1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to military officers; providing reimbursement grants to local units of 
1.3 	government for certain firefighters on authorized leave; requiring a report; 
1.4 	appropriating money;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
1.5 	299A.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. [299A.82] STATE REIMBURSEMENT FOR COSTS OF AUTHORIZED 
1.8 	LEAVE FOR MILITARY DUTY.
1.9 	(a) For purposes of this section, the terms in this paragraph have the meanings given 
1.10 	them.
1.11 	(1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of public safety.
1.12 	(2) "Firefighters" means firefighters that are full-time employees of a local unit of 
1.13 	government.
1.14 	(3) "Full-time employees" means employees who are considered full time under the 
1.15 	personnel provisions of the local unit of government, but who are scheduled to work at least 
1.16 	35 hours per week.
1.17 	(4) "Local unit of government" means a county or home rule charter or statutory city.
1.18 	(5) "Replacement costs" means overtime pay paid to permanent full-time employees 
1.19 	who provide services in addition to their ordinary duties to replace the services of an 
1.20 	employee on authorized leave.
2.1 	(b) The commissioner shall make grants to local units of government to reimburse them 
2.2 	for the replacement costs of providing the services performed by firefighters on authorized 
2.3 	leave under section 192.26, subdivision 1.
2.4 	(c) To be eligible for state reimbursement of the amount of replacement costs paid for 
2.5 	the preceding calendar year as determined under this subdivision, the governmental 
2.6 	subdivision shall apply to the commissioner by March 15. By July 15, the commissioner 
2.7 	shall pay the reimbursement grants to the local units of government.
2.8 	(d) The commissioner shall prescribe the form and supporting information that must be 
2.9 	supplied by the local unit of government as part of the application for state reimbursement.
2.10 	(e) An appropriation by law from the general fund to the commissioner must be used to 
2.11 	pay the grants. If the appropriation is insufficient to pay the entire sum of all of the grants, 
2.12 	the commissioner shall reduce each grant proportionally so that the sum of the grants equals 
2.13 	the available appropriation.

2.14 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for replacement costs incurred by local 
2.15 	units of government in calendar year 2018 and calendar years thereafter.

2.16 	Sec. 2. PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYMENT BY ACTIVE MILITARY MEMBERS; 
2.17 	REPORT.
 2.18 	The commissioner of public safety in collaboration with the adjutant general shall identify 
2.19 	barriers to public safety employment by active members of the military. The commissioner 
2.20 	shall report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with 
2.21 	jurisdiction over public safety and military affairs by February 1, 2018, on the barriers 
2.22 	identified by the commissioner and any possible solutions to deal with those barriers.

2.23 	Sec. 3. APPROPRIATION.
 2.24 	$1,000,000 in fiscal year 2019 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
2.25 	of public safety for the state reimbursement grant program under Minnesota Statutes, section 
2.26 	299A.82.