HF 2802

as introduced - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 03/06/2014 01:53pm

A bill for an act
relating to agriculture; prohibiting the Department of Agriculture from accepting
funds from agricultural commodity groups for certain activities; appropriating
money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 17.03, subdivision 10;
Minnesota Statutes 2013 Supplement, section 17.1015.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 17.03, subdivision 10, is amended to read:

Subd. 10.

Gifts; publication fees; advertising; appropriation.

(a) new text begin Except as
provided under paragraph (e), new text end the commissioner may accept for and on behalf of the state
any gift, bequest, devise, grant, or interest in money or personal property of any kind
tendered to the state for any purpose pertaining to the activities of the Department of
Agriculture or any of its divisions.

(b) The commissioner may charge a fee for reports, publications, or other
promotional or informational material produced by the Department of Agriculture.
The commissioner may solicit and accept advertising revenue for any departmental
publications or promotional materials.

(c) The fees collected by the commissioner under this section are to recover all or
part of the costs of providing services for which the fees are paid.

(d) Money received by the commissioner for these activities may be credited to one
or more special accounts in the state treasury. Money in those special accounts is annually
appropriated to the commissioner to provide the services for which the money was received.

new text begin (e) The commissioner must not accept funds for travel to, or participation in, an
international or domestic marketing or promotion event from a private entity that represents
the interests of the producers, handlers, dealers, or processors of an agricultural commodity,
including but not limited to a commodity council established under section 17.54.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2013 Supplement, section 17.1015, is amended to read:

17.1015 PROMOTIONAL EXPENDITURES.

In order to accomplish the purposes of section 17.101, the commissioner may
participate jointly with private persons in appropriate programs and projects and may enter
into contracts to carry out those programs and projects. The contracts may not include
the acquisition of land or buildings and are not subject to the provisions of chapter 16C
relating to competitive bidding.

The commissioner may spend money appropriated for the purposes of section
17.101 in the same manner that private persons, firms, corporations, and associations
make expenditures for these purposes, and expenditures made pursuant to section 17.101
for food, lodging, or travel are not governed by the travel rules of the commissioner of
management and budget. new text begin No later than January 15 each year, the commissioner must
report to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over agriculture finance the amount
and source of funds used to pay for the commissioner's travel to, or participation in,
international or domestic marketing or promotion events. The commissioner must report
each event separately.
new text end

Sec. 3. new text begin APPROPRIATION; MARKETING AND PROMOTION EVENTS.
new text end

new text begin $50,000 in fiscal year 2015 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of agriculture for travel to, and participation in, international or domestic marketing or
promotion events. This is a base appropriation to be added to any general fund money
previously appropriated for this purpose in fiscal year 2015.
new text end