) removes the 90-day time period for an applicant to submit fingerprints.

Section 44 (214.075, subd. 5) modifies the reference to the results of the criminal background checks from criminal justice information checks to criminal history records check.

Section 45 (214.075, subd. 6) permits the licensing board to require an alternative method of criminal history checks for an applicant or licensee who has submitted at least two sets of fingerprints that are unreadable by the BCA or FBI. (Currently, three sets of unreadable prints must have been sent).

Section 46 (214.077) clarifies that in a contested care hearing regarding a temporary license suspension if an administrative law judge’s report and recommendation is for action, the board is required to issue a final order within 60 days of receipt of an administrative law judge’s report and recommendations, and if a final order is not issued within that time the temporary suspension shall be lifted.

Section 47 (214.10, subd. 8) specifies that boards shall not exchange criminal history information with other states.

Section 48 (214.12, subd. 6) requires the Boards of Medical Practice, Nursing, Dentistry, Optometry, and Podiatric Medicine to require that licensees with prescribing authority obtain at least two hours of continuing education credit on best practices in prescribing opioids and controlled substances by the expiration date of the section, January 1, 2023. Specifies that licensees shall not be required to complete more than two credit hours before the subdivision expires.

Makes the section effective January 1, 2019.

Section 49 (364.09) exempts from chapter 364 that governs the rehabilitation and employment of criminal offenders any license, registration, or permit that has been denied or revoked by a health-related licensing board.

Section 50 [Guidelines Authorizing Patient-Assisted Medication Administration] requires the Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board (EMSRB) to propose guidelines authorizing EMTs, AEMTs, and paramedics to assist a patient in emergency situations with administering certain prescription medications.  Requires the board to submit the proposed guidelines to the legislature by January 1, 2019.

Section 51, paragraph (a), repeals section 214.075, subdivision 8, (requiring a plan to develop criminal background checks for current licensures by January 1, 2017).  Paragraph (b) repeals obsolete rules associated with license renewal.

Article 38 - Opioids And Prescription Drugs

Section 1 (152.105, subd. 2) permits the sheriff of each county to implement a medicine disposal program as an alternative to the requirement that each sheriff maintains at least one collection receptacle for the disposal of prescription drugs.  Defines a medicine disposal program as providing educational information and making materials available for safely destroying unwanted prescription drugs.

Sections 2 and 3 (152.11) Paragraph (a) prohibits a pharmacist or dispenser from filling a prescription drug order for an opioid drug listed in Schedule II more than 30 days after the date on which the prescription drug order was issued.

Paragraph (b) prohibits a pharmacist or dispenser from filling a prescription drug order for an opioid drug listed in Schedule III through V more than 30 days after the date on which the prescription drug order was issued and prohibits a pharmacist or dispenser from refilling the drug more than 45 days after the previous date on which it was dispensed.

Paragraph (c) provides a definition of “dispenser.”

Section 4 (152.126, subd. 2) requires the Board of Pharmacy before entering into a new contract or renegotiating an existing contract with a vendor to ensure that the vendor complies with the NIST standards for interoperability, security, and ongoing support, and to provide at least 30 days’ notice to the Legislative Advisory Commission (LAC) of the new contract.  The board is authorized to enter into the new contract only if the LAC provides a positive recommendation or no recommendation.

Section 5 (152.126, subd. 6) requires a prescriber who is working in an emergency department, urgent care clinic, or a walk-in health clinic to access the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) database before issuing a prescription to a patient for an opiate controlled substance.  This requirement does not apply if due to a medical emergency it is not possible for the prescriber to check the database or if due to technical failure of the system the prescriber is not able to access the database.  Also requires the board to submit an annual report to the legislature on prescribing trends for opiates based on the previous year’s numbers.

Section 6 (152.126, subd. 10) authorizes the board to modify its contract with its current vendor to allow the vendor to provide an electronic records integration service to prescribers that would allow the prescriber to access the PMP database from their electronic health records system.  It also specifies that the board must ensure that the integration will not modify any requirements or procedures in place in the PMP regarding the information that must be reported, who can access the data, the data classification, encryption requirements and data retention time limits, or require a prescriber to access the data before issuing a prescription beyond what is required in this section. The board is authorized to assess a user fee of up to $50 from the prescriber if the prescriber chooses to use the integration platform service.

Section 7 (245G.05, subd. 1) Allows a residential or other substance use disorder treatment program to permit a licensed staff person who is not qualified as an alcohol and drug counselor to interview a client in areas of the comprehensive assessment that are within the competencies and scope of practice of the licensed staff person.  Requires the alcohol and drug counselor to review and confirm the information in the comprehensive assessment.

Section 8 (254A.03, subd. 3) Allows a Rule 25 assessor employed by a county on July 1, 2018, to qualify to perform a comprehensive assessment if:

  1. the individual is exempt from licensure under current statute;
  2. the individual is qualified as a Rule 25 assessor under Minnesota Rules; and
  3. the individual has been as assessor for three years or is supervised by an alcohol and drug counselor supervisor.

Requires that after June 30, 2020, an individual that is qualified to perform a comprehensive assessment under this paragraph complete specified coursework.

Section 9 (254B.12, subd. 3) increases the chemical dependency provider medical assistance reimbursement rate by 1.74%.

Section 10 (256.043) establishes a separate opiate epidemic response account, and requires the commissioner of human services to annually submit to the legislature proposed projects to address the state’s opioid addiction and overdose epidemic.

Section 11 requires a report on the evaluation results for the opioid abuse prevention funds in fiscal year 2019 to be submitted to the legislature by December 15, 2021.

Section 12 limits the quantity of opiates that can be prescribed at any one time for acute pain. For prescribers who are required to access the PMP the limit is a three day-supply.  For dental pain and pain associated with refractive surgery, the limit is a four-day supply.  For all other prescribers and situations for acute pain, the limit is seven days for adults and five days for minors.  Permits the prescriber to exceed the limits if in their professional judgment a higher limit is required to treat the patient’s acute pain.

Section 13 [Opioid Overdose Reduction Pilot Program] requires the commissioner of health to provide grants to ambulance services to connect community paramedic teams with patients who have been discharged from a hospital or emergency room following an opioid overdose episode, develop personalized care plans for those patients, and provide follow-up services.

Article 39

Eldercare and Vulnerable Adult Protections

Section 1 contains the short title (or popular name) of the article.

Section 2 (144.6501, subdivision 3) modifies the requirements for nursing facility contracts by requiring that the contract contain the name, address, and contact information of the current owner, manager, and license holder of the nursing facility.

Section 3 [144.6501, subdivision 3a] requires nursing facilities to inform residents and the legal representatives of residents within 30 days of a change in ownership, in management, or of the license holder, and to include the name, address, and contact information of the new owner, manager, or license holder.

Section 4 [144.6502] establishes the conditions under which electronic motoring is a protected right of residents of a nursing facility, a boarding care home, or an assisted living setting.  This section is effective January 1, 2019.

Subdivision 1 provides definitions of “authorized electronic monitoring,” “commissioner,” “department,” “electronic monitoring device,” “facility,” “legal representative,” and “resident.”

Paragraph (d) defines “facility” as including nursing homes, boarding care facilities, and certain assisted living settings.

Paragraph (e) defines “legal representative” as a person with authority to make decisions about health care services for a resident, including a guardian or health care agent of the resident.

Subdivision 2 authorizes a resident or legal representative to conduct electronic monitoring of the resident’s room or private living space.

Subdivision 3, paragraphs (a) and (b), require the resident to consent in writing to electronic monitoring on a standard form prescribed by the ombudsman for long-term care, in consultation with the Department of Health and representatives of facilities. If the resident has not affirmatively objected and the resident’s physician determines the resident lacks the ability to understand and appreciate the consequences of electronic monitoring, the resident’s legal representative may consent on the resident’s behalf.

Paragraph (c) provides that the resident may place conditions on monitoring.

Paragraph (d) requires a resident to obtain a roommate’s consent.  The same consent requirements that apply to the resident apply to the roommate.

Paragraph (e) requires a resident to obtain consent from a new roommate and to remove an electronic monitoring device if a new roommate refuses to consent to electronic monitoring.  If the resident does not remove the electronic monitoring device, the facility must remove it.

Subdivision 4 allows a resident or roommate to withdraw consent at any time and contains requirements of residents and facilities when consent to electronic monitoring is denied or withdrawn.  If a roommate refuses or withdraws consent, the facility must make a reasonable attempt to accommodate the resident by finding another room or roommate.  A facility is not required to provide a private room unless the resident is a private-pay resident.

Subdivision 5 specifies the requirements for the notification and consent form. The form must include information on how and where consent was obtained, the type of device, installation needs, proposed date, and any conditions or restrictions on use of the device. A copy of a completed form must be placed in the resident’s and any roommate’s clinical records. Beginning January 1, 2019, facilities must make the form available and inform residents of their option to obtain electronic monitoring.

Subdivision 6 specifies that the resident is responsible for the cost of installation and monitoring of an electronic monitoring device. The facility must make a reasonable attempt to accommodate the resident’s needs.

Subdivision 7 requires facilities, at their own expense, to post signage stating that electronic monitoring may be occurring in the facility.

Subdivision 8 prohibits anyone from knowingly and without permission interfering with an electronic monitoring device unless a facility does so because a resident or roommate withdrew consent.

Subdivision 9 prohibits a facility from accessing any recordings without permission and prohibits dissemination of recordings except to address the health, safety, or welfare of a resident. Under specified circumstances, the resident or legal representative must provide a copy of a recording to parties involved in legal proceedings.

Subdivision 10 provides for the admissibility of a recording as evidence in legal proceedings.

Subdivision 11 provides a facility with immunity from civil or criminal liability arising from a resident disseminating a recording or for any violations of a resident’s right to privacy arising out of electronic monitoring in accordance with this section.

Subdivision 12 prohibits a facility from refusing to admit or from removing a resident, or retaliating or discriminating against a resident for the resident’s choices with respect to electronic monitoring.  A facility may not prevent the installation or use of electronic monitoring provided the resident has satisfied the requirement that written consent be obtained.

Sections 5 to 15 modify the health care bill of rights, which covers residents of nursing facilities and other health care facilities.

Section 5 (144.651, subdivision 1) modifies the health care bill of rights to clarify that health care facilities, such as nursing homes, cannot request that a resident waive any of the rights granted to the resident under the health care bill of rights.

Section 6 (144.651, subdivision 2, paragraphs (a) to (c)) modifies definitions for the purposes of the health care bill of rights. The changes are technical and editorial.

Paragraph (d) clarifies the meaning of health care facility for the purposes of the health care bill of rights.

Section 7 (144.651, subdivision 4) modifies the health care bill of rights to include a right to a plain language written explanation of the rights and to be provided with the name and contact information of a state or local agency to contact for additional information and assistance with understanding or exercising these rights.

Section 8 (144.651, subdivision 6) modifies the health care bill of rights to specify that a resident’s right to appropriate care includes a right to continuity of staff who are properly trained and competent.

Section 9 (144.651, subdivision 14) modifies the health care bill of rights to include by cross-reference the right of a patient or resident of a facility for which the Department of Health is the lead investigative agency to receive notification regarding a report of maltreatment, which includes notice that a report has been made, disposition of a report, and appeal rights (see section 51).

Section 10 (144.651, subdivision 16) modifies the health care bill of rights by including a right to confidential treatment of a patient’s or resident’s financial records, and a right to access records about themselves.

Section 11 (144.651, subdivision 17) modifies the health care bill of rights by adding a right to 30 days’ advanced notice of changes in services or charges not related to a change in the resident’s condition or needs and a right to have any nonrefundable deposit applied to the first month’s charges. Other restrictions on fees are included.

Section 12 (144.651, subdivision 20, paragraph (a)) modifies the health care bill of rights by adding that a patient or resident has the right to be free from retaliation for voicing grievances, asserting rights or recommending changes to facility policy.

Paragraph (b) establishes a right to complain and contact information, requires the facility to provide residents, patients and interested persons with the name of the individual who is responsible for handling grievances, and requires the facility to investigate grievances and attempt a resolution.

Paragraph (c) is slightly re-written language stricken from paragraph (a).

Section 13 (144.651, subdivision 21) creates a right, at the patient’s or resident’s expense, to internet service.

