Minnesota Agencies

The Minnesota Council on Disability (MCD) advises the governor, state legislature, state agencies and local units of government on issues affecting Minnesotans with disabilities. The Council analyzes legislative initiatives and works with policy makers to ensure they understand the impacts of decisions on Minnesotans with disabilities. See Minnesota Statute 256.482, Subd. 5 for further details on the duties and powers of this council.

In 1973, the Legislature merged two existing groups, the Governor's Commission on the Employment of Handicapped Persons and the Advisory Board on Gifted, Exceptional and Handicapped Persons, to create the Minnesota Commission for the Handicapped. The group was renamed the Council for the Handicapped in 1976, and finally the Council on Disability in 1987, as it's still known today.

Originally, membership was set at 30 and Commission members were appointed in September 1973. At the time, Governor Wendell Anderson remarked: "for the first time, [this commission] will give state and local governments, along with private agencies and advocate groups, the means to effectively coordinate the multitude of programs and services in this field."

Membership was reduced to 21 in 1983, and then to 17 in 2013 at the request of the executive director and via legislation passed that year (HF543/SF442*).

In 2017, along with a website redesign, MSCOD was renamed the Minnesota Council on Disability (MCD).

The Council consists of 17 members. Members shall be appointed from the general public and from organizations which provide services for persons who have a disability. A majority of council members shall be persons with a disability or parents or guardians of persons with a disability. There shall be at least one member of the council appointed from each of the state development regions. The commissioners of the Departments of Education, Human Services, Health, and Human Rights and the directors of the Rehabilitation Services and State Services for the Blind in the Department of Employment and Economic Development or their designees shall serve as ex officio members of the council without vote. In addition, the council may appoint ex officio members from other bureaus, divisions, or sections of state departments which are directly concerned with the provision of services to persons with a disability.

Chair: James Thalhuber (July, 2014)