1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to taxation; clarifying revenue recapture
1.3 	provisions to provide for the collection of fines for
1.4 	petty misdemeanors; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004,
1.5 	section 270A.03, subdivision 5.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 270A.03,
1.8 	subdivision 5, is amended to read:
1.9 		Subd. 5.Debt.  "Debt" means a legal obligation of a
1.10 	natural person to pay a fixed and certain amount of money, which
1.11 	equals or exceeds $25 and which is due and payable to a claimant
1.12 	agency.  The term includes criminal fines imposed under section
1.13 	609.10 or 609.125, fines imposed for petty misdemeanors as
1.14 	defined in section 609.02, subdivision 4a,and restitution.  The
1.15 	term also includes the co-payment for the appointment of a
1.16 	district public defender imposed under section 611.17, paragraph
1.17 	(c).  A debt may arise under a contractual or statutory
1.18 	obligation, a court order, or other legal obligation, but need
1.19 	not have been reduced to judgment.
1.20 	A debt includes any legal obligation of a current recipient
1.21 	of assistance which is based on overpayment of an assistance
1.22 	grant where that payment is based on a client waiver or an
1.23 	administrative or judicial finding of an intentional program
1.24 	violation; or where the debt is owed to a program wherein the
1.25 	debtor is not a client at the time notification is provided to
2.1 	initiate recovery under this chapter and the debtor is not a
2.2 	current recipient of food support, transitional child care, or
2.3 	transitional medical assistance.
2.4 	A debt does not include any legal obligation to pay a
2.5 	claimant agency for medical care, including hospitalization if
2.6 	the income of the debtor at the time when the medical care was
2.7 	rendered does not exceed the following amount:
2.8 	(1) for an unmarried debtor, an income of $8,800 or less;
2.9 	(2) for a debtor with one dependent, an income of $11,270
2.10 	or less;
2.11 	(3) for a debtor with two dependents, an income of $13,330
2.12 	or less;
2.13 	(4) for a debtor with three dependents, an income of
2.14 	$15,120 or less;
2.15 	(5) for a debtor with four dependents, an income of $15,950
2.16 	or less; and
2.17 	(6) for a debtor with five or more dependents, an income of
2.18 	$16,630 or less.
2.19 	The income amounts in this subdivision shall be adjusted
2.20 	for inflation for debts incurred in calendar years 2001 and
2.21 	thereafter.  The dollar amount of each income level that applied
2.22 	to debts incurred in the prior year shall be increased in the
2.23 	same manner as provided in section 1(f) of the Internal Revenue
2.24 	Code of 1986, as amended through December 31, 2000, except that
2.25 	for the purposes of this subdivision the percentage increase
2.26 	shall be determined from the year starting September 1, 1999,
2.27 	and ending August 31, 2000, as the base year for adjusting for
2.28 	inflation for debts incurred after December 31, 2000.
2.29 	Debt also includes an agreement to pay a MinnesotaCare
2.30 	premium, regardless of the dollar amount of the premium
2.31 	authorized under section 256L.15, subdivision 1a.