1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to human services; amending the local 
  1.3             intervention grant formula; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 2000, section 256J.625. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 256J.625, is 
  1.7   amended to read: 
  1.8      256J.625 [LOCAL INTERVENTION GRANTS FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT; GUARANTEED MINIMUM 
  1.10  ALLOCATION.] (a) The commissioner shall make grants under this 
  1.11  subdivision to assist county and tribal TANF programs to more 
  1.12  effectively serve hard-to-employ MFIP participants.  Funds 
  1.13  appropriated for local intervention grants for self-sufficiency 
  1.14  must be allocated first in amounts equal to the guaranteed 
  1.15  minimum in paragraph (b) subdivision 1b, and second according to 
  1.16  the provisions of subdivision 2.  Any remaining funds must be 
  1.17  allocated according to the formula in subdivision 3. 
  1.18     Subd. 1a.  [LOCAL SERVICE UNIT PLAN REQUIRED.] Counties or 
  1.19  tribes must have an approved local service unit plan under 
  1.20  section 256J.50, subdivision 7, paragraph (b), in order to 
  1.21  receive and expend funds under subdivisions 2 and 3.  If a 
  1.22  county or tribe does not submit a local service unit plan under 
  1.23  section 256J.50, subdivision 7, paragraph (b), or if the plan is 
  1.24  not approved at the full amount allocated to the county or tribe 
  1.25  under subdivision 3, the remaining funds under subdivision 3 may 
  2.1   be used by the commissioner to contract with other public, 
  2.2   private, or nonprofit entities in the county or region to 
  2.3   deliver services that meet the purposes of subdivision 4. 
  2.4      (b) Subd. 1b.  [GUARANTEED MINIMUM.] Each county or tribal 
  2.5   program shall receive a guaranteed minimum annual allocation 
  2.6   of $25,000 $5,000. 
  2.7      Subd. 2.  [SET-ASIDE FUNDS.] (a) Of the funds appropriated 
  2.8   for grants under this section, after the allocation in 
  2.9   subdivision 1, paragraph (b) 1b, is made, 20 percent of the 
  2.10  remaining funds each year shall be retained by the commissioner 
  2.11  and awarded to counties or tribes whose approved plans 
  2.12  demonstrate additional need based on their identification of 
  2.13  hard-to-employ families and working participants in need of job 
  2.14  retention and wage advancement services, strong anticipated 
  2.15  outcomes for families and an effective plan for monitoring 
  2.16  performance, or, use of a multicounty, multi-entity or regional 
  2.17  approach to serve hard-to-employ families and working 
  2.18  participants in need of job retention and wage advancement 
  2.19  services who are identified as a target population to be served 
  2.20  in the plan submitted under section 256J.50, subdivision 7, 
  2.21  paragraph (b).  In distributing funds under this paragraph, the 
  2.22  commissioner must achieve a geographic balance.  The 
  2.23  commissioner may award funds under this paragraph to other 
  2.24  public, private, or nonprofit entities to deliver services in a 
  2.25  county or region where the entity or entities submit a plan that 
  2.26  demonstrates a strong capability to fulfill the terms of the 
  2.27  plan and where the plan shows an innovative or multi-entity 
  2.28  approach. 
  2.29     (b) For fiscal year 2001 only, of the funds available under 
  2.30  this subdivision the commissioner must allocate funding in the 
  2.31  amounts specified in article 1, section 2, subdivision 7, for an 
  2.32  intensive intervention transitional employment training project 
  2.33  and for nontraditional career assistance and training programs.  
  2.34  These allocations must occur before any set-aside funds are 
  2.35  allocated under paragraph (a). 
  2.36     Subd. 2a.  [ALTERNATIVE DISTRIBUTION FORMULA.] (a) By 
  3.1   January 31, 2001, the commissioner of human services must 
  3.2   develop and present to the appropriate legislative committees a 
  3.3   distribution formula that is an alternative to the formula 
  3.4   allocation specified in subdivision 3.  The proposed 
  3.5   distribution formula must target hard-to-employ MFIP 
  3.6   participants, and it must include an incentive-based component 
  3.7   that is designed to encourage county and tribal programs to 
  3.8   effectively serve hard-to-employ participants.  The 
  3.9   commissioner's proposal must also be designed to be implemented 
  3.10  for fiscal years 2002 and 2003 in place of the formula 
  3.11  allocation specified in subdivision 3. 
  3.12     (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision 2, 
  3.13  paragraph (a), if the commissioner does not develop a proposed 
  3.14  formula as required in paragraph (a), the set-aside funds for 
  3.15  fiscal years 2002 and 2003 that the commissioner would otherwise 
  3.16  distribute under subdivision 2, paragraph (a), must not be 
  3.17  distributed under that provision.  Funds available under 
  3.18  subdivision 2, paragraph (a), must instead be allocated in equal 
  3.19  amounts to each county and tribal program in fiscal years 2002 
  3.20  and 2003. 
  3.21     Subd. 3.  [FORMULA ALLOCATION.] Funds remaining after the 
  3.22  allocations in subdivisions 1, 1b, and 2 must be allocated as 
  3.23  follows: to counties and tribes based on the average proportion 
  3.24  of the MFIP caseload that has received MFIP assistance for 24 of 
  3.25  the last 36 months, as sampled on March 31, June 30, September 
  3.26  30, and December 31 of the previous calendar year, less the 
  3.27  number of child-only cases and cases where all the caregivers 
  3.28  are age 60 or over.  Two-parent cases, with the exception of 
  3.29  those with a caregiver age 60 or over, will be multiplied by a 
  3.30  factor of two. 
  3.31     (1) 85 percent shall be allocated in proportion to each 
  3.32  county's and tribal TANF program's one-parent MFIP cases that 
  3.33  have received MFIP assistance for at least 25 months, as sampled 
  3.34  on December 31 of the previous calendar year, excluding cases 
  3.35  where all caregivers are age 60 or over. 
  3.36     (2) 15 percent shall be allocated to each county's and 
  4.1   tribal TANF program's two-parent MFIP cases that have received 
  4.2   MFIP assistance for at least 25 months, as sampled on December 
  4.3   31 of the previous calendar year, excluding cases where all 
  4.4   caregivers are age 60 or over. 
  4.5      Subd. 4.  [USE OF FUNDS.] (a) A county or tribal program, 
  4.6   or other public, private, or nonprofit entity in the county or 
  4.7   region may use funds allocated under this subdivision section to 
  4.8   provide services to MFIP participants who are hard-to-employ and 
  4.9   their families.  Services provided must be intended to reduce 
  4.10  the number of MFIP participants who are expected to reach the 
  4.11  60-month time limit under section 256J.42.  Counties, tribes, 
  4.12  and other entities receiving funds under subdivision 2 or 3 must 
  4.13  submit semiannual progress reports to the commissioner which 
  4.14  detail program outcomes. 
  4.15     (b) Funds allocated under this section may not be used to 
  4.16  provide benefits that are defined as "assistance" in Code of 
  4.17  Federal Regulations, title 45, section 260.31, to an assistance 
  4.18  unit that is only receiving the food portion of MFIP benefits. 
  4.19     (c) A county may use funds allocated under this section for 
  4.20  that part of the match for federal access to jobs transportation 
  4.21  funds that is TANF-eligible.  A county may also use funds 
  4.22  allocated under this section to enhance transportation choices 
  4.23  for eligible recipients up to 150 percent of the federal poverty 
  4.24  guidelines. 
  4.25     Subd. 5.  [SUNSET.] The grant program under this section 
  4.26  sunsets on June 30, 2003.