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H.F. No. 4425 - Omnibus Capital Investment and LCCMR Bill
 
Author: Senator David H. Senjem
 
Prepared By: Stephanie James, Senate Counsel (651/296-0103)
 
Date: May 23, 2018



 

H.F. No. 4425 contains six articles as follows:

  • Article 1:  Appropriations - Appropriations from the sale of general obligation bonds, and other sources
  • Article 2: Miscellaneous
  • Article 3:  Supplemental Appropriations; Conforming Changes
  • Article 4:  Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund Appropriations
  • Article 5:  Legislative Budget Office
  • Article 6:  Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund Appropriation Bonds

Article 1 - Appropriations

Section 1 [Capital Improvement Appropriations] specifies terms and conditions for appropriations in the bill. Appropriations are from the bond proceeds fund, unless otherwise specified. Appropriations of bond proceeds must be spent as permitted under certain provisions of the Constitution that permit the state to incur public debt.  Unless otherwise specified, the money in the act can be used for certain agency staff costs and is available until a project is completed or abandoned or canceled, subject to a statutory cancellation procedure after four years.  Money appropriated in this bill must not be used for asset preservation if the work can be done in a reasonable time using existing energy improvement financing programs. If an amount other than half of the total cost of the project is appropriated, the grantee must provide the remaining cost of the project.

Sections 2-24 appropriate money for agency and local government projects as listed on the spreadsheet prepared by Casey Muhm, Fiscal Analyst, with Senate Counsel, Research, and Fiscal Analysis.

Section 25 [Bond Sale Expenses] appropriates money to pay the expenses of the sale of bonds authorized in section 26.

Section 26 [Bond Sale Authorization] authorizes the sale of bonds.

Subd. 1 [Bond proceeds fund] authorizes the sale of general obligation bonds in an amount up to a specified amount to provide money appropriated from the bond proceeds fund.

Subd. 2 [Transportation fund] authorizes the sale of general obligation bonds in an amount up to a specified maximum to provide money appropriated from the state transportation fund.

Subd. 3 [Maximum effort school loan fund] authorizes the sale of general obligation bonds in an amount up to a specified maximum to provide money from the maximum effort school loan fund.

Subd. 4 [Trunk highway fund] authorizes the sale of trunk highway bonds in an amount up to a specified maximum to provide money appropriated from the bond proceeds account in the trunk highway fund.

Section 27 [Cancellation] cancels an unencumbered appropriation from 2011 for transportation improvements within the Lindau Lane corridor in Bloomington.

Section 28 [Bond Sale Schedule] changes the cap on the amount to be transferred from the general fund to pay principal and interest on outstanding bonds and bonds scheduled to be sold during the biennium.

Section 29 [Trunk Highway Bond Appropriations, Authorization Takes Effect Only Once]  specifies that an appropriation, and related bond sale authorization, of trunk highway bond proceeds is enacted more than once for the same purpose in the 2018 legislative session, the appropriation and bond sale authorization must only take effect once, and whichever is for a higher amount is effective.

Section 30 [Effective Date] sets the day after enactment as the effective date of Article 1.

Article 2 - Miscellaneous

Section 1 [State Capitol Preservation Commission] modifies the enabling statute for the Capitol Preservation Commission. Adds duties relating to selection of art in specified spaces of the Capitol; removes obsolete provisions.

Section 2 [Capitol Art Exhibit Advisory Committee] establishes an advisory committee on capitol art.  The group will make recommendations to the Capitol Preservation Commission regarding art exhibits to be displayed in certain Capitol spaces.

Section 3 [Reports] changes the schedule from biennial to annual for the cancellation report required of MMB on unencumbered amounts that were appropriated more than four years earlier for capital projects. (As is the case under current law, unencumbered amounts on the report are canceled.)

Section 4 [Funding] strikes a cross-reference to a repealed subdivision and makes a clarifying change to the requirement for a 50 percent nonstate match for local capital projects.

Section 5 [Construction and Major Remodeling] exempts freight rail projects from a requirement that anyone receiving an appropriation to better public land and buildings to submit plans to the Legislature before preparing final plans.

Section 6 [PFA Excluded] precludes any portion of an appropriation to the Public Facilities Authority and project financing provided by the PFA from being used to acquire works of art.

Section 7 [Required Disclosures to National Pollution Elimination Discharge System Permit Applications] requires the PCA to provide certain information to an applicant for a national pollution elimination discharge system (NPEDS) permit at the time of application.

Section 8 [Compliance Schedules] makes clear that the PCA must take into account outstanding debt service owed by a municipality on their existing wastewater system when developing a compliance schedule for an NPEDS permit.

