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A bill for an act
relating to employment; requiring covered employers to provide commuter benefits
to covered employees; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter
181.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1.
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[181.9449] COMMUTER BENEFITS.
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Subdivision 1.
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Definitions.
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(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the meanings given.
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(b) "Covered employee" means any person who performs an average of at least 35 hours
of work per week, on a full-time basis, for compensation by a covered employer.
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(c) "Covered employer" means any individual, partnership, association, corporation,
limited liability company, nonprofit organization, business trust, state, county, town, city,
school district, or other political subdivision that directly or indirectly, or through an agent
or any other person, employs or exercises control over wages, hours, or working conditions
of an employee and that:
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(1) is located in a city of the first class; and
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(2) employs 50 or more employees in a geographic area specified in clause (1) at an
address that is located within one mile of a regular route transit service.
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(d) "Public transit" or "transit" has the meaning given in section 174.22, subdivision 7.
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(e) "Regular route transit" has the meaning given in section 174.22, subdivision 8.
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(f) "Transit pass" means any pass, token, fare card, voucher, or similar item entitling a
person to transportation on public transit.
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Subd. 2.
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Commuter benefit program.
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(a) A covered employer must provide a pretax
commuter benefit to covered employees. The pretax commuter benefit must allow employees
to use pretax dollars for the purchase of a transit pass via payroll deduction, so that the costs
for the purchase are excluded from the employee's taxable wages and compensation up to
the maximum amount permitted by federal tax law, consistent with United States Code,
title 26, section 132(f), and any corresponding rules and regulations. A covered employer
may comply with this subdivision by participating in a program offered by the Metropolitan
Council, a replacement service provider under section 473.388, or other transit authority or
responsible governing body in a city of the first class, as applicable.
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(b) All covered employers may also provide employer-sponsored transit programs or
subsidies for qualified transportation expenses, including but not limited to reimbursements
for walking, biking, and carpooling or vanpooling.
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(c) This benefit must be offered to all employees beginning with the employee's first
full pay period after 120 days of employment. All transit authorities and metropolitan
planning organizations must market the existence of this program and the requirements
under this section to riders to inform affected employees and employers.
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Subd. 3.
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Covered employers map.
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The Metropolitan Council and other transit authority
or responsible governing body in a city of the first class, as applicable, must make publicly
available a searchable map of addresses that are located within one mile of regular route
transit.
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Subd. 4.
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Application.
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Nothing in this section shall be deemed to interfere with, impede,
or in any way diminish the right of employees to bargain collectively with their employers
through representatives of their own choosing in order to establish wages or other conditions
of work in excess of the applicable minimum standards provided in this section. Nothing
in this section shall be deemed to affect the validity or change the terms of a bona fide
collective bargaining agreement in force on the effective date of this section. After the
effective date of this section, the requirements under this section may be waived in a bona
fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the waiver is set forth explicitly in the
agreement in clear and unambiguous terms.
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EFFECTIVE DATE.
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This section is effective ......
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