Section 14 (144.651, subdivision 34, paragraph (a)) prohibits a facility from retaliating against a patient or resident who in good faith files a grievance, submits a maltreatment report, advocates for improved care or enforcement of rights, or contracts to receive services from a provider of the resident’s choice.

Paragraph (b) provides that adverse action may be considered retaliation. Adverse actions are specified.

Section 15 (144.651, subdivision 35) modifies the health care bill of rights by adding a right to electronic monitoring consistent with the requirements of section 4.

Section 16 (144.6511, paragraphs (a) and (b)) forbid a health care facility, as defined for the purposes of the health care bill of rights (but excluding hospitals), a housing with services establishment, certain assisted living settings, or a home care provider to engage in deceptive marketing and business practices.

Paragraph (c) defines deceptive practices.

Section 17 ([144.652) grants the commissioner the authority to impose a fine of $250 upon a finding that a facility retaliated against a resident or patient of a health care facility.

Section 18 (144A.10, subdivision 1) modifies the statute governing the commissioner of health’s authority to enforce nursing home licensing by clarifying that the commissioner may issue correction orders and issue fines and by specifying that a nursing home that fails to comply with a lawful request for information is subject to a correction order and a fine.

Section 19 (144A.44, subdivision 1), modifies the home care bill of rights.  Some of the changes align the home care bill of rights with the health care bill of rights.  Of particular note are:

Clause (17), which increases from 10 to 15 days the required advanced notice providers must give a client before terminating services or a lease;

Clause (23), which adds by cross-reference a client’s right to various notifications regarding reports of maltreatment of vulnerable adults;

Clause (24), which adds a right, at the client’s expense, to internet service; and

Clause (25), which adds a right to electronic monitoring.

Section 20 (144A.441) modifies the assisted living addendum to the home care bill of rights by requiring that an arranged home care provider that provides services in a housing with services establishment be able to document that a recipient has created an unsafe or abusive work environment before terminating services with less than 30 days’ notice, and by requiring a health professional to document that an emergency or change in condition has occurred that cannot be safely met by the provider before a provider may terminate services with less than 30 days’ notice.

Section 21 (144A.442) amends the law governing assisted living clients and arranged home care providers.

Subdivision 1 defines "coordinated transfer."

Subdivision 2 specifies permissible reasons to terminate services for a resident of a housing with services establishment.

Subdivision 3 amends existing service termination notice requirements to include additional requirements.

Subdivision 4 establishes a right to appeal service terminations to the Office of Administrative Hearings, as well as certain resident protections during the appeals process.

Subdivision 5 requires an arranged home care provider to assist with the coordinated transfer of a resident to a new service provider.

Section 22 (144A.45, subdivision 1) modifies the statute governing the commissioner of health’s authority to regulate home care providers by clarifying that the commissioner can impose correction orders and fines for a home care provider’s violation of the home care bill of rights.

Section 23 (144A.45, subdivision 2) modifies the statute governing the commissioner of health’s authority to regulate home care providers by clarifying that the commissioner can impose correction orders and fines for a home care provider’s violation of the home care licensing requirements.

Section 24 (144A.474, subdivision 8, paragraph (a)) modifies the home care licensing statute by permitting the commissioner of health to impose immediate fines for licensing violations.

Paragraph (b) requires a home care provider who is fined to keep a record of the fine and the provider’s correction plan on file and available for public inspection by any person upon request.

Section 25 (144A.474, subdivision 9) modifies the home care licensing statute by permitting the commissioner to issue new immediate fines for new violations discovered during a follow-up survey.

Section 26 (144A.474, subdivision 11, paragraphs (c) to (f)) modify and clarify the home care licensing statute by explicitly stating that the commissioner can assess additional immediate fines, in addition to any fine for the original licensing violation, for noncompliance with a prior correction order, noncompliance with a notice of noncompliance with a correction order, and for failure to pay fines on time.

Section 27 (144A.479, subdivision 2) subjects home care providers to the same prohibitions against deceptive practices to which health care facilities are subject.

Section 28 (144A.4791, subdivision 10) contains conforming and technical changes.

Section 29 (144A.53, subdivision 1, paragraph (f)) modifies the statute governing the powers of the Office of Health Facility Complaints (OHFC) by clarifying OHFC’s authority to issue fines for violations of the nursing home licensing statutes and home care licensing statutes, the home care bill of rights, as well as for failures to cooperate with the OHFC.

Section 30 (144A.53, subdivision 4, paragraph (a)) modifies the duties of OHFC by clarifying that OHFC is required to forward complaints or reports of maltreatment to law enforcement if the complaint or report falls within the jurisdiction of law enforcement.

Paragraph (c) requires OHFC to refer suspected criminal activity by a client or resident of a health care facility or home care provider to law enforcement.

Section 31 (section 144A.53, subdivision 5) directs the Office of Health Facility Complaints to establish a safety and quality improvement technical panel to examine and make recommendations on how to apply safety and quality improvement practices and infrastructure to long-term services and supports.

Section 32 (section 144A.53, subdivision 6) directs the Office of Health Facility Complaints to establish a training and operations panel to examine and make recommendations on how to improve office operations. Lists who the panel must include and the panel duties.

Section 33 (section 144.53, subdivision 7, paragraph (a)) requires the director of the Office of Health Facility Complaints to post the following information for the past three years on the Department of Health Web site: the public portions of all substantiated maltreatment reports; correction orders and certification deficiencies issued as a result of a maltreatment investigation; and whether the facility or provider has appealed the correction order, report, or deficiency.

Paragraph (b) requires the posted information to be updated following an appeal, and to be updated to indicate that the facility or provider is in substantial compliance with the correction order.

Paragraph (c) requires this information to be posted in a nonduplicative manner, in coordination with other divisions at MDH, and in a format that allows consumers to search for information by facility or provider name and by a facility’s physical address or a provider’s local business address.

Section 34 (144D.01, subdivision 1) contains a conforming change.

Section 35 (144D.02) contains a conforming change.

Section 36 (144D.04, subdivision 2) modifies the statute governing the content of contracts for housing with services establishments by requiring the contract to contain the physical mailing address of a natural person authorized to accept service of process, a statement that the resident has the right to request reasonable accommodations, and a statement describing the conditions under which the housing with services contract may be amended.

Section 37 [144D.04, subdivision 2b] requires housing with services establishments to provide prompt written notice to inform residents and the legal representatives of a change in ownership or management and to include the name, address and contact information of the new owner or manager.

Section 38 (144D.041) subjects housing with services to the same prohibitions against deceptive practices to which health care facilities are subject.

Section 39 (section 144D.044) requires a housing with services establishment to post a notice with the following, in a public place:

  • the name, mailing address, and contact information of the current owners;
  • the name, mailing address, and contact information of the managing agent;
  • the name and contact information of any on-site manager; and
  • the name and mailing address of a person authorized to accept service of process.

Section 40 (144D.09, subdivision 1) specifies the contents of a housing with services establishment lease termination notice.

Subdivision 2 requires a housing with services establishment to provide the resident's new facility or housing with services establishment with various records and information.

Section 41 (144D.095) clarifies the conditions under which home care services provided in a housing with services establishment can be terminated by placing a cross-reference in the statute governing housing with services establishments.

Section 42 (144G.01, subdivision 1) contains conforming changes.

Section 43 (144G.07) clarifies the conditions under which an assisted living resident’s lease can be terminated by placing a cross-reference in the statute governing assisted living.

Section 44 (144G.08) clarifies the conditions under which an assisted living resident’s home care services can be terminated by placing a cross-reference in the statute governing assisted living.

Section 45 (325F.71) expands the current law providing additional civil penalties for deceptive acts perpetrated against senior citizens or disabled persons to add vulnerable adults (excluding hospital patients). Factors to be considered by the court in imposing a civil penalty are expanded to include whether the defendant provided or arranged for health care or services that are inferior to, substantially different than or substantially more expensive than offered, promised, marketed, or advertised.

Section 46 (609.2231, subdivision 8) amends the fourth-degree assault crime against vulnerable adults to eliminate a requirement that the assault inflicted demonstrable bodily harm. The reasonable use of restraints in accordance with applicable law would not be a violation of this subdivision.

Sections 47 to 54 amend the vulnerable adult maltreatment reporting law.

Section 47 (626.557, subdivision 3) requires mandated reporters to make reports as soon as possible, but in no event longer than 24 hours (current law requires a report to be made “immediately”).

Section 48 (626.557, subdivision 4) requires the common entry point to provide a way to record that a reporter has electronic evidence to submit.  All reports must be directed to the common entry point.

Section 49 (626.557, subdivision 9a) requires the common entry point to immediately notify the appropriate law enforcement agency if it determines that there is an immediate need for response by law enforcement.

Section 50 (626.557, subdivision 9b) provides that law enforcement must obtain the results of any investigation conducted by the lead investigative agency to determine if criminal action is warranted.

Section 51 (626.557, subdivision 9c) modifies the law governing lead investigative agency notification requirements, dispositions, and determinations.

Paragraph (a) requires the lead investigative agency to give reporters notice that a report has been received and provide information on the initial disposition in all cases, not just upon request.

Paragraph (b) provides that except to the extent prohibited by federal law, within five days of initiation of an investigation when the Department of Health is the lead investigative agency, specified information must be provided to the vulnerable adult or the vulnerable adult’s guardian or health care agent regarding the report.  It would include the type of maltreatment allegation, name of the facility or other location where alleged maltreatment occurred, dates of alleged maltreatment, contact information for the investigator, and confirmation of whether the lead investigative agency is investigating the matter.

Paragraph (c) provides for the release of maltreatment information to the vulnerable adult or the guardian or health care agent in cases where the Department of Health is the lead investigative agency.

Paragraph (d) contains provisions governing receipt and use of electronic evidence.

Paragraphs (e) and (f) require reports related to the same vulnerable adult to be cross-referenced, and they may be assigned to the same investigator, as appropriate.

Paragraph (k) provides that upon completing the investigation, a copy of the public investigation memorandum must be provided to law enforcement and a county attorney, as appropriate.

Section 52 (626.557, subdivision 12b) amends data classifications and provides for sharing of data.

Paragraph (b) provides that data maintained by the common entry point would be private data on individuals or nonpublic data, as opposed to confidential or protected nonpublic data.  The name of the reporter would remain confidential data on individuals.

Paragraph (c) includes new provisions that would allow the sharing of data with a vulnerable adult or interested person if the lead investigative agency determined that the sharing was needed to protect the vulnerable adult.

Paragraph (m) allows a lead investigative agency to share common entry point or investigative data and notify other affected parties, including the vulnerable adult, if it determines that there is reason to believe maltreatment has occurred and the information will dispel widespread rumor or unrest in the facility.

Section 53 (626.557, subdivision 14, paragraph (a)) gives the commissioner of health authority to issue a correction order and impose an immediate fine upon finding that a facility has failed to comply with abuse prevention plan requirements.

Paragraph (d) requires the commissioner of health to issue a correction order and permits the commissioner to issue a fine equal to the amount authorized in rules for nursing homes that violate this subdivision, to any facility that violates this subdivision.

Section 54 (626.557, subdivision 17) amends the prohibition on retaliation for persons who make reports.  The definition of “adverse action” is expanded to include additional restrictions of patient or resident rights.

Section 55 (Assisted Living Licensure and Dementia Care Task Force) establishes a task force to make recommendations and draft legislation by February 1, 2019, for an assisted living licensing structure and dementia care certification process.

Section 56 (Assisted Living Report Card Working Group) establishes a working group to make recommendations and draft legislation by January 15, 2019, for an assisted living report card.

Section 57 (Crimes Against Vulnerable Adults Advisory Task Force) establishes a task force to make recommendations and draft legislation by December 1, 2018, for changes to state statute involving crimes against vulnerable adults.

Section 58 (Direction to the Commissioner of Health) requires the commissioner to submit by March 1, 2019, a report to the legislature documenting the commissioner’s progress toward implementing the changes at the Office of Health Facility Complaints (OHFC) to which the commissioner committed in the commissioner’s letter responding to the Office of the Legislative Auditor’s report on the OHFC.

Section 59 (Direction to the Commissioner of Health) requires the commissioner to submit quarterly reports to the legislature containing measures and analysis of the Office of Health Facility Complaints’ response to reports of maltreatment of vulnerable adults.

Section 60 requires a report from the safety and quality review panel created under section 31 by January 15, 2019.