Section 9 [Treatment Works Penalty Orders] delays the assessment of an administrative penalty for violation of an effluent limit for 45 days and requires the delivery of certain information to a municipality before an administrative penalty can be assessed.

Section 10 [Rail Service Improvement Accounts; Appropriation] establishes a bond proceeds account for the rail service improvement program.

Section 11 [Regional Behavioral Health Crisis Program; Facilities Grants] establishes a grant program for regional behavioral health crisis facilities grants in eligible communities.

Section 12 [Exemptions] permits the senate and house of representatives to install door locks within their chambers.

Section 13 [Estimated funding needs] requires the Public Facilities Authority to submit an estimate of the amount necessary to fund grants under the water infrastructure grant program and the point source implementation grant program by February 1 each year.

Sections 14 [Establishment] removes a list of entities who can receive a grant or loan under the manufactured home park program, relying instead on listed purposes to limit the use of the grants.

Section 15 [Manufactured Home Park Infrastructure Grants] modifies the manufactured home infrastructure grant program to permit use of funds for acquisition of parks.

Section 16 [Definitions] adds definitions of “senior” and “senior housing” to the definitions applicable to housing infrastructure bonds.

Section 17 [Authorization] expands the purposes for which the proceeds from the sale of housing infrastructure bonds can be used: (1) to add acquisition, improvement, and infrastructure of manufactured home parks that is attributable to low- and moderate-income manufactured homeowners; and (2) to finance acquisition, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, or new construction of senior housing. Specifies factors for prioritizing requests for senior housing projects and requires a certain geographical balance for loans made for senior housing projects.

Section 18 [Additional Authorization] authorizes $30,000,000 in housing infrastructure bonds to be applied to projects for permanent supportive housing for people with behavioral needs. Under section 21 (the new language in paragraph (e)), the state appropriates the debt service on these bonds beginning fiscal year 2019.

Section 19 [Additional Authorization] authorizes $50,000,000 in housing infrastructure bonds.   Under section 21 (the new language in paragraph (f)), the state appropriates the debt service on these bonds beginning in fiscal year 2020.

Section 20 [Additional Appropriation] appropriates money to pay the debt service for the bonds authorized in sections 18-19.

Section 21 [Cancellation] cancels the portion of a statutory appropriation for debt service that is not needed for authorizations for the sale of housing infrastructure bonds through MHFA.

Section 22 [Within 60 Days; Report] permits a hearing before an administrative law judge to consider the need and reasonableness of metropolitan systems plans for land use.

Section 23 [Veterans Cemeteries] facilitates federal reimbursement for veterans cemeteries and extends availability of an appropriation from 2009.

Section 24 [New Residence Hall] permits use of unspent amount on a 2014 appropriation for asset preservation at the Academy for the Deaf.

Section 25 [Grant County Trail Grant] waives match for the Elbow Lake trail project in Grant County for an appropriation from 2014. Limits the project to "design." Permits use of the appropriation until June 2021.

Section 26 [Minneapolis – Brian Coyle Community Center] extends the availability of an appropriation from 2014 for the Minneapolis Brian Coyle Community Center project.

Section 27 [City of Rice Lake] extends the availability for an appropriation from 2014 for a water main replacement project for the city of Rice Lake.

Section 28 [Corrections] permits use of unspent portion of the money appropriated in 2014 for various projects at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility to be used for the 2017 project.

Section 29 [Local Road Improvement Fund Grants] adds permitted uses of the appropriation from 2015 for the Willmar Wye project.

Section 30 [Multimodal Systems] changes the uses for an appropriation in 2017 for civil air patrol facilities; allows purchase of a facility, changes the location from St. Paul to Minneapolis, waives the match and other changes.

Section 31 [State Roads] amends the 2017 debt service amount for trunk highway bonds to take into account the debt service required as a result of trunk highway bonds authorized in this bill.

Section 32 [State Trail, Recreation Area, and Park Acquisition and Development] corrects the total appropriated for a subdivision in the 2017 bonding bill.

Section 33 [Local Road Improvement Fund Grants] adds specificity to the project description for a 2017 appropriation for the Anoka County local road improvement fund grants appropriation.

Section 34 [Grand Rapids – Pedestrian Bridge] permits use of a 2017 appropriation for construction, as well as design, for the Grand Rapids pedestrian bridge project.

Section 35 [Eden Prairie – Rail Grade Crossings] adds pathway-rail grade crossings to permitted uses for an appropriation from 2017 for the Eden Prairie railgrade crossing project.

Section 36 [White Bear Lake Multiuse Trails] shifts allocation amongst entities and adds activities/segments for the White Bear Lake multiuse trail project appropriation from 2017.

Section 37 [Minneapolis – The Family Partnership] waives match for an appropriation from 2017 for the Family Partnership project and permits use of unspent portion on next phase.

