The council's duties are as follows:
- elevate the voice of older adults in developing the vision and action plan for an age-friendly state;
- engage with community, including older adults, caregivers, businesses, experts, advocacy organizations, and other stakeholders, to inform recommendations and provide updates;
- identify opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration and coordination among services and state agencies responsible for funding and administering programs and public-private partnerships; promote equity and make progress towards equitable outcomes by examining programs, policies and practices to ensure that they address disparities experienced by older adults in Greater Minnesota, older adults of color, and indigenous older adults;
- catalyze age-friendly work at the local level, engaging with and empowering older adults, local constituents, elected officials, and other stakeholders to create change in every community;
- establish a statewide framework that allows for local flexibility to tap into the potential presented by our aging communities and elevates aging across all of Minnesota;
- assess and examine relevant programs, policies, practices, and services to make budget and policy recommendations for the 2021 legislative session to establish, in law, an Age-Friendly Board and age-friendly policies with appropriate financial support, to ensure Minnesota continues to lead on age-friendly initiatives.
I. Minnesota Revisor of Statutes 97 LAWS of MINNESOTA 2023 Ch 61, art 2, s 36
Subd. 2. Technical assistance grants. (a) This act includes $0 in fiscal year 2022 and $575,000 in fiscal year 2023 for technical assistance grants. The commissioner of human services, in collaboration with the Minnesota Board on Aging and the Governor's Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota, established in Executive Order 19-38, shall develop the age-friendly technical assistance grant program. The general fund base in this act for this purpose is $575,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $0 in fiscal year 2025.
(b) All grant activities must be completed by March 31, 2027.
(c) This subdivision expires June 30, 2027.
II. Sec. 35. Laws 2021, chapter 30, article 12, section 5, as amended by Laws 2021, First Special Session chapter 7, article 17, section 2, is amended to read:
Sec. 5. GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL ON AN AGE-FRIENDLY MINNESOTA.
The Governor's Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota, established in Executive Order 19-38, shall:
(1) work to advance age-friendly policies; and (2) coordinate state, local, and private partners' collaborative work on emergency preparedness, with a focus on older adults, communities, and persons in zip codes most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor's Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota is extended and expires June 30, 2027.
III. Sec. 36. Laws 2021, First Special Session chapter 7, article 17, section 8, is amended to read:
Sec. 8. AGE-FRIENDLY MINNESOTA.
Subdivision 1. Age-friendly community grants. (a) This act includes $0 in fiscal year 2022 and $875,000 in fiscal year 2023 for age-friendly community grants. The commissioner of human services, in collaboration with the Minnesota Board on Aging and the Governor's Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota, established in Executive Order 19-38, shall develop the age-friendly community grant program to help communities, including cities, counties, other municipalities, Tribes, and collaborative efforts, to become age-friendly communities, with an emphasis on structures, services, and community features necessary to support older adult residents over the next decade, including but not limited to:
(1) coordination of health and social services;
(2) transportation access;
(3) safe, affordable places to live;
(4) reducing social isolation and improving wellness;
(5) combating ageism and racism against older adults;
(6) accessible outdoor space and buildings;
(7) communication and information technology access; and
(8) opportunities to stay engaged and economically productive.
The general fund base in this act for this purpose is $875,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $0 in fiscal year 2025.