Minnesota Agencies

The Tax Expenditure Review Commission is created to review Minnesota's tax expenditures and evaluate their effectiveness and fiscal impact. In the first three years after the commission is established, the commission must complete an initial review of the state's tax expenditures. The initial review must identify the purpose of each of the state's tax expenditures, if none was identified in the enacting legislation in accordance with section 3.192. The commission may also identify metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of an expenditure.

In each year following the initial review under paragraph (a), the commission must review and evaluate Minnesota's tax expenditures on a regular, rotating basis. The commission must establish a review schedule that ensures each tax expenditure will be reviewed by the commission at least once every ten years. The commission may review expenditures affecting similar constituencies or policy areas in the same year, but the commission must review a subset of the tax expenditures within each tax type each year. To the extent possible, the commission must review a similar number of tax expenditures within each tax type each year. The commission may decide not to review a tax expenditure that is adopted by reference to federal law.

Before December 1 of the year a tax expenditure is included in a commission report, the commission must hold a public hearing on the expenditure, including but not limited to a presentation of the review components in subdivision 5.

By December 15 of each year, the commission must submit a written report to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over tax policy. The report must detail the results of the commission's review of tax expenditures in the previous calendar year, including the review components detailed in subdivision 5.

The first report of the commission under Minnesota Statutes, section 3.8855, subdivision 7, is due on December 15, 2022.

The commission consists of:

• two senators appointed by the senate majority leader;
• two senators appointed by the senate minority leader;
• two representatives appointed by the speaker of the house;
• two representatives appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives; and
• the commissioner of revenue or the commissioner's designee. 

Each appointing authority must make appointments by January 31 of the regular legislative session in the odd-numbered year. Members of the commission serve a term beginning upon appointment and ending at the beginning of the regular legislative session in the next odd-numbered year. The appropriate appointing authority must fill a vacancy for a seat of a current legislator for the remainder of the unexpired term. Members may be removed or replaced at the pleasure of the appointing authority.

Appointing authorities for the commission must make initial appointments by January 15, 2022. The speaker of the house must designate one member of the commission to convene the first meeting of the commission by July 1, 2022.

If a commission member ceases to be a member of the legislative body from which the member was appointed, the member vacates membership on the commission.

If the chair of the house or senate committee with primary jurisdiction over taxes is not an appointed member, the chair is an ex officio, nonvoting member of the commission.

The commission shall elect a chair and vice-chair as presiding officers. The chair and vice-chair must alternate every two years between members of the house of representatives and senate. The chair and vice-chair may not be from the same legislative chamber.