1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to agriculture; establishing a pollinator investment grant program; 
1.3 	appropriating money;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
1.4 	chapter 17.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. [17.119] POLLINATOR INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM.
1.7 		Subdivision 1.Establishment. The commissioner may award a pollinator 
1.8 	investment grant to a person who implements best management practices to protect wild 
1.9 	and managed insect pollinators in this state equal to ten percent of the first $....... of 
1.10 	qualifying expenditures, provided the person makes qualifying expenditures of at least 
1.11 	$....... The commissioner may award multiple pollinator investment grants to a person 
1.12 	over the life of the program as long as the cumulative amount does not exceed $.......
1.13 		Subd. 2.Definition. For the purposes of this section, "qualified expenditures" 
1.14 	means the amount spent for:
1.15 	(1) in conventional farming systems, planting neonicotinoid-free seeds and 
1.16 	implementing integrated pest management practices that do not involve the use of 
1.17 	pollinator lethal insecticides; and
1.18 	(2) creating new pollinator habitat, protected from contamination by pollinator 
1.19 	lethal insecticides, including contamination from planting dust; soil contamination; or 
1.20 	water contamination, by:
1.21 	(i) seeding native flowering plants as prairie strips within productive cropland to 
1.22 	provide forage for pollinators;
1.23 	(ii) renovating a pasture system by overseeding a pasture with high-diversity native 
1.24 	forb or native or non-native legume mixtures;
2.1 	(iii) interseeding legumes, brassicas, buckwheat, or other pollinator forage plants 
2.2 	with corn or soybean, or planting these as cover crops before or after corn or soybean;
2.3 	(iv) planting or seeding riparian and wetland areas and vegetative buffer strips with 
2.4 	native perennial cover that provides forage for pollinators;
2.5 	(v) planting a native hedgerow; or
2.6 	(vi) increasing plant diversity in nonproductive areas by adding native flowering 
2.7 	forbs, trees, or shrubs, or by introducing pollinator-friendly plant species into existing 
2.8 	strands of grasses.
2.9 		Subd. 3.Eligibility. (a) To be eligible for a pollinator investment grant, a person 
2.10 	must:
2.11 	(1) be a resident of Minnesota or an entity specifically defined in section 500.24, 
2.12 	subdivision 2, that is eligible to own farmland and operate a farm in this state under 
2.13 	section 500.24;
2.14 	(2) be the principal operator of the farm; and
2.15 	(3) apply to the commissioner on forms prescribed by the commissioner, including a 
2.16 	statement of the qualifying expenditures made during the qualifying period along with any 
2.17 	proof or other documentation the commissioner may require.
2.18 	(b) The $....... maximum grant applies at the entity level for partnerships, S 
2.19 	corporations, C corporations, trusts, and estates as well as at the individual level. In the 
2.20 	case of married individuals, the grant is limited to $....... for a married couple.

2.21 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION.
 2.22 	$....... is appropriated in fiscal year 2017 from the general fund to the commissioner 
2.23 	of agriculture for the pollinator investment grant program under Minnesota Statutes, 
2.24 	section 17.119.