League of MN Cities 2017 Law Change Summaries

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2017 Law Summaries Page 5 DATA PRACTICES Legislative Commission on Data Practices First Special Session Chapter 4 (no HF/SF 1*) is the omnibus state government finance bill. Article 2, sec. 2 extends the sunset date of the Legislative Commission on Data Practices by two years to June 30, 2019. Effective July 1, 2017. (IK) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Omnibus jobs and economic growth bill Chapter 94 (HF 1620/SF 1456*) is the omnibus jobs and economic growth appropriations bill. Effective July 1, 2017. Article 1: Appropriations • Jobs Skills Partnership. Section 2, subd. 2(a) appropri- ates $4.195 million each year. • Minnesota Investment Fund (MIF). Section 2, subd. 2(e) appropriates $12.5 million each year for the MIF program. MIF funds are available to local units of gov- ernment to provide loans to assist expanding businesses. • Job Creation Fund. Section 2, subd. 2(f) appropriates $8.5 million in FY 2018 and 2019 for the Minnesota Job Creation Fund. • Business Development Public Infrastructure Grant Program (BDPI). Section 2, subd. 2(l)(1) appropriates $1.3 million each year to the BDPI pro- gram. Paragraph (l)(2) appropriates $1.6 million in FY 2018 to the City of Thief River Falls. (See omnibus bond- ing bill summary.) • Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program. See Telecommunications for summary. Article 6: Employment and Economic Development • Small Cities Development Block Grant Pro- gram change. Section 2, subd. 2 amends Minn. Stat. § 116J.9731. It allows a local government entity to receive more than one award in a fiscal year. • Transfers between Minnesota Investment Fund and Job Creation Fund. Section 3 adds subd. 10, which allows up to $2 million per fiscal year to be trans- ferred between the Job Creation Program Fund and the Minnesota Investment Fund to meet business demand. • Minnesota Job Creation Fund requirements. Sec- tion 5, subd. 3, and Section 7, subd. 6, amend Minn. Stat. § 116J.8748 to incorporate different requirement thresh- olds if a business is outside a metropolitan area and if a business is cumulatively owned by minorities, veterans, women, or persons with a disability. (LZ) ELECTIONS Elections administration modifications Chapter 92 (HF 729/SF 514*) is the omnibus elections bill. Effective dates vary and are noted by article. Article 1: Election Administration • Indian tribal councils. Sections 1, 2, and 3 amend Minn. Stat § 3.088 to add Indian tribal councils to those eligible for leave of absence without pay, reinstatement, and pension and retirement rights. • Use of electronic access data. Section 4 amends Minn. Stat. § 13.15, subd. 4 by adding “federal law enforcement agency” to those entities that may receive electronic access data. • Voter registration data. Sections 5, 6, and 7 amend Minn. Stat. §§ 13.6905, 13.841, and 13.851 to reflect a technical change moving these provisions to Minn. Stat. § 201.145. • Appointments to fill vacancies; special elections. Section 8 amends Minn. Stat. § 123B.09 to clarify that if a school board vacancy is filled by a special election, the person that wins the election takes office immediately after receiving the certificate of election, filing the bond, and taking the oath of office. • Original signature. Section 9 amends Minn. Stat. § 200.02, subd. 5b to specify that original signatures are not electronic signatures. • Entry of registration information. Section 10 amends Minn. Stat. § 201.121, subd. 1 to modify the deadline for county auditors to enter new voter regis- tration information into the statewide voter registration system after an election. This section allows for a 28-day extension after the initial 42-day deadline, and allows the secretary of state to waive the deadline if, on good cause shown, the county shows a permanent inability to com- ply. The status of each county’s compliance with this sec- tion must be posted on the secretary of state’s website. • Post-election sampling. Section 11 amends Minn. Stat. § 201.121, subd. 3 to require each county auditor to report the following to the secretary of state: the total number of post-election notices that were returned as nondeliverable; the total number of the nondeliverable notices for which the county auditor could find the rea- son for the return; and the number of the nondeliverable notices for which the county auditor could not find the reason for the return. The secretary of state must com- pile this information and report it to the Legislature by March 1 of every odd-numbered year. This report must show the numbers for each precinct and for each county. • Reports on status changes of guardianship, legal competence, felony convictions, and citizenship. Section 12 repeals individual statutes detailing report-