SF5083

1. Purpose
2. This bill updates four state funds (parks and trails, outdoor heritage, clean water, and arts and cultural heritage) to increase transparency, accountability, and accessibility in how legacy funding is spent.
3. It requires projects to show measurable results, consider diversity and reaching Minnesota communities (including low- and moderate-income households), and use current science and technology where appropriate.

4. It tightens oversight and eligibility rules so future funding depends on compliant performance and reporting.

5. Main Provisions (what the bill changes or requires)

• General framework for all four funds

  • Recipients must provide measurable outcomes and a plan to measure and evaluate results.
  • Recipients must assess whether funding reaches diverse communities and supports cultural diversity.
  • Projects should be consistent with current science and use state-of-the-art technology when appropriate.
  • Funding should be distributed to balance benefits across all regions and residents of Minnesota.
  • Information about funded projects (outcomes and required items) must be shared with the Legislative Coordinating Commission (LCC) and posted on the relevant website.
  • Grants should follow established grant rules (including competitive awarding where practical) and account for all expenditures.
  • Direct recipients must spend funding only for projects located in Minnesota (where applicable).
  • Future funding eligibility depends on meeting requirements in this section and any applicable session laws.

• Parks and Trails Fund (Sec. 1)

  • Requires a plan for measuring results and an assessment of whether the funding reaches diverse communities and low/moderate-income households.
  • Requires posting of funded-project information to the LCC website.
  • Grants must be implemented under existing grant laws and include a clear regranting process.
  • Direct recipients must prominently display the legacy logo on their homepage with an accessible alt text description and a link to the LCC website for more information.
  • The logo’s alt text must describe the logo when a user hovers over it.
  • Future eligibility is conditioned on compliance; noncompliant recipients may be listed in an annual public report and be ineligible for future funding until compliance is demonstrated.
  • Recipients must inform the House/Senate committees about whether funding requests supplant or substitute for prior funding.

• Outdoor Heritage Fund (Sec. 2)

  • Mirrors the Parks and Trails Fund requirements for measurability, posting, logo display with alt text, and linking to the LCC site.
  • Includes the same compliance and public reporting consequences (auditor listing, future funding ineligibility until compliant).
  • Requires an assessment of whether funding reaches diverse communities, including low- and moderate-income households.
  • Provisions allow leveraging federal funds via project partnerships.

• Clean Water Fund (Sec. 3)

  • Requires measurable outcomes and a plan for measuring results, plus an assessment of outreach to diverse communities.
  • Projects must use current science and technology where appropriate and balance benefits across regions.
  • Recipients must post information to the LCC website; information not public can be excluded from posting.
  • Grants must follow the applicable grant law and account for all expenditures; regranting should be competitively awarded where possible.
  • Funds may only be spent on Minnesota water-related projects.
  • Direct recipients must prominently display the legacy logo with alt text and provide a link to the LCC site; the logo should have accessible alt text.
  • Future funding depends on compliance; noncompliant recipients can be listed publicly and become ineligible until compliant.
  • The fund may be used to leverage federal funds through formal project-partner agreements with federal agencies.
  • Recipients must inform relevant committees whether a funding request supplants or substitutes for prior funding.

• Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (Sec. 4)

  • Funds may be spent only on arts, arts education, arts access, and preserving Minnesota history and cultural heritage.
  • Projects must have measurable outcomes and a plan for evaluating results; should align with scholarship or best practices when appropriate and use state-of-the-art technology when suitable.
  • Grants can cover entire projects or parts of projects; the recipient must provide a project description and total cost and show adequate resources to complete the project.
  • All funds must benefit residents across Minnesota regions.
  • Direct recipients must prominently display the legacy logo on their homepage with alt text and a link to the LCC site; the logo should include the required phrase and alt text visible on hover.
  • Future eligibility requires compliance; noncompliant recipients can be listed publicly and become ineligible for future funding until compliant.
  • The bill requires recipients to inform the relevant House and Senate committees about whether a funding request substitutes for or replaces prior funding and, for arts organizations, to provide a copy of the most recent IRS Form 990.

• Additional implementation and oversight provisions (across funds)

  • The Legislative Coordinating Commission must post the submitted information on the appropriate website as soon as it is available.
  • If information is not public, it does not need to be posted.
  • The Office of the Legislative Auditor may publicly report noncompliance; recipients listed as noncompliant remain ineligible for future funding until compliance is demonstrated; the auditor can remove the recipient once compliant.
  • In some sections, recipients may be required to share Internal Revenue Service Form 990 in connection with funding requests for the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
  • Some sections authorize receipt and use of funds in alignment with existing statutes (e.g., 16B.98 for grant administration) and require competitive processes for grant allocation where possible.

1. Significant Changes to Existing Law
2. Adds explicit requirements for alt text on the legacy logo and accessible online descriptions (alt text) across multiple funds.
3. Requires prominent display of the legacy logo on recipient websites, with a clickable path to the LCC and information pages.
4. Expands transparency by mandating public posting of outcomes, activities, and compliance status (via the LCC site and the Legislative Auditor’s annual reporting).
5. Strengthens eligibility rules by linking future funding to demonstrated compliance and creates public lists of recipients who are not in compliance.
6. In some funds, adds the ability to leverage federal funds and requires disclosure about supplanting or substitution of funding.
7. Adds a requirement to provide IRS Form 990 (for certain purposes) to improve oversight of nonprofit or recipient organizations.

Relevant Terms - legacy logo - alt text (alternative text) - Click here for more information - Legislative Coordinating Commission (LCC) - Legislative Auditor - parks and trails fund - outdoor heritage fund - clean water fund - arts and cultural heritage fund - measurable outcomes - reassessment of reach to diverse communities (including low- and moderate-income households) - statewide Minnesota project focus - competitive grant process - supplanting and substitution - annual public report - public listing of noncompliant recipients - IRS Form 990