This bill appropriates $500,000 from Minnesota's arts and cultural heritage fund for fiscal year 2026 to the Minnesota Humanities Center to support programming that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. The funding is intended to recognize the cultural and historical contributions of Cambodian, Lao, and Vietnamese Minnesotans and to address previous funding inequities and underrepresentation of these communities.

The Minnesota Humanities Center, in collaboration with the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, must create an equitable process for distributing funds directly to nonprofit organizations and initiatives supporting these communities. The allocation process must:
1. Ensure a minimum allocation for each community.
2. Increase awareness of funding opportunities.
3. Provide technical assistance and capacity-building support to nonprofit organizations with limited resources.

The bill allows for various distribution methods, such as a grant-making process, direct allocations to organizations, and collaborative partnerships with nonprofits. Decisions on programming must be made by representatives of the Cambodian, Lao, and Vietnamese communities to ensure alignment with their cultural and historical priorities.

The Minnesota Humanities Center may retain a portion of the funds to cover administrative and technical assistance costs. Additionally, the center must include a report on fund allocation, project descriptions, distribution methods, and recommendations for future funding in its required reporting under Minnesota Statutes.

Any remaining funds after initial programming must be reallocated equitably among the three communities for additional programming. The appropriation remains available until fully expended.