1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to economic development; increasing 
  1.3             departmental efficiency by eliminating certain 
  1.4             duplicative reports required to be submitted to and 
  1.5             prepared by the department of trade and economic 
  1.6             development; modifying certain wage and job reporting 
  1.7             requirements relating to assistance to businesses; 
  1.8             amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 116J.555, 
  1.9             subdivision 2; 116J.58, subdivision 1; 116J.991; 
  1.10            469.003, subdivision 7; 469.154, subdivision 1; 
  1.11            repealing Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 469.003, 
  1.12            subdivision 4; 469.004, subdivision 6; and 469.006, 
  1.13            subdivision 3.  
  1.14  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.15     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 116J.555, 
  1.16  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.17     Subd. 2.  [APPLICATION CYCLES; REPORTING TO LEGISLATURE.] 
  1.18  (a) In making grants, the commissioner shall establish 
  1.19  semiannual application deadlines in which grants will be 
  1.20  authorized from all or part of the available appropriations of 
  1.21  money in the account. 
  1.22     (b) After each semiannual cycle in which grants are 
  1.23  awarded, the commissioner shall report to the environment and 
  1.24  natural resources committees of the senate and house of 
  1.25  representatives, the finance division of the senate committee on 
  1.26  environment and natural resources, and the house of 
  1.27  representatives committee on environment and natural resources 
  1.28  finance the grants awarded and appropriate supporting 
  1.29  information describing each grant made.  This report must be 
  2.1   made within 30 days after the grants are awarded. 
  2.2      (c) The commissioner shall annually report to the 
  2.3   legislative committees in paragraph (b) on the status of the 
  2.4   cleanup projects undertaken under grants made under the 
  2.5   programs.  The commissioner shall include in the annual report 
  2.6   information on the cleanup and development activities undertaken 
  2.7   for the grants made in that and previous fiscal years.  The 
  2.8   commissioner shall make this report no later than 120 days after 
  2.9   the end of the fiscal year. 
  2.10     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 116J.58, 
  2.11  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.12     Subdivision 1.  [ENUMERATION.] The commissioner shall: 
  2.13     (1) investigate, study, and undertake ways and means of 
  2.14  promoting and encouraging the prosperous development and 
  2.15  protection of the legitimate interest and welfare of Minnesota 
  2.16  business, industry, and commerce, within and outside the state; 
  2.17     (2) locate markets for manufacturers and processors and aid 
  2.18  merchants in locating and contacting markets; 
  2.19     (3) investigate and study conditions affecting Minnesota 
  2.20  business, industry, and commerce and collect and disseminate 
  2.21  information, and engage in technical studies, scientific 
  2.22  investigations, and statistical research and educational 
  2.23  activities necessary or useful for the proper execution of the 
  2.24  powers and duties of the commissioner in promoting and 
  2.25  developing Minnesota business, industry, and commerce, both 
  2.26  within and outside the state; 
  2.27     (4) plan and develop an effective business information 
  2.28  service both for the direct assistance of business and industry 
  2.29  of the state and for the encouragement of business and industry 
  2.30  outside the state to use economic facilities within the state; 
  2.31     (5) compile, collect, and develop periodically, or 
  2.32  otherwise make available, information relating to current 
  2.33  business conditions; 
  2.34     (6) conduct or encourage research designed to further new 
  2.35  and more extensive uses of the natural and other resources of 
  2.36  the state and designed to develop new products and industrial 
  3.1   processes; 
  3.2      (7) study trends and developments in the industries of the 
  3.3   state and analyze the reasons underlying the trends; study costs 
  3.4   and other factors affecting successful operation of businesses 
  3.5   within the state; and make recommendations regarding 
  3.6   circumstances promoting or hampering business and industrial 
  3.7   development; 
  3.8      (8) serve as a clearing house for business and industrial 
  3.9   problems of the state; and advise small business enterprises 
  3.10  regarding improved methods of accounting and bookkeeping; 
  3.11     (9) cooperate with interstate commissions engaged in 
  3.12  formulating and promoting the adoption of interstate compacts 
  3.13  and agreements helpful to business, industry, and commerce; 
  3.14     (10) cooperate with other state departments, and with 
  3.15  boards, commissions, and other state agencies, in the 
  3.16  preparation and coordination of plans and policies for the 
  3.17  development of the state and for the use and conservation of its 
  3.18  resources insofar as the use, conservation, and development may 
  3.19  be appropriately directed or influenced by a state agency; 
  3.20     (11) assemble and coordinate information relative to the 
  3.21  status, scope, cost, and employment possibilities and the 
  3.22  availability of materials, equipment, and labor in connection 
  3.23  with public works projects, state, county, and municipal; 
  3.24  recommend limitations on the public works; gather current 
  3.25  progress information with reference to public and private works 
  3.26  projects of the state and its political subdivisions with 
  3.27  reference to conditions of employment; inquire into and report 
  3.28  to the governor, when requested by the governor, with respect to 
