Purpose

Establish governance and funding to modernize and coordinate human services information technology systems across state agencies and counties. The bill creates a new oversight body, requires regular recommendations and reporting, and provides one-time funding for county IT updates and policy changes to improve how systems like MAXIS, PRISM, METS, and related tools operate.

Key Provisions and Goals

• Creation of the Human Services Systems Steering Committee to advise on the development, administration, and business operations of human services IT systems used by counties, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Children Youth and Families.
• Steering Committee membership includes:
  • 2 members appointed by the Department of Human Services
  • 2 members appointed by the Department of Children Youth and Families
  • 6 members appointed jointly by associations representing counties
  • 4 nonvoting members appointed by the Department of Information Technology Services
  • 2 cochairs (one from the groups in paragraph a clauses 3 and 4)
• Costs for the steering committee are paid by the participating state agencies.
• Duties of the committee:
  • Provide recommendations on current and new human services IT systems
  • For each system, set goals, priorities, allocate resources, and track funding and expenditures from all sources
• Meetings:
  • Quarterly meetings
  • Public testimony and comments available at each meeting
  • All votes recorded with individual member votes identified
• Implementation rules:
  • Major changes to current systems or new systems cannot be implemented without steering committee recommendations and county consultation
  • Changes to be implemented only if passed by at least seven steering committee members
• Reporting:
  • Annually, starting January 30, 2027, the steering committee reports to legislative chairs and ranking minority members
  • Reports include system funding and expenditures by source, committee recommendations, and a list of projects
  • Legislative committees must hold a public hearing on the report during the regular session in the year of the report

Funding and Projects (Section 2)

• System-focused information technology updates (Fiscal year 2027, general fund):

  • Provide funds to update county IT systems in collaboration with counties
  • Projects include:
  • Expand Data Depot to all Minnesota counties and Tribal Nations
  • Expand BlueZone Scripting Collaborative to all counties and Tribal Nations
  • Expand piloted artificial intelligence tools for human services to all counties and Tribal Nations
  • Develop new user interfaces to replace character-based green screens for MAXIS and PRISM via an integration layer
  • Complete the renewal self-service portal in the Minnesota Eligibility Technology System (METS)
  • Copy all state human services policies and procedures into a data warehouse and keep them updated
  • Enable METS to note when a recipient has a second pregnancy
  • Determine, with Minnesota Management and Budget, the dollar amount needed for the integration layer tool and for full MAXIS/PRISM implementation
  • A portion is allocated to fully fund the work verification vendor system for child support, health care, and public assistance programs
  • This is a one-time appropriation

• Policy-focused information technology updates (Fiscal year 2027, general fund):

  • Funds to update county IT systems to conform with legislative changes
  • Projects include:
  • Automated MAXIS process to confirm eligibility for health care program enrollees
  • Eliminate duplicative data entry by county workers, integrate MNBenefits with MAXIS, and enable electronic updates from recipients
  • Update MAXIS to require county workers to update shelter and utility panels when the address panel is updated for SNAP applications
  • Update MAXIS to support a simplified six-month reporting method for SNAP changes
  • Update MAXIS to properly code timelimited SNAP recipients and integrate with related panels
  • Update MAXIS eligibility results to reflect current noncitizen eligibility policies for health care programs and SNAP
  • Remove the need for separate entry and approval of General Assistance and SNAP applications within MAXIS and enable translation between panels
  • Review and modernize client notices generated by MAXIS and METS to be clear, accurate, compliant, and automatically populated with correct information
  • Update MAXIS to support automatic case noting
  • This is a one-time appropriation

Significance and Impact

• Establishes a formal governance structure (the Steering Committee) to coordinate and oversee state and county IT work for human services, aiming to reduce duplication and improve consistency.
• Sets clear requirements for public input, transparency, and accountability (public meetings, recorded votes, annual reporting, and public hearings on reports).
• Accelerates modernization of major systems (MAXIS, PRISM, METS) and related tools (Data Depot, BlueZone, AI capabilities) with a focus on interoperability and data sharing.
• Signals substantial one-time investments in county IT systems and policy updates to align with new governance and system changes.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Creates the new Human Services Systems Steering Committee with a defined governance structure and cross-agency county involvement.
• Requires major IT system changes to have steering committee backing (needs at least seven votes) and county consultation before implementation.
• Requires annual reporting to legislators and a public hearing, increasing transparency of funding and projects for human services IT systems.
• Allocates one-time funds for extensive county IT system updates and policy modernization, including major upgrades to MAXIS, METS, data integration, and notices.

Relevant Terms

• Human Services Systems Steering Committee
• information technology systems
• Department of Human Services
• Department of Children Youth and Families
• Department of Information Technology Services
• Data Depot
• BlueZone Scripting Collaborative
• artificial intelligence tools
• MAXIS
• PRISM
• METS (Minnesota Eligibility Technology System)
• data warehouse
• integration layer
• county information technology systems
• Data Depot expansion
• public testimony
• cochairpersons
• one-time appropriation
• general fund
• SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
• automated eligibility
• housing shelter and utility panels
• noncitizen eligibility policy
• notices and case notes