Essential public health functions contingency account established, report required, money transferred to essential public health functions contingency account, commissioner of health funding provided, and money appropriated.

A bill for an act

relating to public health; establishing an essential public health functions

contingency account; requiring a report; transferring money to the essential public

health functions contingency account; appropriating money in the account to the

commissioner of health in certain circumstances; proposing coding for new law

in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 144.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

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[144.4205] ESSENTIAL PUBLIC HEALTH FUNCTIONS CONTINGENCY

ACCOUNT.

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Subdivision 1.

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Essential public health function.

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For purposes of this section, the

following activities are essential public health functions:

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(1) activities to prevent or control health threats, including investigating diseases,

identifying sources of disease outbreaks, conducting laboratory testing, alerting the public

and health systems about health threats, and developing activities and guidelines to prevent

the spread of disease and curb disease outbreaks; and

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(2) the prevention of and response to waterborne disease outbreaks, including support

for public water supplies to stop waterborne disease outbreaks.

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Subd. 2.

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Essential public health functions contingency account.

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An essential public

health functions contingency account is created in the special revenue fund in the state

treasury. Money in the essential public health functions contingency account does not cancel

and is appropriated to the commissioner of health for the purposes specified in subdivision

4 when the determination criteria in subdivision 3 and the notice and expenditure review

requirements in subdivision 5 are satisfied.

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Subd. 3.

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Determination criteria.

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The commissioner may make expenditures from the

essential public health functions contingency account only if the commissioner determines:

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(1) on or after March 1, 2025, there was an unexpected, significant reduction in federal

funding or the unexpected elimination of federal funding for one or more essential public

health functions performed by the commissioner of health or funded in whole or in part

with federal funds distributed by the commissioner; and

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(2) additional funding is necessary for these essential public health functions to continue

to be performed.

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Subd. 4.

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Uses of funds.

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When the determination criteria in subdivision 3 and the notice

and expenditure review requirements in subdivision 5 are satisfied, the commissioner may

make expenditures from the essential public health functions contingency account for the

essential public health functions for which federal funding was reduced or eliminated.

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Subd. 5.

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Notice and expenditure review.

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Prior to making an expenditure from the

essential public health functions contingency account, the commissioner must:

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(1) provide written notice to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative

committees with jurisdiction over health and human services finance and policy regarding

the circumstances that necessitate making an expenditure from the account; and

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(2) after providing notice under clause (1), seek review and recommendation from the

Legislative Advisory Commission according to the procedure in section 3.3005, subdivision

5, that would otherwise apply if the funds were federal funds. The commissioner is prohibited

from seeking review and recommendation for an expenditure for essential public health

functions that was made before the commissioner provided the notice required under clause

(1).

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Subd. 6.

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Report.

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By January 15 of each year following a year in which the commissioner

made one or more expenditures from the essential public health functions contingency

account, the commissioner must submit a report on the expenditures to the chairs and ranking

minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over health and human

services finance and policy. The report must include the following information for the

preceding year: the amount of federal funding for one or more essential public health

functions that was reduced or eliminated; the amount of each expenditure from the essential

public health functions contingency account; the purpose for which each expenditure was

used; and any additional information the commissioner determines is necessary to properly

document each expenditure. This report is exempt under section 144.05, subdivision 7.

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Sec. 2.
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TRANSFER.
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The commissioner of management and budget must transfer $....... in fiscal year 2026

from the general fund to the essential public health functions contingency account under

Minnesota Statutes, section 144.4205. This is a onetime transfer.

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