Section 61 (Repealer) repeals the existing language regarding deceptive advertising by home care providers, which is replaced by new deceptive marketing prohibitions in this article.

 

Article 40 – Children and Families; Licensing

Sections 1 to 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 12, are provisions necessary to comply with the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) requirements.

Sections 1 and 5 (119B.011, subd. 13b, 119B.025, subd. 1) establish an expedited application process for homeless families applying for the child care assistance program (CCAP). Proof of eligibility must be submitted within three months of the application date.

Section 2 (119B.011, subd. 19) requires all providers, including out of state providers receiving CCAP, to meet federal health and safety requirements as certified by the licensing state or tribe, or as determined by receipt of CCDBG funds in the licensing state.

Section 3 (119B.011, subd. 20) modifies assistance for transition year families to ensure that families who received MFIP for at least one, instead of three, of the last six months, will quality for transition year child care.

Section 4 (119B.02, subd. 7) requires that the commissioner conduct the child care market survey every three years, instead of biennially, and conduct the next survey of prices charged by child care providers in Minnesota in fiscal year 2021.

Section 6 (119B.03, subd. 9) eliminates the six-month limit on the portability pool assistance. The portability pool is funded with up to five percent of the annual appropriation for basic sliding fee, and provides continuous child care assistance for eligible families who move to a different county in Minnesota.

Section 7 (119B.06, subd. 1) modifies the administration of the child care block grant, specifically the discretionary amounts provided for federal fiscal year 2018 and reserved for quality activities. The commissioner must ensure that funds are prioritized to increase the availability of training and business planning assistance for child care providers.

Section 8 (119B.06, subd. 4) specifies how the commissioner shall allocate federal Child Care Development Block Grant funds (CCDBG).  Additional funds shall be allocated to maximize child care rates under Minnesota Statutes, section 119B.03.  If federal funds are reduced, the commissioner shall adjust rates to ensure that the general fund allocation does not increase to replace the reduction in federal CCDBG funds.

Sections 9 and 10 (119B.09, subd. 1, 119B.095, subd. 2) modify provisions to allow families to remain eligible for CCAP until the redetermination, when a child turns 13 years old or a child with a disability turns 15 years old.

Section 11 (119B.095, subd. 3) makes homeless applicants for child care assistance eligible for 60 hours of child care assistance per service period for three months from the date the county receives the application. Allows additional hours to be authorized as needed based on the applicant’s participation in employment, education, or MFIP or DWP employment plan. Requires the parent to verify that the parent meets eligibility and activity requirements for child care assistance to continue receiving assistance after the initial three months.

Section 12 (119B.13, subd. 1) amends the child care assistance provider rates.  The maximum rate is the greater of the percentile calculated by the commissioner under section 119B.06, subdivision 4, not to exceed the 25 percent.

Section 13 (245A.06, subd. 8) amends the Department of Human Services Licensing Act, specifically Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.06, by eliminating the requirement that a child care provider or child care center post a correction order in a conspicuous place.

Section 14 (245A.175) amends the Department of Human Services Licensing Act, specifically the child foster care training requirements related to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).  This section requires that, except for providers and services under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 245D, the annual training include at least one hour of training on FASD, which must be counted towards the 12 hours training required per year.

Section 15 (245A.50, subd. 7) modifies family and group family child care training requirements by allowing approved trainers who teach training courses through the Minnesota Center for Professional Development in the required topic areas to count the hours spent conducting training toward their annual child care training hour requirements. Makes the section effective the day following final enactment.

Section 16 (254A.035, subd. 2) extends from June 30, 2018, to June 30, 2023, the American Indian Advisory Council.

Section 17 (256.01, subd. 14b) modifies the  subdivision related to American Indian child welfare projects, by requiring the commissioner and the Red Lake Nation, in consultation with Beltrami, Clearwater, and Lake of the Woods Counties, to develop a proposal to transfer responsibility to the tribe for child welfare and child protection services provided to tribal members.  The proposal is due by January 15, 2019.

Section 18 (256K.45, subd. 2) provides that the commissioner is exempt from preparing the required report under this section of law, and instead update the 2007 report on homeless youth under section 24.

Section 19 (256K.46) establishes the stable housing and support services for vulnerable youth program.

Subdivision 1 defines the terms.

Subdivision 2 allows the Commissioner of Human Services to award grants to programs licensed to provide transitional housing and supportive services to vulnerable youth, for two-year periods. Specifies that the commissioner shall determine the number of grants awarded and that the commissioner may reallocate underspending.

Subdivision 3 specifies that the commissioner may grant a variance allowing a program licensed to provide transitional housing and support services to 16- and 17-year-olds, to serve 13- to 17-year-olds under this grant program.

Subdivision 4, paragraph (a)  specifies the information that must be included in the grant applications.

Paragraph (b) specifies the purposes of the grants, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) transitional housing, meals, and living essentials to vulnerable youth and their children;

(2) support services;

(3) mental health and substance use disorder counseling;

(4) staff training;

(5) case management and referral services;

(6) aftercare and follow-up services.

Paragraph (c) requires the commissioner to establish criteria for grants; specifies some criteria. Allows commissioner to request additional information.

Subdivision 5 establishes dates by which the commissioner must   notify grantees and disburse funds.

Subdivision 6 requires the commissioner to consult with providers serving vulnerable youth and older youth, to make recommendations to resolve conflicting licensing and program requirements and foster best practices. Specifies that recommendations may include the development of additional certifications. Requires the commissioner to provide an update on these tasks to the legislature by January 15, 2019.

Section 20 (260.835, subd. 2) extends from June 30, 2018, to June 30, 2023, the American Indian Child Welfare Advisory Council.

Section 21 (260C.008) establishes the foster care sibling bill of rights.

Subdivision 1 lists the rights of siblings who are placed in foster care.

Subdivision 2 provides the interpretation of the rights, which are established for the benefit of siblings in foster care, and the rights do not replace or diminish other rights, liberties, and responsibilities that may exist relative to children in foster care.

Subdivision 3 requires that a copy of the rights be provided to a child who has a sibling at the time the child enters foster care, and the foster care provider.  The copy must contain the contact information for the Office of Ombudsman for Families and a statement explaining how to file a complaint with the office.

This section is effective for children entering foster care on or after August 1, 2018. Subdivision 3 is effective August 1, 2018, for all children in foster care.

Section 22 (518A.32, subd. 3) modifies the circumstances in which a parent is not considered to be voluntarily unemployed, underemployed, or employed on a less than full-time basis for child support calculation purposes.

This subdivision is applicable to all incarcerated parents by removing the exception for parents incarcerated due to nonpayment of child support.

Makes this subdivision applicable to a parent who has been determined to be eligible for general assistance or Supplemental Security Income payments. Specifies that any income that is not from public assistance payments may be considered in calculating child support.

Section 23 (518A.685) removes the requirement that the public authority inform the consumer reporting agency if an obligor is currently paying child support, if an obligor has paid the arrears in full or is making the obligated monthly payments with added arrearage payments.

Section 24 requires the Commissioner of Human Services to update the information in the 2007 Legislative Report on homeless youth in lieu of the biennial homeless youth report under chapter 256K.  In developing the updated report, the commissioner may use existing data, studies, and analysis provided by the state, county, and other entities, including the different sources listed in the bill. The report may include three key elements, which are listed in subdivision 2. The report is due February 15, 2019.

Section 25 requires the Commissioners of Human Services and Health to consider the benefits of consolidating into one state agency the licensing, background study, and related oversight functions currently in DHS and MDH.  The revisor, in consultation with the Commissioners of Human Services and Health, shall provide draft legislation by July 1, 2019.

Section 26 prohibits the Commissioner of Human Services from adopting rules that modify child care rules or adopt additional rules related to child care licensing without legislative authorization.

Section 27 establishes a task force on childhood trauma-informed policy and practices.

Subdivision 1 requires the Commissioner of Human Services to establish and appoint a task force on trauma-informed policy and practice, and reduce children’s exposure to ACEs. Lists the members of the task force.

Subdivision 2 requires the Commissioner of Human Services to provide meeting space, support staff, and administrative services.

Subdivision 3 requires the task force to: (1) engage the human services, education, public health, and justice systems to create trauma-informed policy and practices, prevent and reduce ACEs, and support family health and well-being; and (2) identify social determinants of family health and well-being, and recommend solutions to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in Minnesota.

Subdivision 4 requires the task force to submit a report on its results and policy recommendations to the relevant legislative committees, by January 15, 2019.

Subdivision 5 specifies that the task force expires when the report is submitted.

Makes this section effective the day following final enactment.

Section 28 instructs the Revisor of Statutes, in consultation with the Department of Human Services, House Research Department, and Senate Counsel, Research and Fiscal Analysis to change the terms “food support” and “food stamps” to “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” or “SNAP” in Minnesota Statutes and Rules when appropriate. Allows the revisor to make technical and other necessary changes to sentence structure to preserve the meaning of the text.

Article 41 – State-Operated Services; Chemical and Mental Health

Section (13.851) specifies that the treatment of data collected by a sheriff or corrections agency for individuals who may have a mental illness is governed by section 641.15, subdivision 3a.

Section 2 (245A.04, subd. 7) allows the commissioner of human services to issue a temporary change of ownership license or provisional license. Prohibits commissioner from issuing or reissuing a license if the applicant had been denied a license, including a license following expiration of a provisional license, within the past two years.

Section 3 (245A.04, subd. 7a) paragraph (a) requires a license holder to notify the commissioner and obtain approval before making any changes that would alter the license information.

Paragraph (b) requires a license holder to notify the commissioner at least 30 days before the change is effective, in writing, of certain listed changes.

Paragraph (c) requires a license holder to provide amended articles of incorporation or other documents reflecting a change to business structure or services. Makes this section effective August 1, 2018.

Section 4 (245A.043) is a new section of law establishing procedures for a license application after a change of ownership.

Subdivision 1 specifies that a license is not transferable or assignable.

Subdivision 2 requires submission of a new license application when the commissioner determines that a change in ownership will occur. Specifies what constitutes a change in ownership.

Subdivision 3, paragraph (a) requires written notice to the commissioner of any proposed sale or change of ownership at least 60 days prior to the anticipated change, when the new owner intends to assume operation without interruption.

Paragraph (b) requires a prospective new owner or operator to submit a license application at least 30 days prior to the change, and comply with all statutory requirements.

Paragraph (c) allows the commissioner to develop application procedures for when the applicant is a current license holder, and the program is currently licensed by DHS and in substantial compliance.

Paragraph (d) specifies that the existing license holder is responsible for operating the program until a license is issued to the new owner or operator.

Paragraph (e) allows the commissioner to waive a new owner or operator’s licensing inspection, under certain circumstances.

Paragraph (f) requires a new owner or operator to submit a letter identifying how and when they will resolve any outstanding correction orders, if applicable.

Paragraph (g) specifies that any licensing actions taken against the existing license holder when the new owner or operator is applying for a license will remain in effect until the grounds for the action are corrected or no longer exist.

Paragraph (h) requires the commissioner to evaluate a license application according to statute.

Paragraph (i) allows the commissioner to deny an application according to statute, and allows for appeals.

Paragraph (j) specifies that this subdivision does not apply to a home-based program or service.

Subdivision 4 establishes a temporary change of ownership license for a new owner or operator while the commissioner evaluates the new owner or operator’s license application.  Allows commissioner to establish criteria for issuing such licenses.

Makes this section effective August 1, 2018.

Section 5 (245C.22, subd. 4) requires the commissioner to set aside a disqualification for an individual in the chemical dependency field if:

(1) the individual is a nonviolent controlled substance offender;

(2) the individual is disqualified for one or more listed controlled substance offenses;

(3) the individual provides documentation of successful completion of treatment at least one year prior;

(4) the individual provides documentation of abstinence from controlled substances for at least one year prior; and

(5) the individual is seeking employment in the chemical dependency field.

Section 6 (245C.22, subd. 5) provides an exception for a set-aside for a person in the chemical dependency field, under subdivision 4.

Sections 7 and 9 (254B.02, subd. 1, 254B.06, subd. 1) strike language that allows the Department of Human Services to use consolidated chemical dependency treatment fund (CCDTF) revenues for administrative purposes.

Section 8 (254B.03, subd. 2) removes provision requiring prior approval from the commissioner for chemical dependency services. Allows the commissioner to deny a license if the services in the local area are sufficient to meet local need, and the addition of new services would be detrimental.

