HF 47

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to economic development; requiring a closed 
  1.3             iron mine and related facilities to be maintained for 
  1.4             a period of time; providing extra unemployment 
  1.5             benefits for certain workers laid off from the LTV 
  1.6             Mining Company; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.7             section 93.003. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 93.003, is 
  1.10  amended to read: 
  1.11     93.003 [IRON MINING; CONDITIONS.] 
  1.12     Legal authority to mine and process iron ore, a basic 
  1.13  irreplaceable natural resource of the people of the state of 
  1.14  Minnesota, is subject to the conditions of this section.  When 
  1.15  the owner or operator of an iron mine or related production or 
  1.16  beneficiation facilities determines to discontinue the operation 
  1.17  of the mine or facilities for any reason it shall maintain the 
  1.18  mine or facilities in salable operating condition for at least 
  1.19  one year two years after it discontinues operation in order to 
  1.20  allow the state of Minnesota and other interested public and 
  1.21  private bodies to seek a new owner and operator.  The 
  1.22  requirement imposed by this section is a preliminary and 
  1.23  permanent requirement on the right of an owner to commence or 
  1.24  continue the operation of an iron mine or related facilities.  
  1.25  This requirement is enforceable on all owners and operators and 
  1.26  successors of owners and operators and shall be enforced by the 
  2.1   state in any action in bankruptcy or other litigation that may 
  2.2   affect it. 
  2.3      Sec. 2.  [IRON ORE MINING EXTRA BENEFITS; AVAILABILITY.] 
  2.4      Subdivision 1.  [EXTRA BENEFITS; AVAILABILITY.] Extra 
  2.5   unemployment benefits are available to an applicant if the 
  2.6   applicant was permanently laid off due to lack of work between 
  2.7   August 1, 2000, and August 31, 2000, from LTV Mining Company in 
  2.8   St. Louis county, including the power plant operation at 
  2.9   Taconite Harbor in Lake county. 
  2.10     Subd. 2.  [PAYMENT FROM FUND; EFFECT ON EMPLOYER.] Extra 
  2.11  unemployment benefits are payable from the fund.  Extra 
  2.12  unemployment benefits shall not affect the future tax rate of a 
  2.13  taxpaying employer nor be charged to the reimbursing account of 
  2.14  a government or nonprofit employer. 
  2.15     Subd. 3.  [ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS.] An applicant is 
  2.16  eligible to receive extra unemployment benefits under this 
  2.17  section for any week during the 52-week period following the 
  2.18  effective date of the applicant's benefit account of regular 
  2.19  unemployment benefits, as a result of a layoff described under 
  2.20  subdivision 1, if: 
  2.21     (1) a majority of the applicant's wage credits were with 
  2.22  LTV Mining Company, including the power plant operation at 
  2.23  Taconite Harbor in Lake county; 
  2.24     (2) except as provided in subdivision 6, the applicant 
  2.25  meets the eligibility requirements of Minnesota Statutes, 
  2.26  section 268.085; 
  2.27     (3) the applicant is not subject to a disqualification 
  2.28  under Minnesota Statutes, section 268.095, except as provided in 
  2.29  subdivision 7; and 
  2.30     (4) the applicant is not entitled to regular unemployment 
  2.31  benefits and the applicant is not entitled to receive 
  2.32  unemployment benefits under any other state or federal law for 
  2.33  that week. 
  2.34     If an applicant qualifies for a new regular benefit account 
  2.35  at any time after exhausting regular unemployment benefits as a 
  2.36  result of the layoff under subdivision 1, the applicant must 
  3.1   apply for and exhaust entitlement to those new regular 
  3.2   unemployment benefits. 
  3.3      Subd. 4.  [WEEKLY AMOUNT OF EXTRA BENEFITS.] The weekly 
  3.4   extra unemployment benefits amount available to an applicant is 
  3.5   the same as the applicant's weekly regular unemployment benefit 
  3.6   amount on the benefit account established as a result of a 
  3.7   layoff under subdivision 1. 
  3.8      Subd. 5.  [MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF EXTRA UNEMPLOYMENT 
  3.9   BENEFITS.] The maximum amount of extra unemployment benefits 
  3.10  available is 13 times the applicant's weekly regular benefit 
  3.11  amount available on the benefit account established as a result 
  3.12  of a layoff under subdivision 1. 
  3.13     Subd. 6.  [WORKERS' COMPENSATION/DISABILITY INSURANCE 
  3.14  OFFSET.] (a) An applicant laid off from LTV Mining Company on or 
  3.15  after August 1, 2000, who is otherwise eligible for regular or 
  3.16  extra unemployment benefits is not subject to the deductible 
  3.17  payment provisions of Minnesota Statutes, section 268.085, 
  3.18  subdivision 3, paragraph (a), clause (3).  Instead, the 
  3.19  applicant is subject to the limitations of this subdivision. 
  3.20     (b) An applicant shall not be eligible to receive 
  3.21  unemployment benefits for any week with respect to which the 
  3.22  applicant is receiving or has received compensation for loss of 
  3.23  wages equal to or in excess of the applicant's weekly 
  3.24  unemployment benefit amount under: 
  3.25     (1) the workers' compensation law of this state; 
  3.26     (2) the workers' compensation law of any other state or 
  3.27  similar federal law; or 
  3.28     (3) any insurance or fund paid in whole or in part by an 
  3.29  employer. 
  3.30     If an applicant receives compensation for loss of wages 
  3.31  under clauses (1) to (3) that is less than the applicant's 
  3.32  weekly unemployment benefit amount, then unemployment benefits 
  3.33  requested for that week shall be reduced by the amount of the 
  3.34  compensation payment. 
  3.35     (c) An applicant is not ineligible to receive unemployment 
  3.36  benefits because the applicant has a claim pending for loss of 
  4.1   wages under paragraph (b); however, such a pending claim shall 
  4.2   raise an issue of the applicant's ability to work under 
  4.3   Minnesota Statutes, section 268.085, subdivision 1, clause (2), 
  4.4   that the commissioner shall determine.  If the applicant later 
  4.5   receives compensation as a result of the pending claim, then 
  4.6   that compensation is subject to the provisions of paragraph (b), 
  4.7   and shall be subject to recoupment by the commissioner to the 
  4.8   extent that the compensation constitutes overpaid unemployment 
  4.9   benefits. 
  4.10     (d) If the commissioner intervenes, in accordance with 
  4.11  Minnesota Statutes, section 268.18, subdivision 5, in a workers' 
  4.12  compensation matter under Minnesota Statutes, section 176.361, 
  4.13  in order to recoup overpaid unemployment benefits paid to an 
  4.14  applicant laid off under paragraph (a), the commissioner shall 
  4.15  not be required to pay any portion of the applicant's attorney 
  4.16  fees, and the applicant shall be liable to repay the total 
  4.17  amount of the overpaid unemployment benefits. 
  4.18     This subdivision continues in effect until March 1, 2002. 
  4.19     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.20     Sections 1 and 2 are effective the day following final 
  4.21  enactment and are retroactive to December 1, 2000.