Purpose

• The bill would create an appropriation in fiscal year 2027 from the arts and cultural heritage fund to support digitization efforts. Specifically, the Minnesota Historical Society would use the money to provide a grant to a nonprofit organization to repair and replace technology used to digitize legacy media. The goal is to preserve Minnesota history and share it with the public.

Main Provisions

• Funding amount: A grant of twenty thousand dollars in fiscal year 2027.
• Source: Arts and cultural heritage fund.
• Recipients: The governing board of the Minnesota Historical Society distributes the grant to a nonprofit organization.
• What the grant funds: Repair and replacement of technology used to digitize legacy media, including videotape, film, audio, and print materials (such as news, commerce, documentaries, and local stories).
• Use of the digitized material: The technology funded by the grant must be used to convert media to a digital format, and the grantee must allow the resulting material to be shared with the public.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Establishes a new appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund specifically for digitized video grants to preserve Minnesota history.
• Creates a requirement that digitized materials produced with the grant be accessible to the public.

Overall Purpose and Impact

• Purpose: To preserve Minnesota history by digitizing legacy media and making the resulting materials publicly accessible.
• Impact: Increases funding and a clear public-access obligation for digitized materials, improving the availability of historical stories, news, documentaries, and other local content.

Relevant Terms arts and cultural heritage fund Minnesota Historical Society grant nonprofit organization digitize legacy media videotape film audio print materials news commerce documentaries local stories preserve Minnesota history convert media to a digital format public sharing fiscal year 2027 appropriation technology repair and replacement