Section 10 (256.045, subd. 3) permits a state agency hearing for a county that disputes the cost of care for a client in a state-operated facility, when discharge is delayed and the county has developed a viable discharge plan.

Section 11 (256B.0625, subd. 56a) updates terminology related to post-arrest community-based service coordination for individuals with mental illness or substance use disorder. Adds language including Indian health service facilities, and adds qualified alcohol and drug counselors and recovery peer specialists to those who may provide care coordination under this section. Makes the section effective retroactively from March 1, 2018.  Paragraph (f) is stricken, eliminating the county responsibility for the nonfederal share for officer-involved community-based care coordination; the state will cover the nonfederal share.

Section 12 (256B.0941, subd. 3) allows arranged services for individuals younger than 21 years of age for psychiatric residential treatment facility to be billed by either the facility or the licensed professional.  Current law requires billing by the facility.

Section 13 (641.15, subd. 3a)  allows a sheriff or local corrections staff to share certain mental health data and other private data on inmates, and to refer an offender to the local county social services agency in order to arrange services for the following services after the inmate is released:

(1) assist the inmate in applying for medical assistance of MinnesotaCare;

(2) refer the inmate for case management by a county;

(3) assist the inmate in obtaining state photo identification;

(4) secure an appointment with a mental health provider;

(5) obtain necessary medications; or

(6) provide behavioral health service coordination.

Sections 14 and 15 extend the provisions governing state-only MA funding payments for mental health services provided in children’s residential facilities that have been determined by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to be institutions for mental disease, until July 1, 2019.

Section 16 extends the deadline for the children’s mental health report until January 15, 2019.

Section 17 establishes the student health initiative to limit opioid harm.

Subdivision 1 directs the Commissioner of Human Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, the Board of Trustees of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Private College Council, and the regents of the University of Minnesota, to develop and administer a grant program for secondary school students in grades 7 to 12 and undergraduate students, to conduct opioid awareness and opioid abuse prevention activities.  Requires grant proposals with more than one community partner to designate a primary community partner.  Requires grant applications to be submitted by, and any grant awards managed by, the primary community partner.  Provides that grants are for a fiscal year and are one-time.

Subdivision 2, paragraph (a) allows grant dollars to be used for opioid awareness, education on addiction and abuse, initiatives to limit inappropriate prescriptions, peer education, and other initiatives as approved by the commissioner.  Requires grant projects to include one or more of the following components:  high-risk populations, law enforcement, education, clinical services, or social services.

Paragraph (b) directs the commissioner to seek to provide grant funding for at least one proposal that addresses opioid abuse in the American Indian community.

Subdivision 3 provides a partial listing of the entities that may serve as community partners.

Subdivision 4 requires the commissioner to report to the chairs and ranking minority members of specified legislative committees, by September 1, 2019, on implementation of the grant program and the grants awarded.

Subdivision 5, paragraph (a) requires the Commissioner of Human Services to apply for any federal grant funding that aligns with the purposes of this section.  Requires the commissioner to submit to the Legislature any changes to the program established under this section necessary to comply with the terms of the federal grant.

Paragraph (b) requires the commissioner to notify the chairs and ranking minority members of specified legislative committees of any grant applications submitted, and federal actions taken related to the applications

Section 18 repeals rules related to the assessment of need for treatment programs and county board responsibility to review program need.

Article 42 – Community Supports and Continuing Care

Section 1 (245A.03, subdivision 7, paragraph (a), clause (7)) extends an existing foster care licensing moratorium from June 30, 2018, to June 30, 2019, for certain previously unlicensed setting to become licensed.

Clause (8) excludes from the foster care license moratorium a vacancy created in a foster care setting that has been granted a foster care licensing moratorium exception under clause (7).

Section 2 (245A.11, subdivision 2a, paragraph (g)) amends the Department of Human Services Licensing Act, specifically the provision determining capacity for adult foster care settings. This section modifies the requirements in paragraph (f) related to the commissioner’s authority to issue an adult foster care license with a capacity of five adults, by requiring that the facility be licensed before June 20, 2021, instead of March 11, 2011. Paragraph (g) provides that the commissioner shall not issue a new foster care license under paragraph (f) after June 30, 2021, instead of June 30, 2019. The commissioner is required to allow a facility with an adult foster care license before June 30, 2021, instead of June 30, 2019, to continue with a capacity of five adults provided the license holder complies with the requirements in paragraph (f).

Section 3 (245D.03, subdivision 1) clarifies which services are governed by Minnesota Statutes, chapter 245D, licensing standards by including the medical assistance waivers under which the services are provided, and changes the name of behavioral support services to positive support services.

Section 4 (245D.071, subdivision 5) amends the home and community-based services standards related to service planning for intensive support services.

Paragraph (a) is editorial.

Paragraph (b) requires a licensed provider of intensive home and community-based services, when conducting a service plan review, to include and document a discussion of how a person receiving intensive services might use technology to help the person meet the person’s goals. (In 2017, the legislature passed identical language for the purposes of initial service planning.)

Section 5 (245D.091, subdivision 2, clause (12), item (vi)) allows an individual with master’s degree or higher and a demonstrated expertise in positive supports to qualify as a positive supports professional.

Section 6 (245D.091, subdivision 3)

Paragraph (a), clause (3), permits a board-certified behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst to qualify as a positive support analyst.

Paragraph (b), clause (1), modifies additional qualifications for a positive support analyst be requiring four years of supervised experience that includes specific tasks.

Paragraph (b), clause (2), allows a person who meets the other positive support analyst qualifications to qualify as a positive support analyst if the person receives the required training within 90 days following hire and adds additional training requirements.  Under current law, such a person does not qualify as a behavior analyst until after the training is completed.

Paragraph (c) allows a person who qualifies as a positive support professional to qualify as a positive support analyst without meeting the training requirements of paragraph (b).

Section 7 (245D.091, subdivision 4)

Paragraph (b) allows a person who meets the other positive support specialist qualifications to qualify as a behavior specialist if the person receives the required training within 90 days following hire.  Under current law, such a person does not qualify as a behavior specialist until after the training is completed.  The bill does change the existing training requirements.

Paragraph (c) allows a person who qualifies as a positive support professional to qualify.

Section 8 (256B.0659, subdivisions 3a) clarifies that lead agencies may continue to use legacy assessment tools for PCA assessments.

Section 9 (256B.0659, subdivision 11, paragraph (d)) specifies the requirements a personal care attendant must meet in order for the services the personal care attendant provides to qualify for an existing enhanced rate.

Section 10 (256B.0659, subdivision 17a) codifies an existing enhanced rate for personal care attendant services provided to individuals requiring 12 or more hours of service.

Section 11 (256B.0659, subdivision 21) requires provider agencies to document whether a personal care attendant has received the training that would qualify the services the personal care attendant provides for an enhanced rate.

Section 12 (256B.0659, subdivision 24, clause (15)) requires a provider agency to pass through the entire value of the enhanced rate in the form of wages and benefits to the personal care attendants who provide the services that qualify for the enhanced rate.

Section 13 (256B.0659, subdivision 28) requires provider agencies to document whether a personal care attendant has received the training that would qualify the services the personal care attendant provides for an enhanced rate.

Section 14 (256B.0911, subdivision 1a, paragraph (b)) removes from the MnCHOICES assessment process service eligibility determinations for home care nursing and reassessments for people with developmental disabilities receiving only Rule 185 case management services, and also removes long-term care consultation services (otherwise known as a MnCHOICES assessment) as the required process for determining whether the family of a minor with a disability is eligible for a support grant.

Section 15 (256B.0911, subdivision 3a, paragraph (a)) makes conforming changes by striking from the MnCHOICES statute references to home care nursing.

Paragraph (c) requires the MnCHOICES assessment process to be conversational in nature.

Paragraph (d) removes a requirement that a legal representative of a person receiving a MnCHOICES assessment be physically present during an assessor’s face-to-face assessment of the person seeking long-term care, and permits the legal representative to participate in the assessment remotely instead.

Paragraph (e) removes the existing requirement that a MnCHOICES assessor complete a community support plan within 40 calendar days of the assessment. DHS will determine a new deadline for completing the community support plan, but the total time for the assessor to complete the community support plan and the case manager to complete the coordinated service and support plan must not exceed 56 days.

Paragraph (j), clause (9), requires a certified assessor to point out in the assessment documents the location of the statement concerning the person’s right to appeal the results of an assessment.

Paragraph (k) allows the results of a MnCHOICES assessment to establish service eligibility for developmental disability waiver services for up to 60 days from the time of the assessment.

Paragraph (k) interacts with existing paragraph (m) to permit a service eligibility update for developmental disability waiver services to extend the validity of a MnCHOICES assessment for an additional 30 days. These changes align the service eligibility timelines for developmental disability waiver services with the timelines for the other home and community-based waiver and alternative care services.

Section 16 (256B.0911, subdivision 3f, paragraph (a)) requires a certified assessor to review a person’s most recent assessment prior to a reassessment, and requires DHS to establish timelines for a MnCHOICES assessor, following an annual MnCHOICES reassessment, to complete an updated coordinated support plan and a case manager to complete an updated coordinated service and support plan.

Section 17 (256B.0911, subdivision 5, paragraph (c)) requires the Commissioner of Human Services, in cooperation with lead agencies, to develop and collect data on a set of measures of increasing efficiency in the MnCHOICES assessment process, and to report an analysis of that data to lead agencies and to the Legislature.  Paragraphs (a) and (b) contain existing requirements that the commissioner make the assessment process more efficient.  This paragraph requires the commissioner to demonstrate that the process is becoming more efficient.

Section 18 (256B.0915, subdivision 3a) grants the Department of Human Services the authority to grant an exception to the existing consumer-directed community supports monthly budget cap if necessary to accommodate the increased cost of paying the enhanced rate for PCA services.

Section 19 (256B.0915, subdivision 6, paragraph (a), clause (1)) removes the current ten-day deadline for case managers to complete coordinated service and support plans for people receiving any home and community-based waiver services or alternative care.  DHS will determine a new deadline for completing coordinated service and support plans, but the total time for a MnCHOICES assessor to complete the community support plan and the case manager to complete the coordinated service and support plan must not exceed 56 days.

Section 20 256B.092, subdivision 1b, paragraph (a), clause (1)) removes the current ten-day deadline for case managers to complete coordinated service and support plans for people receiving any home and community-based waiver services or alternative care.  DHS will determine a new deadline for completing coordinated service and support plans, but the total time for a MnCHOICES assessor to complete the community support plan and the case manager to complete the coordinated service and support plan must not exceed 56 days.

Section 21 (256B.092, subdivision 1g) amends the developmental disability waiver statute to permit individuals who are currently receiving only Rule 185 case management services to make an informed choice to decline a MnCHOICES reassessment.

Section 22 (256B.0921) modifies the name of the grant program.

Section 23 (256B.093, subdivision 1) extends the Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Committee for an additional five years. 

Section 24 (256B.49, subdivision 13, paragraph (a), clause (1)) removes the current ten-day deadline for case managers to complete coordinated service and support plans for people receiving any home and community-based waiver services or alternative care.  DHS will determine a new deadline for completing coordinated service and support plans, but the total time for a MnCHOICES assessor to complete the community support plan and the case manager to complete the coordinated service and support plan must not exceed 56 days.

Section 25 (256B.4914, subdivision 2) adds a definition of “direct care staff” for the purposes of data collection and reporting requirements in subdivisions 10 and 10a.

Section 26 (256B.4914, subdivision 3) makes conforming and editorial changes.

Section 27 (256B.4914, subdivision 4) makes conforming changes to cross-references. Paragraphs (h) and (i) modify the DWRS automatic inflationary adjustments to the base wage index and certain framework components by increasing the frequency of the adjustments from every five years to every two years, and by and clarifying the manner in which the adjustments are calculated.

Section 28 (256B.4914, subdivision 5, paragraph (k)) adds a competitive workforce factor to the framework rates calculated under the disability waiver rates system (DWRS). The competitive workforce factor decreases over time.  The scheduled implementation dates, factor percentage, and the average estimated rate increase are as follows:

  • beginning January 1, 2019, or upon federal approval, whichever is  later,the competitive workforce factor is 8.35;
  • beginning July 1, 2019, the competitive workforce factor is 4.55; and
  • beginning July 1, 2022, and thereafter, the competitive workforce factor is 5.5.