Section 38 [Minnesota Correctional Facility – St. Cloud] rewrites the description of a 2017 appropriation for the intake unit project at the correctional facility in St. Cloud.

Section 39 [Eagle’s Healing Nest] adds a second site that is permitted to use the Eagle's Healing Nest grant from 2017.

Section 40 [St. Paul – Minnesota Museum of American Art] adds "acquire" to the permitted use of a 2017 appropriation for the Minnesota Museum of Art.

Section 41 [Dennison] adds "electrical infrastructure" that supports the ponds to the description of the use of an appropriation from 2017 for the Dennison sewage treatment project.

Section 42 [Historic Fort Snelling] permits use of a 2017 appropriation to design facilities to support visitor services and program at Fort Snelling for the Building 18 project that is funded in Article 1.

Section 43 [Capitol Art Exhibit Advisory Committee; First Appointments and First Meeting] specifies deadlines and other details for first appointments and the first meeting of the Capitol Art Exhibit Advisory Committee.

Section 44 [Veterans Home Construction] permits the commissioner of veterans affairs to apply for federal funding for veterans homes of up to 72 beds to provide a continuum of care, including skilled nursing, for veterans and their spouses, in Preston, Montevideo, and Bemidji. Commits the state to paying operating costs. Permits the commissioner of administration to receive gifts and grants for the state's matching funds.

Section 45 [Appropriation; Analyzing Costs and Ratepayer Impacts of Water Quality Regulation] appropriates $500,000 in fiscal year 2020 and $500,000 in fiscal year 2021 from the general fund to the commissioner of administration for a grant to any higher education institution to review water quality regulations and national pollutant discharge elimination system permits. Requires grantees to submit their review to the commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency and to the legislature.

Section 46 [Nowthen; Comprehensive Plan] requires the Metropolitan Council to allow the city of Nowthen to implement any changes the city requests relating to the council’s designation of part or all of the city for purposes of the metropolitan development guide, systems plans, and statements and the city’s comprehensive plan.

Section 47 [Rice Creek Railroad Bridge] specifies the uses of an appropriation for demolishing an existing railroad bridge over Rice Creek in New Brighton, and specifies conditions on which the grant is contingent.

Section 48 [Stone Arch Bridge Integrity Protection] precludes state agencies and political subdivisions from granting permission or entering into agreements for construction near the Stone Arch Bridge that might disturb or adversely affect the structural integrity of the bridge.  This section expires after repairs to the bridge are made.

Section 49 [Effective Date] sets the day after enactment as the effective date for Article 2.

Article 3 - Supplemental Appropriations

Section 1 [Allocation] requires the Minnesota Housing Finance Authority (MHFA) to make residential rental housing projects financed with an allocation of tax-exempt bonds the highest strategic priority for tax credits under the agency’s qualified allocation plan under federal law.

For projects eligible for an allocation of tax credits under federal law, MHFA’s allocation plan, and related guidance and requirements subject to the following:

  • shall not include any selection criteria other than (a) certain criteria under federal law and (b) whether the project has received an allocation of tax-exempt bonds, with (b) being more important than (a).
  • shall grant projects receiving an allocation of tax-exempt bonds under federal law the highest possible preference and, to the extent possible, ahead of certain other preferences in federal law;
  • shall exclude any per-unit cost limitations, cost reasonableness, or other similar restrictions for residential rental housing projects financed with an allocation of tax-exempt bonds under federal law; and
  • shall not adopt or impose any additional rules, requirements, regulations, or restrictions other than certain restrictions under federal law, regarding the allocation of credits.

Specifies that developers of a housing project that has received an allocation of tax-exempt bonds and the proposed issuer have standing to challenge Minnesota Housing Finance Agency’s (MHFA) qualified allocation plan for failure to comply with these restrictions on the MHFA’s allocation plan.

Specifies that these changes to the MHFA allocation statute govern and control if they conflict with a section of statute that establishes MHFA and grants it certain powers.

Section 2 [Fort Snelling National Landmark Redevelopment] requires the commissioner of management and budget to reserve $29 million in bonding authority allocated to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and $29 million in bonding authority allocated to the small issue pool in 2019, for issuance of residential rental project bonds for purposes of a rehabilitation project at the Fort Snelling Upper Post.  This section requires the MHFA to process applications for low-income housing tax credits and precludes MHFA from imposing additional requirements on the Fort Snelling Upper Post project. This section specifies how the historic structure rehabilitation tax credit should be applied for this project.

Sections 3 to 6 extend the availability of appropriations for renovation of the Capitol and permit unspent amounts to be used for accessibility improvements and repairs to monuments and memorials on the Capitol complex.

