1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to economic development; providing for redevelopment; authorizing 
1.3 	bonds; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 
1.4 	116J.575, subdivision 1a.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 116J.575, subdivision 1a, is amended to 
1.7 	read:
1.8 		Subd. 1a.Priorities. (a) If applications for grants exceed the available 
1.9 	appropriations, grants shall be made for sites that, in the commissioner's judgment, provide 
1.10 	the highest return in public benefits for the public costs incurred. "Public benefits" include 
1.11 	job creation, bioscience development, environmental benefits to the state and region, 
1.12 	efficient use of public transportation, efficient use of existing infrastructure, provision of 
1.13 	affordable housing, multiuse development that constitutes community rebuilding rather 
1.14 	than single-use development, crime reduction, blight reduction, community stabilization, 
1.15 	and property tax base maintenance or improvement. In making this judgment, the 
1.16 	commissioner shall give priority to redevelopment projects with one or more of the 
1.17 	following characteristics:
1.18 	(1) the need for redevelopment in conjunction with contamination remediation needs;
1.19 	(2) the redevelopment project meets current tax increment financing requirements 
1.20 	for a redevelopment district and tax increments will contribute to the project;
1.21 	(3) the redevelopment potential within the municipality;
1.22 	(4) proximity to public transit if located in the metropolitan area and the project's 
1.23 	ability to reduce vehicle miles traveled;
1.24 	(5) redevelopment costs related to expansion of a bioscience business in Minnesota;
2.1 	(6) multijurisdictional projects that take into account the need for affordable housing, 
2.2 	transportation, and environmental impact; or
2.3 	(7) the project advances or promotes the green economy as defined in section 
2.4 	116J.437;
2.5 	(8) the redevelopment project is an alternative to building on undeveloped land; or
2.6 	(9) the project promotes art and culture.
2.7 	(b) The factors in paragraph (a) are not listed in a rank order of priority; rather, the 
2.8 	commissioner may weigh each factor, depending upon the facts and circumstances, as 
2.9 	the commissioner considers appropriate. The commissioner may consider other factors 
2.10 	that affect the net return of public benefits for completion of the redevelopment plan. The 
2.11 	commissioner, notwithstanding the listing of priorities and the goal of maximizing the 
2.12 	return of public benefits, shall make grants that distribute available money to sites both 
2.13 	within and outside of the metropolitan area. Unless sufficient applications are not received 
2.14 	for qualifying sites outside of the metropolitan area, at least 50 percent of the money 
2.15 	provided as grants must be made for sites located outside of the metropolitan area.

2.16 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION; REDEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT.
 2.17 	$20,000,000 is appropriated from the bond proceeds fund for grants from the 
2.18 	redevelopment account under Minnesota Statutes, section 116J.571.

2.19 	Sec. 3. BOND AUTHORIZATION.
 2.20 	To provide the money appropriated in section 2 from the bond proceeds fund, 
2.21 	the commissioner of finance shall sell and issue bonds of the state in an amount up to 
2.22 	$20,000,000 in the manner, upon the terms, and with the effect prescribed by Minnesota 
2.23 	Statutes, sections 16A.631 to 16A.675, and by the Minnesota Constitution, article XI, 
2.24 	sections 4 to 7.