Section 32 (256B.4914, subd. 6) removes the regional variance factor from the DWRS rate calculations beginning January 1, 2022.

Section 33 (256B.4914, subdivision 10) requires the commissioner to collect and evaluate data related to the direct care staff labor market.

Section 34 (256B.4914, subdivision 10a, paragraph (f)) requires providers of services reimbursed under DWRS to submit to the commissioner labor market data.

Paragraph (g) requires the commissioner to publish an annual report on the labor market for direct care staff providing services reimbursed under DWRS.

Section 35 (256B.5012, subd. 18) sets the daily rate for an ICF/DD located in Steele County at $400.

Section 36 (256I.03, subdivision 8) amends the definition of “supplementary services” by adding a cross-reference to the requirements under Minnesota Statutes, section 256I.04, subdivision 2h.

Section 37 (256I.04, subdivision 2b) requires that providers of housing supports confirm in their housing support agreement that the provider will not limit or restrict the number of hours an applicant or recipient chooses to be employed, as specified in subdivision 5.

Section 38 (256I.04, subdivision 2h) is a new subdivision that requires providers of supplementary services to ensure that recipients have, at a minimum, assistance with services identified in the individual’s professional statement of need.  This section also requires all providers to maintain case notes with the date and description of services provided to individual recipients.

Section 39 (256I.04, subdivision 5) is a new subdivision that prohibits a provider from limiting or restricting the number of hours an applicant or recipient is employed.

Section 40 (256I.05, subdivision 3) modifies the housing support chapter of law, specifically the limits on rates.  The modification in this section maintains rates for clients who meet the same eligibility criteria, but allow the provider to charge a lower rate for individuals who do not qualify for housing support.

Section 41 (256R.53, subd. 2) adds nonprofit nursing facilities in Moorhead to the nursing facility payment rate exemption that already exists for Breckenridge. Requires the commissioner to make a comparison of rates by November 1 of each year and apply it to the rates to be effective on the following January 1. Exempts facilities under this subdivision from rate limits if the adjustments under this subdivision result in a rate that exceeds the limits. Makes this section effective for rate increases for facilities in Moorhead for rate years beginning January 1, 2020, and annually thereafter.

Section 42 (Laws 2014 – Disability Waiver Reimbursement Rate Adjustments) repeals the application of the seven percent after-model rate increase to DWRS rates (i.e., framework rates) while continuing to apply the seven-percent increase to “banded” rates. The effective date of the repeal in January 1, 2019, to coincide with the expected implementation date of the competitive workforce factor.

Section 43 (Electronic Visit Verification)

Subdivision 2, paragraph (d), clarifies that home health services, medical supplies and equipment, and home and community-based services will be subject to electronic visit verification requirements.

Subdivision 3 requires the commissioner of human services to make a state-selected electronic visit verification system available to all providers by January 1, 2019.

Subdivision 3a, paragraphs (a) and (b), allows providers to select their own electronic visit verification system provided the system meets various requirements established by the commissioner.

Paragraph (c) clarifies the implementation dates by which providers must implement an electronic visit verification system.

Section 44 (Direction to the Commissioner) permits an existing housing with services establishment providing customized living services under the BI and CADI waivers to redistribute its service capacity to other establishments.

Section 45 (Direction to the Commissioner) requires the Commissioner of Human Services to ensure that the updates to the MnCHOICES assessment tool incorporates a qualitative approach to interviewing.

Section 46 (Direction to the commissioner) requires the commissioner to continue to apply the entire seven percent after-model rate increase to DWRS rates (i.e., framework rates) between July 1, 2018, and December 31, 2018, even though federal financial participation for this rate increase has been disallowed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This language results in all state funding for the seven percent rate increase for an additional six months.

Paragraph (b) directs the commissioner to submit DWRS waiver amendments separately and in a particular order.

Section 47 (Revisor’s instruction) Paragraph (a) instructs the revisor of statutes to codify the electronic visit verification law, as amended in this act, in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 256B.

Paragraph (b) instructs the revisor of statutes to correct inconsistent terminology related to the DD waiver.

Section 48 (Repealer) repeals Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.0705 (PCA mandated service verification). Makes this section effective January 1, 2019.

ARTICLE 43 -MISCELLANEOUS

Section 1 (Section 62V.05, subd. 5) provides that a health plan that meets the minimum requirements in state and federal law for certification as a qualified health plan, is deemed to be in the interests of qualified individuals and employers. Strikes language listing elements the MNsure board may consider when determining the interests of qualified individuals and employers for purposes of certifying qualified health plans, and prohibits the MNsure board from establishing additional requirements for certifying health carriers and health plans to be offered through MNsure. Also prohibits the board from establishing costs, cost-sharing elements, or benefits for health plans sold through MNsure. Updates references to federal law and strikes outdated language.

Section 2 (62V.05, subd. 10) prohibits the commissioner of human services from bearing insurance risk or entering into any agreement to pay claims for health coverage for a state health care program available for purchase through the MNsure Web site, as an alternative to purchasing an individual health plan. Specifies that this subdivision does not prohibit the commissioner from administering MA or MinnesotaCare, as long as health coverage under MA or MinnesotaCare is not purchased by an individual through MNsure’s Web site. Also states that this section does not prohibit employees of DHS from obtaining insurance coverage through the state employee group insurance program.

Section 3 (Section 243.166, subd. 4b) amends the predatory offender registration statute, to require that the predatory offender notice of status required in this subdivision be provided to licensed home care providers in the same manner that health care facilities receive notice.

                                  Article 44: Human Services Forecast Adjustments

Article 45 - Health and Human Services Appropriations

(See the spreadsheet)

Article 46: Student and School Safety

Section 1. School safety assessment.

     Subd. 1. School safety assessment. Defines “school safety assessment.”

     Subd. 2. Policy. Requires a school board to adopt a policy to establish safety assessment teams consistent with district policies on student bullying and crisis management and with guidance from the school safety center. Requires policy to include procedures for referrals to community mental health centers or health care providers for evaluation or treatment and notice to the parent of a student that is the subject of an assessment.

     Subd. 3. Oversight committees. Requires a superintendent to establish a committee or individual to oversee the safety assessment teams.

     Subd. 4. Safety assessment teams. (a) Requires a superintendent to establish a safety assessment team for each school. Requires team to include school officials with certain expertise.

(b) Specifies duties of safety assessment team.

(c) Requires safety assessment team to report determination that a student poses a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others to the superintendent or superintendent’s designee, who must immediately attempt to notify the student’s parent or legal guardian. Requires safety assessment team to consider services for student.

(d) Requires safety assessment team to follow suicide prevention policy or protocol, or make referral when student exhibits suicidal ideation or self-harm.

(e) Affirms that school district personnel may act immediately to address an imminent threat.

     Subd. 5. Redisclosure. Prohibits safety assessment team or school district employee member from redisclosing educational records or using the record of an individual beyond the purpose for which the disclosure was made to the safety assessment team. Affirms that educational records may be disclosed in health, including mental health, and safety emergencies in accordance with state and federal law.

Effective date. This section is effective for the 2019-2020 school year and later.

Section 2. Expulsion for making a threat of violence. Allows a school board to expel a student who threatens gun violence or intends to cause evacuation for at least one year. Allows board to modify expulsion on case-by-case basis.

Effective date. This section is effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later.

Section 3. Long-term facilities maintenance revenue.  Authorizes a school district to amend its ten year facilities plan to include provisions enhancing school safety through security modifications to the building, including remodeling and new construction for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 only.  Projects authorized by July 1, 2021, may be included until they are complete.

Section 4. Purchase of certain equipment.  School districts may issue bonds backed by operating capital revenue and safe schools revenue for certain equipment purchases.  Clarifies that the allowable equipment purchases include communications systems and other equipment designed to increase student and staff security.

Section 5. Safe schools revenue.  Provides state aid for student and staff safety through the safe schools revenue program.  For fiscal year 2019 only, establishes aid payments of $18 per pupil unit for school districts and charter schools, $7.50 for school districts that are members of cooperative units other than intermediate school districts, and $6 for school district members of intermediate school districts.

For fiscal year 2020 and later, sets the ongoing additional aid amounts at $5.50 for school districts and charter schools and $3.50 for districts that are members of cooperative units other than intermediate school districts.

For fiscal year 2019 and later, all school districts are eligible for a minimum of $30,000 per year in safe schools revenue.

For fiscal year 2020 and 2021 only, equalizes the existing safe schools revenue of $36 per pupil unit.  Sets the equalizing factor equal to 68.5 percent of the statewide adjusted net tax capacity per pupil unit.

Allows a school district to transfer its safe schools revenue into the debt redemption fund so that certain school safety physical improvements can be made through local bonding.  Requires school districts and charter schools to report safe schools expenditures by functional area and any new staff positions hired.  Requires a school that receives safe schools revenue to report its expenditures by functional area such that the spending aligns with the statutorily specified uses.

Section 6. Mental health grants, establishment, and authority. Requires grantee to obtain all available third-party reimbursement sources. Conformity changes.

Section 7. School-linked mental health services grants.  Establishes eligibility for grants.  Allows grant expenses to include transportation, and certain costs associated with telemedicine.

Section 8. Sanneh Foundation.  Appropriates an additional $250,000 in fiscal year 2019 for grants to the Sanneh Foundation. Allows for administrative expenses.

Section 9. Appropriations. Appropriates funds for safe schools aid, school-linked mental health grants, physical security audits, school resource officer training, safety assessment grants, suicide prevention training, and character development grants. See fiscal worksheet for details.

Article 47: General Education

Section 1. Textbook. Expands the definition of textbooks to include teacher materials that accompany materials used by a pupil. To the extent that state funds are available, Minnesota Statutes require districts to provide nonpublic schools pupils with textbooks, individualized instructional materials, and standardized tests, all of which must be secular in nature and cannot be used for religious instruction or worship. The state reimburses districts for the costs of providing these materials to nonpublic pupils up to the dollar cap set in statute. The current definition of textbook that governs provision of these materials to nonpublic pupils is limited to texts used by a pupil and excludes textbooks or textbook orders that include a teacher’s guide.

Section 2. Individualized instructional or cooperative learning materials. Expands definition of individualized instructional or cooperative learning materials to include teacher materials that accompany the materials used by a pupil.

Section 3. Cost; limitation. Strikes obsolete language related to the calculation of nonpublic aids for fiscal years 2015 and 2016 only.

Section 4. Definitions.  Strikes an obsolete reference to a defunct accrediting agency and allows opportunities industrialization centers accredited by an accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education to continue to provide postsecondary enrollment options courses.

Section 5. Alternative pupil; PSEO.  Authorizes 10th grade nonpublic pupils to participate in career and technical PSEO coursework in the same manner as public school pupils.

Section 6. Eligible pupils.  Extends, for fiscal year 2019 only, the eligibility of certain English learner students with an interrupted formal education to participate in the graduation incentives program and in concurrent enrollment courses.  Makes the section effective July 1, 2018.

Sections 7-9.  Local optional revenue and referendum revenue.  Simplifies the calculation of referendum and local optional revenue and makes the calculations more transparent by eliminating the annual recalculation of referendum allowances based on the amount of LOR a district receives, and moving the $300 per pupil of referendum revenue available to districts by board resolution to LOR, so that all of the $724 available to districts by board action is in LOR and all of the referendum revenue is voter approved.  To ensure that all districts receive the same amount of aid and levy as under current law, establishes a two-tiered equalization formula for LOR, reduces the number of tiers for referendum equalization from 3 to 2, and reduces the referendum cap by $300.

Section 10. Annual expenditure report.  Requires school districts to submit to the commissioner of education a functional description of how the school is spending its compensatory revenue.  Adds the requirement that the report must address whether the increased expenditures raised student achievement levels and includes the report in the district’s World’s Best Workforce plan.

Section 11. Commissioner’s report. Requires the commissioner to compile and summarize district compensatory revenue reports and submit the consolidated report to the Legislature by February 15th of each year.

Sections 12-17. Local optional revenue and referendum revenue.  Simplifies the calculation of referendum and local optional revenue and makes the calculations more transparent by eliminating the annual recalculation of referendum allowances based on the amount of LOR a district receives, and moving the $300 per pupil of referendum revenue available to districts by board resolution to LOR, so that all of the $724 available to districts by board action is in LOR and all of the referendum revenue is voter approved.  To ensure that all districts receive the same amount of aid and levy as under current law, establishes a two-tiered equalization formula for LOR, reduces the number of tiers for referendum equalization from 3 to 2, and reduces the referendum cap by $300.