Sections 7 to 11 and 13 appropriate money for additional projects, as listed on the spreadsheet.

Section 12 [Cancellation] cancels an unexpended amount of an appropriation, and associated bond sale authorization, from 2014 for the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency and Range Mental Health Center.

Section 14 [Application] makes the provisions from the preamble (section 1) of Article 1 applicable to the appropriations in this article, and specifies the fund from which one of the appropriations in this article is made.

Section 15 [Reductions] reduces certain appropriations in Article 1.

Section 16 [Effective Date] makes this article effective the day after enactment.

Article 4 - Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund Appropriations

Sections 1-7 appropriate money from the environmental and natural resources trust fund as detailed on the spreadsheet.

Section 8 [Lake Winona Management; Using Offset, Adaptive Planning] permits certain activities by the Alexandria Lake Area Sanitary District to facilitate implementation of the Lake Winona total maximum daily load. Directs the PCA to take certain actions with respect to permitting related to Lake Winona and Lake Agnes. Permits the Alexandria Lake Area Sanitary District to cooperate with the city of Alexandria if the district funds or performs lake management activities, and ends the districts responsibility for lake management activities in Lake Winona and Lake Agnes after completion of certain activities. This section is effective after the Sanitary District and its chief clerical officer complete certain compliance activities. 

Article 5 - Legislative Budget Office

Sections 1 to 16 delay the shift of responsibility for the preparation of fiscal notes by the Legislative Budget Office (LBO) until Septembe 1, 2019, establish a Legislative Budget Office Oversight Commission, and make several refinements to the operational statutes for the LBO.

Article 6 - Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund Appropriation Bonds

Article 4 authorizes the sale of appropriation bonds and appropriates the proceeds from the sale of those bonds to specified projects or programs.

Subdivision 1 [Definitions] defines “appropriation bond,” “debt service," and “environment and natural resources trust fund.”

Subdivision 2 [Authorization to issue appropriation bonds; accounts] authorizes the commissioner of management and budget to sell and issue appropriation bonds, establishes funds and accounts for receiving bond proceeds and for making bond payments, and sets other parameters for these appropriation bonds.

Subdivision 3 [Form; procedure] specifies forms and procedures for issuing appropriation bonds authorized in this article.  The bonds may be sold at public or private sale. The interest rate may be fixed or variable.

Subdivision 4 [Refunding bonds] The commissioner of management and budget is authorized to issue appropriation bonds to refund any of the originally issued appropriation bonds.

Subdivision 5 [Appropriation bonds as legal investments] permits listed entities to invest in the appropriation bonds issued under this section.

Subdivision 6 [No full faith and credit; state not required to make appropriations] specifies that the appropriation bonds are not backed by the full faith and credit of the state. These appropriation bonds are payable only from an appropriation made for the purpose of making payments on the bonds.

Subdivision 7 [Appropriation for debt service and other purposes] establishes a statutory annual appropriation, from the environment and natural resources trust fund, of the amount needed to pay principal and interest on the bonds sold under the authorization in this section.

Subdivision 8 [Waiver of immunity] makes a statutory waiver of immunity applicable to appropriation bonds.

Section 2 [Expenditures] adds payment of principal and interest on the appropriation bonds authorized in this section as a permitted use of funds in the environment and natural resources trust fund.

Section 3 [Estimated Funding Needs] requires the Public Facilities Authority to submit a report to the Legislature by February 1 each year on the amount necessary to fund point source implements grants requests.

Section 4 [Special Appropriation Trust Fund Bonds; Authorization; Appropriations] appropriates bond proceeds from the sale of the special appropriation trust fund bond proceeds.

Subdivision 1 [Appropriations; general] states that the appropriations in this section are from the bond proceeds from the sale of special appropriation trust fund bonds. These appropriations are available until June 30, 2022, unless otherwise specified. Unspent money cancels to the bond payments account in the special appropriation trust fund bond proceeds fund or, if not needed for debt service, to the environment and natural resources trust fund.

Subdivision 2 [Legislative findings; appropriations supplement other sources of funding for projects] states legislative findings that the use of environmental and natural resources trust fund are for public purposes that supplement traditional sources of money to pay for authorized expenditures, and that the appropriations in this section are for a public purpose.

Subdivision 3 [Bond sale authorization] authorizes the commissioner of management and budget to sell up to $98,000,000 of special appropriation trust fund bonds.

Subdivision 4 [Management and budget; bond sale expenses; annual debt service] appropriates $2,940,000 in fiscal year 2019 and up to $7,840,000 in each fiscal year from 2020 to 2039 from the environment and natural resources trust fund to pay the principal and interest on appropriation bonds issued under this section.

Subdivisions 5-9 appropriate money for specified purposes.

 
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