  3.29  any program of public state improvements and the financing 
  3.30  thereof; and request and obtain information from other state 
  3.31  departments or agencies as may be needed properly to report 
  3.32  thereon; 
  3.33     (12) study changes in population and current trends and 
  3.34  prepare plans and suggest policies for the development and 
  3.35  conservation of the resources of the state; 
  3.36     (13) confer and cooperate with the executive, legislative, 
  4.1   or planning authorities of the United States and neighboring 
  4.2   states and provinces and of the counties and municipalities of 
  4.3   such neighboring states, for the purpose of bringing about a 
  4.4   coordination between the development of such neighboring 
  4.5   provinces, states, counties, and municipalities and the 
  4.6   development of this state; 
  4.7      (14) generally, gather, compile, and make available 
  4.8   statistical information relating to business, trade, commerce, 
  4.9   industry, transportation, communication, natural resources, and 
  4.10  other like subjects in this state, with authority to call upon 
  4.11  other departments of the state for statistical data and results 
  4.12  obtained by them and to arrange and compile that statistical 
  4.13  information in a manner that seems wise; 
  4.14     (15) prepare an annual a report to the legislature in each 
  4.15  even-numbered year estimating and, to the extent possible, 
  4.16  describing the number of Minnesota companies which have left the 
  4.17  state or moved to surrounding states or other countries.  The 
  4.18  report should include an estimate of the number of jobs lost by 
  4.19  these moves, an estimate of the total employment payroll, 
  4.20  average hourly wage of those jobs lost and those created in the 
  4.21  new location, and to the extent possible, the reasons for each 
  4.22  company moving out of state, if known; 
  4.23     (16) publish documents and annually convene regional 
  4.24  meetings to inform businesses, local government units, 
  4.25  assistance providers, and other interested persons of changes in 
  4.26  state and federal law related to economic development; 
  4.27     (17) annually convene conferences of providers of economic 
  4.28  development related financial and technical assistance for the 
  4.29  purposes of exchanging information on economic development 
  4.30  assistance, coordinating economic development activities, and 
  4.31  formulating economic development strategies; 
  4.32     (18) provide business with information on the economic 
  4.33  benefits of energy conservation and on the availability of 
  4.34  energy conservation assistance; and 
  4.35     (19) prepare, as part of biennial budget process, 
  4.36  performance measures for each business loan or grant program 
  5.1   within the jurisdiction of the commissioner.  Measures would 
  5.2   include source of funds for each program, numbers of jobs 
  5.3   proposed or promised at the time of application and the number 
  5.4   of jobs created, estimated number of jobs retained, the average 
  5.5   salary and benefits for the jobs resulting from the program, and 
  5.6   the number of projects approved. 
  5.7      Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 116J.991, is 
  5.8   amended to read: 
  5.9      116J.991 [PUBLIC ASSISTANCE TO BUSINESS; WAGE AND JOB 
  5.10  REQUIREMENTS.] 
  5.11     A business that receives state or local government 
  5.12  assistance from the department of trade and economic development 
  5.13  for economic development or job growth purposes must create a 
  5.14  net increase in jobs in Minnesota within two years of receiving 
  5.15  the assistance. 
  5.16     The government agency providing the assistance department 
  5.17  must establish wage level and job creation goals to be met by 
  5.18  the business receiving the assistance.  A business that fails to 
  5.19  meet the goals must repay the assistance to the government 
  5.20  agency department. 
  5.21     Each government agency must report the wage and job goals 
  5.22  and the results for each project in achieving those goals to the 
  5.23  department of trade and economic development.  The department 
  5.24  shall compile and publish the results of the reports wage and 
  5.25  job goals and the results for each project in achieving those 
  5.26  goals for the previous calendar fiscal year by June 1 November 
  5.27  30 of each year.  The reports of the agencies to the department 
  5.28  and the compilation report of the department shall be made 
  5.29  available to the public. 
  5.30     For the purpose of this section, "assistance" means a grant 
  5.31  or loan in excess of $25,000 or tax increment financing. 
  5.32     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 469.003, 
  5.33  subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  5.34     Subd. 7.  [CERTIFICATE OF APPOINTMENT; FILING.] 
  5.35  Commissioners shall hold office until their successors have been 
  5.36  appointed and qualified.  A certificate of appointment of each 
  6.1   commissioner shall be filed with the clerk and a certified copy 
  6.2   shall be transmitted to the commissioner of trade and economic 
  6.3   development.  A certificate so filed shall be conclusive 
  6.4   evidence of appointment.  
  6.5      Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 469.154, 
  6.6   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  6.7      Subdivision 1.  [GENERALLY.] The department of trade and 
  6.8   economic development shall investigate, assist, and advise 
  6.9   municipalities, and report to the governor and the legislature 
  6.10  concerning the operation of sections 469.152 to 469.165 and the 
  6.11  projects undertaken under those sections. 
  6.12     Sec. 6.  [REPEALER.] 
  6.13     Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 469.003, subdivision 4; 
  6.14  469.004, subdivision 6; and 469.006, subdivision 3, are repealed.