Section 18. Payment percentage for reimbursement aids. Strikes an obsolete reference to a repealed aid program for special education litigation costs. This program was repealed by Laws 2005.

Section 19. Payment of aids and credits to school districts; payments to third parties. Eliminates references to payments procedures for certain cooperative units repealed in this article.

Section 20. Agreement; joint powers.  Includes a service cooperative as a “governmental unit” in the list of governmental units authorized to participate in joint powers agreements.

Section 21. General education appropriation.  Increases the general education appropriation to pay for provisions in this article and adjusts the aid to match the February 2018 Forecast.  See fiscal worksheet for details.

Section 22. Consolidation transition aid appropriation.  Redirects unneeded consolidation transition aid for fiscal year 2019 to grants for character development education and a grant to the Waconia school district for a vocational education pilot program.

Section 23. Fund transfer; Minnetonka school district. 

 Subd. 1. Minnetonka school district. Authorizes the Minnetonka school district to transfer up to $2.4 million from its community education reserve account to its reserved for operating capital account for the construction costs associated with the district’s early childhood spaces.

Subd. 2. Ivanhoe school district. Authorizes the Ivanhoe school district to transfer up to $79,000 from its community education reserve account to its undesignated general fund.

 Subd. 3. Minneapolis school district. Authorizes the Minneapolis school district to transfer up to $2 million from its community education reserve account to its undesignated general fund for school district support personnel, including mental health professionals.

 Subd. 4. Hopkins school district. Authorizes the Hopkins school district to transfer up to $500,000 from its community education reserve account to its reserved for operating capital account for the construction costs associated with the district’s early childhood spaces.

Subd. 5. Fund balance policy. Directs each district to abide by its fund balance policy, to the extent practicable.

Section 24. School revenue generation and spending; legislative auditor study. Requests that the legislative auditor conduct a program evaluation of how school districts and charter schools allocate revenue and expenditures across school sites.

Section 25. Pupil transportation working group.  Establishes a pupil transportation working group.  Defines members, requires a report.

Section 26. Appropriation.  Appropriates $300,000 in fiscal year 2019 from the general fund to the commissioner of education for a grant to the St. Cloud school district for an English language academy operated in the summer.  Makes the one-time funding available for three years.  Requires a report.  Appropriates $41,000 in fiscal year 2019 for a school bus safety campaign. See fiscal worksheet for details.

Section 27. Appropriation; Office of the Legislative Auditor.  Appropriates $200,000 in fiscal year 2019 from the general fund to the Office of the Legislative Auditor the for the program evaluation required in section 13. See fiscal worksheet for details.

Section 28. Repealer.  (a) July 1, 2018:

  • section 123A.26, subdivision 3 – Repeals authority for a district to request payment of certain aids to a cooperative unit; this payment authority has never been requested by a district.
  • section 125A.75, subdivision 9 – Repeals an annual district and department report of district special education litigation costs; these costs are already reported and available in district and agency accounting systems.

(b) July 1, 2018:

  • section 126C.16, subdivisions 1 and 3 – Referendum revenue conversion procedures now obsolete.

(c) July 1, 2020:

  • section 126C.17, subdivision 9a – Outlining the process for board-approved referendum allowance, now “first-tier local optional revenue.”

Article 48: Education Excellence

Section 1. Education records. Includes pupil withdrawal records in the records sent when a student is transferring to another district, charter school, or nonpublic school. Requires the student’s records to include a list of the services a pupil needs.

Section 2. Legitimate exemptions. Allows a student to be excused from school for up to three days to participate in any activity necessary to join a branch of the United States armed forces.

Section 3. Required academic standards. Allows a district to include child sexual exploitation prevention instruction in the health curriculum.

(e) Allows a district to include instruction on substance misuse prevention in the health curriculum starting in grade 5.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective immediately.

Section 4. Graduation requirements. Requires a student beginning 9th grade in the 2020-2021 school year and later to take a government and citizenship course for credit in 11th or 12th grade.

Section 5. World’s Best Workforce; definitions. Defines certain terms.

(e) “State plan” means the plan submitted by the commissioner of education under ESSA and approved by the U.S. Department of Education.

(f) “Ineffective teacher” means a teacher whose most recent summative teacher evaluation resulted in placing or otherwise keeping the teacher on an improvement process.

(g) “Inexperienced teacher” means a licensed teacher who has been employed as a teacher for three years or less.

(h) “Out-of-field teacher” means a licensed teacher who is providing instruction in an area in which the teacher is not licensed.

Section 6. World’s Best Workforce; performance measures. Amends performance measures by basing the academic achievement gap on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA), specifies that student performance is based on the reading and math MCAs, and measures college and career readiness by student performance on the high school MCAs in reading and math and successful completion of rigorous coursework that is part of a well-rounded education. Adds performance measures from state plan to World’s Best Workforce performance measures.

Section 7. World’s Best Workforce; adopting plans and budgets. Adds statewide goals in reference to benchmarks required in district plan.

Section 8. World’s Best Workforce; report. Eliminates the requirement that school boards publish a school performance report in the local newspaper. Requires the commissioner to include student performance on performance measures under subdivision 1a in school performance reports. A school board must publish the school performance report for the district and each school site on the district’s Web site or link to the reports on the Department of Education Web site.

Section 9. World’s Best Workforce; annual evaluation. Amends the requirement that the commissioner identify districts not making sufficient progress by requiring the commissioner to use performance measures for identification, requiring identification of school sites in addition to school districts, modifying the three-year performance period reviewed, and substituting performance goals for teaching and learning.

Requires identified districts to implement evidence-based strategies and best practices.

Modifies the commissioner’s report to the legislature by substituting progress toward meeting World’s Best Workforce goals for the district’s performance goals.

Section 10. Reading proficiently no later than end of grade 3. Includes dyslexia training in staff development needs and allows district to use literacy aid for staff development needs.

Section 11. Duties. Requires the dyslexia specialist to provide guidance to school districts and charter schools on accessing screening tools, implementing screening, and participating in professional development opportunities on intervention strategies and accommodations for students with dyslexia. Requires the specialist to give guidance to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) on developing license renewal requirements on dyslexia.

Section 12. Secondary students personal learning plans. Amends the secondary student personal learning plan statute to:

  • require that plans help students access armed forces career options;
  • require school districts to grant military recruiters (this provision is duplicated Federal law) the same access to students that they grant to colleges and employers; and
  • encourage school districts to sponsor an Armed Forces Career Opportunity Day each fall.

Section 13. Jake’s Law; substance misuse prevention. Encourages school districts to integrate substance misuse prevention instruction into existing programs, curriculum, or school environment.

Section 14. Proficiency. Amends the definition of proficiency by eliminating references to low, medium, and high growth.

Section 15. Statewide testing. Requires the commissioner of education to administer the MCAs as late as possible each school year. Currently, students take the MCAs in March, April, and May. Requires commissioner to publish testing schedule at least two years in advance. Eliminates obsolete language. Eliminates benchmarks for career and college readiness for students in grades 3 through 5 on MCAs

Section 16. State growth target; other state measures. Corrects a reference to “Asian and Pacific Islander” to align with the federal race definitions. Strikes the requirement that the commissioner implement a value-added growth model and requires the commissioner to report on academic growth, as defined in the state plan. Clarifies graduation rate reporting requirements.

Section 17. Academic achievement rating system.

     Subd. 1. Rating system. Requires the commissioner to develop a rating system that assigns to each school and district a summative rating based on a score of zero to 100. The summative rating must be based on the accountability indicators used in the state ESSA plan. The rating and score must be reported annually on school performance reports, starting by September 1, 2020.

     Subd. 2. Report. Requires the commissioner to report to the legislature on progress toward developing the rating system by February 1, 2020.

Section 18. School performance reports and public reporting. Requires the commissioner to report the school and district ratings, growth rates as required by ESSA, and civics test performance. Requires school performance report to include summative ratings and scores, achievement rates, and progress toward statewide goals.

Section 19. Student progress and other data. Includes data used to set goals for expectations under the state plan in the category of nonpublic data until the commissioner publicly releases the data.

Section 20. National motto.  Allows a school district or charter school to display a copy of the national motto "In God We Trust" in each school.

Section 21. Applicability.  Requires a parent to inform the school if their student’s drugs or medication that is stored and administered at school is a controlled substance. For drugs or medications that are not controlled substances, requires the written permission to administer the medication to include a provision authorizing the school district to transport the medication for purposes of destruction if any unused medication is left at the school. When the district requests, the parent is required to retrieve the medication if it’s a controlled substance.

Section 22. Unclaimed drugs or medications.  Requires a school district to adopt a procedure for the collection and transport of any unclaimed or abandoned prescription drugs or over-the-counter medication left with school personnel. Allows the school district to designate an individual to transport over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs that are not a controlled substance to a designated drop-off box or collection bin. The district may request a law enforcement agency to transport the drugs or medication. Prohibits school districts or school personnel from transporting unclaimed or abandoned prescription drugs that are controlled substances.

Section 23. School counselors. Encourages school counselors to present and explain armed forces career options and benefits to students and inform parents and students of the military enlistment exam. Allows counselors to consult with the Department of Labor and Industry on resources for students interested in careers in the skilled trades and manufacturing. Prohibits a counselor from interfering with a student’s enlistment in the armed forces.

Section 24. Nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices; alternatives to pupil dismissal. Defines the term as policies and practices that are alternatives to removing a pupil from class or dismissing pupil from school. Affirms that definition does not diminish teacher’s authority to remove a student from class.

Section 25. Grounds for dismissal.

     Subd. 1. Provision of alternative programs. Requires a school to consider using nonexclusionary disciplinary practices before dismissal proceedings.

     Subd. 2. Grounds for dismissal. Provides technical changes.

     Subd. 3. Strikes the subdivision.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later.

Section 26. Administrator notifies pupil of grounds for suspension. Clarifies that the administrator must inform the pupil that they are not required to present their version of the facts and ask questions at the informal administrative conference before a suspension.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later. 

Section 27. Written notice of grounds for suspension. Clarifies what is contained in a written notice of grounds for suspension and how it is to be served on the pupil and their parents or guardian. Requires the notice include documents indicated the nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices used with the pupil, the length of the suspension, and a request for a meeting with the pupil’s parent or guardian consistent with subdivision 3a.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later.

Section 28. Parent notification and meeting; suspension; mental health screening. (a) Requires a school official to make reasonable attempts to convene a meeting with the pupil and their parent or guardian within 30 days of a suspension.  States the purpose of the meeting as engaging the pupil’s parent or guardian in developing a plan to help the pupil succeed in school by addressing the behavior that led to the dismissal.

(b) If a pupil’s total days of removal from school exceeds ten cumulative days, the school district must attempt to convene a meeting with the pupil and their parent or guardian to arrange for a mental health screening for the pupil if the parent consents.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later.

Section 29. Minimum education services. Requires a school official to give a suspended pupil the opportunity to complete all school work assigned during the pupil’s suspension and to receive credit for satisfactorily completing the assignments. Encourages the school principal to designate a liaison to work with the pupil’s teachers to allow the suspended pupil to receive timely course materials and complete daily and weekly assignments and receive teachers’ feedback.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later.

Section 30. Written notice. Makes technical changes and requires the written notice of expulsion to explain the grounds for expelling the pupil instead of imposing nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later.

Section 31. Admission or readmission plan. Requires an admission or readmission plan to include measures to improve pupil behavior and parental involvement in process.

Section 32. Policies to be established. Makes technical changes. Requires a district to review the expelled or excluded pupil’s school work and grades on a quarterly basis to ensure they are on track for readmission. Requires a district to continue to provide school-linked mental health services to an expelled or excluded student in the manner determined by the district until the pupil is enrolled in a new district. Requires the district to provide the pupil’s parent with a list of mental health and counseling services available to the pupil after expulsion. Requires the district to report on its policy on the appropriate use of school resource officers.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later.

Section 33. Discipline and removal of pupils from class. Makes technical changes. Amends the requirement that the district discipline policy includes potential consequences for violations of the rules to require that potential consequences are included in the policy. Requires the policy to include parental notification requirements. Requires a meeting with a pupil’s parent or guardian to discuss the problem causing the pupil’s removal from class after the pupil has been removed from class more than five, instead of ten, times in one school year.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later.

