1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to family and early childhood education; 
  1.3             modifying early childhood family education revenue; 
  1.4             creating a cap on reserve fund balances; appropriating 
  1.5             money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 
  1.6             124D.135, subdivision 1, and by adding subdivisions.  
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [PURPOSE.] 
  1.9      The purpose of increasing early childhood family education 
  1.10  revenue is to address the unmet need for early childhood family 
  1.11  education services.  Some examples of unmet need include: 
  1.12     (1) families who attempt to register for ongoing classes 
  1.13  who are not able to get in, or are redirected to participate in 
  1.14  one-time or short-term opportunities; 
  1.15     (2) families who do not attempt to register because they 
  1.16  are aware that the program has reached or exceeded capacity; 
  1.17     (3) families who may already be in a program but have more 
  1.18  extensive needs than the program can adequately address due to 
  1.19  lack of resources; and 
  1.20     (4) additional families for whom outreach efforts are 
  1.21  required because programs have exceeded their capacity to 
  1.22  provide the outreach necessary or the services these families 
  1.23  would need if they did register and enroll.  
  1.24     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.135, 
  1.25  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.26     Subdivision 1.  [REVENUE.] The revenue for early childhood 
  2.1   family education programs for a school district equals $113.50 
  2.2   for fiscal years 2000 and 2001 and $120, $147 for 2002, and 
  2.3   later fiscal years $152 for 2003 times the greater of: 
  2.4      (1) 150; or 
  2.5      (2) the number of people under five years of age residing 
  2.6   in the district on October 1 of the previous school year. 
  2.7      Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.135, is 
  2.8   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.9      Subd. 8.  [RESERVE ACCOUNT LIMIT.] The average over the 
  2.10  prior three years of the revenue in a district's early childhood 
  2.11  family education reserve account under this section must not be 
  2.12  greater than 25 percent of the district's early childhood family 
  2.13  education revenue for the prior year.  A district's early 
  2.14  childhood family education revenue for the current year is 
  2.15  reduced by any amount in excess of an average of 25 percent of 
  2.16  the district's early childhood family education revenue for the 
  2.17  prior three years. 
  2.18     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.135, is 
  2.19  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.20     Subd. 9.  [WAIVER.] If a district anticipates that the 
  2.21  reserve account may exceed 25 percent because of extenuating 
  2.22  circumstances, prior approval to exceed the limit must be 
  2.23  obtained in writing from the commissioner. 
  2.24     Sec. 5.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.25     $29,318,137 in fiscal year 2002 and $31,982,332 in fiscal 
  2.26  year 2003 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  2.27  commissioner of children, families, and learning for early 
  2.28  childhood family education aid according to Minnesota Statutes, 
  2.29  section 124D.135.  The 2002 appropriation includes $2,036,000 
  2.30  for 2001 and $27,282,137 for 2002.  The 2003 appropriation 
  2.31  includes $3,031,348 for 2002 and $28,950,984 for 2003.