Section 34. Parent notification. Requires a school administrator to make and document efforts to immediately contact the parent or guardian of a pupil removed from a school building or school grounds by a peace or school resource officer unless the notice is specifically prohibited by law. Requires school administrator to make reasonable efforts to notify a parent if a student is secluded.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later.

Section 35. Essential data. Reassigns a requirement that the Minnesota Department of Education maintain a list of licensed and non-licensed staff members for each school district to PELSB. This data is collected through Staff Automated Report (STAR), which was transferred to PELSB last session.

Section 36. Clerk records. Deletes a report required under section 123B.14, subdivision 7.

Section 37. Resolution of concurrence. Clarifies that a resolution of non-concurrence by the American Indian education parent advisory committee and recommendations on educational programs for American Indian students must be submitted directly to the school board.

Section 38. Literacy incentive aid. Amends the measure of growth for purposes of growth aid.

Section 39. Department duties; essential data. Eliminates the requirement that Department of Education maintain essential data on school district licensed and nonlicensed staff members. PELSB will maintain the essential data.

Section 40. Limitations of order. Eliminates reference to MDE licensing division.

Section 41. Definitions. Adds a cross-reference to the definition of “sexual abuse” under the Maltreatment of Minors Act to allow the Department of Education to investigate behaviors that fall under that statute for maltreatment.

Section 42. Certification incentive revenue. Reduces incentive funding from $1,000,000 to $400,000, clarifies time when funding may be used, and extends reporting requirement.

Section 43. Certification incentive funding. Reduces appropriation. Allows $3,000 to be used for administrative expenses. See fiscal worksheet.

Section 44. Museums and education centers.  Appropriates $31,000 in fiscal year 2019 only for the Judy Garland Museum for the Children’s Discovery Museum of Grand Rapids. Allows for administrative expenses.

Section 45. Singing-based pilot program. Allows fiscal year 2018 funding for the singing-based pilot program to carry over to fiscal year 2019.

Section 46. Paraprofessional pathway to teacher licensure. Allows charter schools to receive grants for Grow Your Own programs. Clarifies eligibility for grants.

Section 47. Appropriations. See fiscal worksheet for details.]

Section 48. Revisor’s instruction. Recodifies intermediate school district provisions within K-12 education code.

Section 49. Repealer. Repeals definitions of low growth, medium growth, high growth, and growth toward proficiency. Repeals vision therapy pilot project.

Article 49: Teachers

Section 1. Code of ethics. Codifies the code of ethics, which is currently in rule, in statute. Adds prohibition on discriminating on basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs, and engaging in sexual contact with a student.

Section 2. Public employer compensation reduction prohibited. Prohibits a public employer of a PELSB member from reducing the member’s compensation or benefits for their absence from employment due to engaging in the business of the board.

Section 3. PELSB and code of ethics. Adds reference to new statute codifying code of ethics. Requires board to develop a process for school districts to receive complaints about teacher code of ethics violations, and forward complaints to board. Requires school board to inform parents of ability to submit complaint to school board.

Section 4. Teacher background checks. Eliminates the option for PELSB to issue a teacher license while a background check is pending.

Section 5. “Professional growth;” continuing education in armed forces career options. Authorizes school employees who provide career advice to students to partly satisfy their professional continuing education requirements by attending training in armed forces career options or careers in the skilled trades and manufacturing.

Section 6. Teacher background check. Requires PELSB to request a background check from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) on a licensed teacher applying for a renewal license if the teacher has not had a background check within the last five years. Allows the board to request payment from a teacher renewing a license to cover the cost of the background check.

Section 7. Grounds for revocation, suspension, or denial. Adds to the list of grounds on which PELSB and Board of School Administrators (BOSA) must refuse to issue, refuse to renew, or automatically revoke a teacher’s license without the right to a hearing. Allows board to take licensing action when there is a stay of adjudication for any offense.

Requires PELSB or BOSA to refuse to issue, refuse to renew, or revoke a teacher’s license to teach if the teacher has engaged in sexual penetration with a student.

Requires reversal of licensing decision based on background check if applicant is not subject of background check. Provides that a licensing action under this subdivision is not subject to review.

Requires PELSB or BOSA to review, allows board to renew, or revoke a teacher’s license to teach if the teacher is convicted of certain offenses. Allows a teacher to initiate a contested case under chapter 14 if license is revoked, not renewed or not issued.

Allows PELSB or BOSA to suspend a license while an investigation into grounds for revocation is pending.

Section 8. PELSB; mandatory reporting. Clarifies responsibilities of BOSA for reporting maltreatment. Requires PELSB and BOSA to report maltreatment to a welfare agency and law enforcement authorities.

Section 9. Immediate discharge. Adds cross-reference to section 122A.20, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), in list of grounds on which a school board must immediately discharge a teacher and adds to list of grounds to match list in section 122A.20.

Section 10. Immediate discharge; first class city schools. Adds cross-reference to section 122A.20, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), in list of grounds on which a school board must immediately discharge a teacher and adds to list of grounds to match list in section 122A.20.

Section 11. General control of schools. Requires school district to notify teachers of authority to remove students from class.

Section 12. Responsibility. Substitutes PELSB for Board of Teaching in statute relating to evaluating programs to prepare teachers.

Section 13. Background check requiredRequires the school hiring authority to request a new criminal history background check on all employees every five years.  Allows the school hiring authority to decide not to request a criminal background check on an employee who provides a copy of a background check conducted within the previous 60 months.  Allows a school hiring authority to pay the costs of conducting the background check.

Section 14. Effect of background check or PELSB action. Eliminates the option for a district to hire an individual while a background check is pending.

Section 15. Report by court administrator. Requires the superintendent of the BCA to require court administrators to report stays of adjudication for an offense that would require predatory offender registration if convicted.

Section 16. Background checks; additional disclosure. Requires the superintendent of the BCA to disclose stays of adjudication granted to the subject of a statutorily required or authorized background check.

Section 17. Limits of sentences. Requires that a stay of adjudication be reported to the superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Section 18. Persons mandated to report; persons voluntarily reporting. Adds the member of a board whose licensees perform work within a school facility to the list of mandated reporters.

Section 19. Law enforcement duties. Requires law enforcement to notify PELSB or BOSA of a report of maltreatment by a licensee.

Section 20. Determinations. Requires the commissioner of education to inform an appropriate licensing entity that a report of maltreatment was received, the subject of the report, the date of the initial report, the category of maltreatment, the fact that maltreatment was not determined, and a summary of the reasons for the determination.

Section 21. Certified copy of disqualifying offense convictions sent to public safety and school districts. Requires a court administrator to send a copy of a school bus driver’s stay of adjudication for offenses requiring predatory offender registration to the Department of Public Safety and to the school districts in which the offender drives a school bus within ten days of the stay of adjudication.

Sections 22-36. Effective Date.  Extends the effective date for the teacher licensure rules and the repeal of the current licensure rules from July 1, 2018, to October 1, 2018.

Section 37. Survey of teacher preparation programs. Requires PELSB to survey board-approved teacher preparation programs on programs’ dyslexia instruction offerings.

PELSB may consult with the dyslexia specialist at MDE. PELSB must report to the legislature on survey findings.

Section 38. Tiered licensure rules. Requires PELSB to adopt in rule sections 39 to 56 as temporary rules that must expire on the adoption of new rules if the board has not adopted tiered licensure rules by October 1, 2018.

Section 39. Definitions and general rules for teaching licenses.

     Subd. 1. Definitions. Defines terms.

     Subd. 2. Teaching licenses, in general. Requires licenses to be granted to applicants that meet all requirements. Provides expiration dates.           Requires criminal history background checks.

     Subd. 3. Addition to Tier 3 or 4 license. Sets expiration date when licensure area is added.

     Subd. 4. Movement between tiers. Allows teachers to obtain higher tier license. Limits when teacher may obtain license in lower tier.

     Subd. 5. Multiple expiration dates. Allows consolidation of expiration dates.

     Subd. 6. Appeal. Allows applicant denied a license to appeal.

     Subd. 7. Licenses issued in error. Requires license issued in error to be corrected without change and without a hearing.

     Subd. 8. Report. Requires annual report by September 1.

     Subd. 9. Fees. Requires applicants to pay fees.

Section 40. Tier 1 license. Provides requirements for a tier 1 license.

Section 41. Tier 2 license. Provides requirements for a tier 2 license.

Section 42. Tier 3 license. Provides requirements for a tier 3 license.

Section 43. Tier 4 license. Provides requirements for a tier 4 license.

Section 44. Out-of-field permission. Provides requirements for a teacher with a tier 3 or 4 license to teach out of field.

Section 45. Innovative program permissions. Provides requirements for innovative program permissions.

Section 46. Short-call substitute license. Provides requirements for substitute license for holder to replace teacher of record for up to 15 consecutive school days.

Section 47. Lifetime substitute license. Provides requirements for lifetime substitute license issued to retired teacher, who can replace teacher of record on approved leave of absence.

Section 48. Teachers of reading. Requires candidate for reading teacher license to hold or qualify for license to teach elementary, middle, or secondary school.

Section 49. Reading leader. Requires candidate for reading teacher license to hold or qualify for license to teach elementary, middle, or secondary school.

Section 50. Speech-language pathologist. Provides requirements for speech-language pathologist license.

Section 51. School nurse. Provides requirements for school nurse license.

Section 52. School psychologist. Provides requirements for school psychologist license.

Section 53. School social worker. Provides requirements for school social worker license.

Section 54. School counselor. Provides requirements for school counselor license.

Section 55. Duty of license to renew. Requires person seeking to renew tier 3 or 4 license to comply with renewal requirements and submit required application and materials.

Section 56. Career pathways teacher. Provides requirements for career pathways teacher.

Section 57. Repealer. (a) Repeals PELSB rules replaced by rule adopted under section 38.

(b) Repeals statute requiring PELSB to adopt a code of ethics, and the rule with the code of ethics.

Article 50: Special Education

Section 1. Education, residence, and transportation of homeless.  Provides that, for homeless pupils with an individualized education program (IEP) enrolled in a program authorized by an intermediate district or other cooperative unit, the serving district at the time of the pupil’s enrollment in the program remains responsible for transporting the pupil for the remainder of the school year, unless the initial serving district and current serving district mutually agree that the current serving district will be responsible for providing transportation.

Effective date. This section is effective July 1, 2018.

Section 2. Intermediate school district mental health innovation grant program; appropriation.   Clarifies that a mental health provider that is in enrolled as a mental health or substance use disorder provider in Minnesota’s medical assistance program and that employs at least two full-time equivalent mental health professionals is eligible to receive a grant under this section.

Section 3. Special education adjustment; Monticello school district.  Converts a one-year delay in repayment due to an adjustment to the Monticello school district’s special education revenue amounts to forgiveness of $800,000 of the outstanding adjustment. Makes this a one-time adjustment in fiscal year 2019 only.

Section 4. Appropriation; special education aid.  Matches the fiscal years 2018 and 2019 special education aid appropriations to the February 2018 forecast.  Increases special education aid by $800,000 in for fiscal year 2019 for the Monticello adjustment.  See fiscal worksheet for details.

Section 5. Special Education Legislative Working Group.

     Subd. 1. Duties. Establishes a special education legislative working group to review special education delivery and cost in Minnesota, to consult with stakeholders, and to submit a written report and recommendations to the legislature. Requires the working group to examine certain aspects of the special education system.

     Subd. 2. Membership. Provides that the working group consists of twelve members, including three members appointed by the speaker of the house, three appointed by the house minority leader, three appointed by the senate majority leader, and three appointed by the senate minority leader. Requires that the chairs of the house and senate committees with jurisdiction over education finance and policy be appointed to the working group. Requires that only duly elected and currently serving members of the house or senate be members of the working group.

     Subd. 3. Organization; process; administrative and technical support. Requires that working group appointments be made by July 1, 2018. Requires caucus leaders to fill vacancies in working group membership. Requires that the senate education policy chair convene the first meeting and serve as a co-chair of the working group together with the house education policy chair. Requires that working group meetings be held periodically be open to the public. Directs the Legislative Coordinating Commission to provide administrative assistance. Requires the Department of Education to provide technical assistance.

     Subd. 4. Consultation with stakeholders. Requires the working group to consult with stakeholders in developing its recommendations.

     Subd. 5. Report. Requires the working group to submit its report the legislature no later than January 15, 2019.

     Subd. 6. Expiration. Provides that the working group expires on January 16, 2019, unless extended by law.

Article 51: Facilities, Technology, Libraries, and Nutrition

Section 1. Frequency of testing; lead in school drinking water.  Requires the commissioner of education, in consultation with the commissioner of health, to set the maximum acceptable level of lead in school drinking water.  Requires any water source that exceeds this level to be immediately shut off until lead levels are remediated.

Section 2. Reporting; lead in school drinking water.  Requires a school to immediately notify parents any time that lead is detected at a level exceeding the standard established by the commissioner.  The school must also notify parents of the test results and any remediation activities.

Section 3. Disposing of surplus school computers. Allows a school district to sell or give used computers or tablets to students.

Section 4. Food service contracts. Clarifies a cross-reference that allows a contract between a school board and a food service management company that complies with federal regulations governing summer food service programs and the Child and Adult Care Food Program to be renewed for up to four years.

Section 5. Allocation from districts participating in agreements for secondary education or interdistrict cooperation.  Allows districts participating in a pairing agreement to allocate long-term facilities maintenance revenue for large indoor air quality, fire safety and asbestos projects among the participating district to provide an equitable distribution of the levy impact of the projects.

Section 6. School meals policies; lunch aid; food service accounting.

     Subd. 1. School meals policies. Requires each Minnesota participant in the national school lunch program to adopt and publish a written school meals policy. Requires certain policy components. Requires the policy to apply to contracts with third-party meal service providers.

     Subd. 5. Respectful treatment. Requires the participant to provide meals to students in a respectful manner. Prohibits the participant from dumping meals, withdrawing served meals, publicly listing the names of students with meal debt, identifying students with meal debt with stickers, stamps, or pins, or other demeaning actions. Prohibits participants from restricting students with outstanding debt from participation in any school activity for which a fee is otherwise prohibited under section 123B.37. Prohibits participants from limiting a student from participating in graduation ceremonies, field trips, athletics, activity clubs, or other extracurriculars or access to materials, technology, or other items provided to students because of outstanding debt.  Requires the commissioner to communicate with noncompliant participants. Requires noncompliant participants to respond to commissioner communications and to remedy noncompliant practices.

Section 7. District aid.  For a district that is not a member of an organized telecommunications access cluster, eliminates the $16 per pupil local effort required before the district is eligible for state aid.

Effective date. This section is effective for revenue in fiscal year 2019 and later.

Section 8. Award of funds; regional library telecommunications access aid.  Redirects unspent regional library telecommunications aid to grants to regional public library systems for equipment and other uses designed to expand access to high speed Internet, including providing portable hot spots to library patrons for fiscal years 2019 through 2021.  Requires the commissioner to report to the legislature regarding the effectiveness and fiscal need of the regional library telecommunications access aid program.

Section 9. Sample ballot, posting.  For proposed capital projects requiring review and comment, requires that the summary of the commissioner’s review and comment and other supplemental information be posted in the school district’s administrative office four days before an election to issue bonds to finance the project. Requires that the same be posted in the polling place on Election Day.

Effective date. This section is effective for elections held on or after August 1, 2018.

Section 10. Duties of fire marshal.  Requires that, of the five school fire drills required each year, at least three drills must require an evacuation.

Section 11. Fire drill.  Authorizes a public or private school or educational institution to implement an alternative fire drill that does not require evacuation. Requires a school or educational institution to work with the local fire chief and law enforcement chief or their designees in developing and implementing the alternative drills. Requires a school to keep records of fire drills, including information about the type of drill and evacuation.

Section 12. Proper use of bond proceeds. Clarifies that bond elections issued after approval of the electors must be used for the purposes stated on the ballot.

Section 13. Generally; notice.  Requires that the ballot language for a school district bond issue state the name of the plan or plans being proposed by the district as submitted to the commissioner for review and comment.

Effective date. This section is effective for elections held on or after August 1, 2018.

Section 14. Equity in telecommunication access; appropriation.  Appropriates an additional $200,000 in fiscal year 2019 only for equity in telecommunications access aid.

Section 15. Regional library telecommunications aid.  Authorizes carry forward authority from fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2019 for any balance in the regional library telecommunications aid program.

Section 16. Appropriations.  Appropriates $362,000 in fiscal year 2019 only for the additional telecommunications access aid.

Article 52: Early Education, Self-Sufficiency, and Lifelong Learning

Section 1. Voluntary prekindergarten; program requirements.  Clarifies that the cognitive and social skills formative measure administered to prekindergarten pupils must be age-appropriate.

Section 2. Voluntary prekindergarten; application process; priority for high poverty schools. Splits the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts into two separate regions for purposes of allocating voluntary prekindergarten funds. 

Section 3. Participation limits.  Removes obsolete language.

Section 4. Kindergarten readiness assessment.

     Subd. 1. Purpose. States that the purpose of kindergarten readiness assessment is to determine readiness to enter school, understand the connection between readiness and later academic achievement, and produce data that can inform the effectiveness of early childhood programs.

     Subd. 2. Commissioner duties. Requires the commissioner to provide districts with a process for measuring kindergarten readiness of incoming kindergarten students. Requires measurements to be valid and reliable and aligned to state early childhood indicators and kindergarten standards. Requires districts to report results of kindergarten entry assessments to the commissioner and requires the commissioner to summarize and report this information as part of the performance reporting.

Section 5. Family eligibility; early learning scholarships.  Eliminates the need for parents to verify income for homeless children or children in need of protective services.

Section 6. Administration; early learning scholarships. Clarifies that children receiving early learning scholarships are required to receive an early learning developmental screening within 90 days of their third birthday, but not before, for those children who receive a scholarship at an earlier age.

Section 7. Early childhood program eligibility. Strikes an obsolete provision that allowed the early learning scholarship pilot sites to participate in the statewide program prior to becoming rated through the state’s quality rating and improvement system.

Section 8. Commissioner-selected high school equivalency tests. Clarifies that the commissioner may select more than one high school equivalency test.

Section 9. Administration; design. Requires that the commissioner’s education partnership program requirements align with programs that collect and utilize data to improve student outcomes; share disaggregated performance data with the community to set community-level outcomes; employ continuous improvement processes; have an anchor entity to manage the partnership; convene a cross-sector leadership group and have a documented accountability structure; and demonstrate use of non-state funds, from multiple sources, including in-kind contributions, among other requirements. Requires a grant recipient’s supportive services programming also address middle school mathematics and postsecondary enrollment and completion.

Section 10. Grants. Requires that, for Education Partnership Tier 2 grants authorized in fiscal year 2020 and later, priority must be given to past grant recipients. (As of fiscal year 2018, past Tier 2 grant recipients include the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative in Northfield; the Jones Family Foundation for the Every Hand Joined program in Red Wing; and the United Way of Central Minnesota for the Partners for Student Success program.)

Section 11. Application; high school equivalency tests. Clarifies that the commissioner may select more than one high school equivalency test.

Section 12. Minnesota state authorization; high school equivalency tests. Clarifies a reference to high school equivalency tests in the cosmetology license statute.

Section 13. National criminal history record check.  Defines the term “national criminal history record check” to mean a fingerprint-based check of records conducted by the BCA through the databases maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Section 14. Background study; tribal organizations.  Authorizes tribal organizations to contract with the commissioner of human services to conduct background studies of individuals affiliated with a child care program sponsored, managed, or licensed by a tribal organization.

Section 15. Background study; Head Start programs.  Authorizes Head Start programs to contract with the commissioner of human services for background studies.  Exempts a Head Start program that does not contract with the commissioner, is not licensed, and is not registered for funding under chapter 119B from chapter 245C.

Section 16. Tier 2 Implementing grants; appropriation. Increase the fiscal year 2019 appropriation for the Education Partnership Tier 2 implementing grants by $73,000 and awards this amount as a grant to the Promise Neighborhood of Central Minnesota.

Article 53: State Agencies

Section 1. Minnesota State High School League eligibility bylaws, policies, and procedures.

     Subd. 1. Public input and access to proposed eligibility bylaws, policies, and procedures. Clarifies the requirements for public notice and public hearings of proposed changes to league eligibility bylaws, policies, and procedures. Reduces the number of parent/guardian requests necessary to require that a hearing be conducted by an administrative law judge or a person contracted by the Office of Administrative Hearings. Requires the league to maintain a public docket of historical and proposed changes to eligibility bylaws, policies, and procedures. Requires the league to post notice and proposed changes to eligibility bylaws, policies, and procedures no later than 30 days prior to board meetings. Requires the league to indicate publication dates on the league handbook and other advisory documents concerning eligibility and remove duplicate policies and procedures.

     Subd. 2. Eligibility review process. Requires the league to establish a process for student eligibility review that provides students and parents an opportunity to present information. Requires the league to publish general criteria by which a request for a review may qualify for a review by the league’s eligibility committee or further review by an independent hearing officer and the conditions, timelines, and procedures for such reviews. Requires the league to provide specific reasons for denying a request for review when a request is denied. Provides that the eligibility review process does not create a property right or liberty interest in extracurricular varsity athletic competition.

Section 2. League information review and report; commissioner recommendations. Transfers responsibility for annual information review from the commissioner to the league. Requires that the league annually evaluate current and proposed bylaws, procedures, policies, and definitions for compliance with Minnesota Department of Education programs and state and federal law. Requires that the league annually review any recent or proposed changes to eligibility bylaws, policies, and procedures. Requires that the league post its review on the league Web site and deliver a copy to the commissioner and the legislature.

Section 3. Department.  Increases the Minnesota Department of Education’s fiscal year 2019 appropriation by $185,000 for the Turnaround Arts program.  Sets the agency’s fiscal year 2020 base budget at $22,139,000.  Provides that any unspent amount from the fiscal year 2018 appropriation for legal fees be reallocated for additional character development incentive grants, a grant to the For Jake’s Sake Foundation, and a grant to the Mind Foundry Learning Foundation for fiscal year 2019.

Section 4. Appropriation; PELSB.  Adds $25,000 to the fiscal year 2019 appropriation to PELSB for developing a process to submit ethics complaints.

Section 5. Appropriation; Perpich Center for Arts Education. Reduces the portion of the appropriation for the Perpich Center set aside for potential severance costs for Crosswinds employees from $1.2 million to $400,000.

Section 6. Crosswinds disposition costs.  Cancels the unspent portion the Crosswinds disposition costs associated with the sale of the Crosswinds facility by reducing the appropriation from $162,000 to $21,000.

Section 7. Repealer. Repeals section 128C.02, subdivision 6, a duplicative annual high school league reporting requirement.

Article 54: Forecast Adjustments

Article 41 adjusts all appropriations for formula-driven school funding to match the February 2018 forecast. These changes conform the appropriations to the forecast and have no fiscal effect when measured against the forecast.

Article 55 - Miscellaneous Finance

Article 55 contains a variety of technical changes to various fiscal provisions. These changes eliminate obsolete provisions, clarify reporting requirements, and clarify legislative intent. 

Section 1 sets a deadline of December 6 of each year for the November forecast.

Section 2 modernizes the forecast variable reporting requirement to ensure that the report is directed to the chair and ranking minority member of the senate finance committee.

Section 3 requires the commissioner of management and budget to submit a detailed report of spending in the previous biennium by October 15 of each odd-numbered year, referred to as the budget close report.

Sections 4 and 5 modify statutory references to conform to the repealer of the tobacco securitization bond statute in section 8 of this article.

Section 5 changes the Legislative Advisory Commission review process for transfers into the information and telecommunications technology systems and services account. The primary change in the process provided for LAC review is to require a positive LAC recommendation for transfers above $500,000.

Section 6 prohibits the use of arts and cultural heritage fund money for projects that promote domestic terrorism or criminal activities.

Section 7 extends the availability of grants for fire remediation in the city of Melrose and in Stearns County to June 30, 2019, and increases the grant for the city of Melrose from the original appropriation by $84,800 by making a corresponding reduction in the amount of the original grant to Stearns County for the same purpose.

Section 8 repeals the tobacco securitization bonds statute, which became inoperative after the implementation of the tobacco appropriation bonds authorized in Minnesota Statutes, section 16A.99.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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