HF 2914

as introduced - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 03/10/2014 01:18pm

A bill for an act
relating to government operations; reforming governance of the Agricultural
Utilization Research Institute; requiring new board appointments; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 116V.01, subdivisions 2, 4, 10.

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

Section 1. new text begin ACT TITLE.
new text end

new text begin This act may be referred to as the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute Ethics
and Reform Act of 2014.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 116V.01, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Board of directors.

new text begin (a) new text end The board of directors of the Agricultural
Utilization Research Institute is comprised of:

(1) the chairs of the senate and the house of representatives standing committees
with jurisdiction over agriculture finance or the chair's designee;

(2) two representatives of statewide farm organizations new text begin , appointed by their
organization new text end ;

(3) new text begin one representative of a statewide farm organization that exclusively represents
sustainable and community-scale farmers, appointed by the organization;
new text end

new text begin (4) new text end two representatives of agribusiness new text begin , one appointed by the speaker of the house of
representatives and one appointed by the senate Committee on Rules and Administration new text end ;
deleted text begin and
deleted text end

deleted text begin (4) deleted text end new text begin (5) new text end three representatives of the commodity promotion councils deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin , one appointed
by the speaker of the house of representatives, one appointed by the senate Committee
on Rules and Administration, and one appointed by the governor so that no commodity
promotion council has more than one representative;
new text end

new text begin (6) two representatives of organized labor units that represent food or other
agricultural product employees, one appointed by the speaker of the house of
representatives and one appointed by the senate Committee on Rules and Administration
so that no organization has more than one representative; and
new text end

new text begin (7) the commissioner of agriculture or the commissioner's designee.
new text end

new text begin (b) Board members are subject to section 10A.09.
new text end

new text begin (c) An appointing authority must not appoint the organization's registered lobbyist.
new text end

new text begin (d) Board members appointed under paragraph (a), clauses (2) to (6), serve four-year
terms. Members serve at the pleasure of their appointing authority.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 116V.01, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Staff.

The board of directors shall hire staff for the Agricultural Utilization
Research Institute. Persons employed by the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
are not state employees and may participate in state retirement, deferred compensation,
insurance, or other plans that apply to state employees generally and are subject to
regulation by the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. new text begin The salary and
the value of all other forms of compensation of the executive director must not exceed 80
percent of the salary of the commissioner of agriculture. Any institute-paid staff travel
outside of the state must be preapproved by the board of directors.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 116V.01, subdivision 10, is amended to read:

Subd. 10.

Meetings.

The board of directors shall meet at least deleted text begin twice deleted text end new text begin eight times
new text end each year and may hold additional meetings upon giving notice in accordance with the
bylaws of the institute. Board meetings are subject to chapter 13D, except deleted text begin subdivision
1b deleted text end new text begin section 13D.01, subdivision 6, new text end as it pertains to financial information, business plans,
income and expense projections, customer lists, market and feasibility studies, and trade
secret information as defined by section 13.37, subdivision 1, paragraph (b). new text begin The institute
must post approved meeting minutes on the institute's Web site. The institute must post
an audio recording of each meeting on the institute's Web site no later than the day
following the meeting.
new text end

Sec. 5. new text begin NEW APPOINTMENTS REQUIRED.
new text end

new text begin (a) The terms of all Agricultural Utilization Research Institute board members
serving on the date of final enactment, other than the chairs or designees of the legislative
committees with jurisdiction over agriculture finance, expire June 30, 2014. Effective July
1, 2014, new board members must be appointed as provided in this act.
new text end

new text begin (b) Notwithstanding the four-year terms specified in Minnesota Statutes, section
116V.01, subdivision 2, to establish staggered terms henceforth the initial appointees
required under this act serve terms of the following lengths:
new text end

new text begin (1) one of the representatives of a statewide farm organization serves a two-year
term, ending June 30, 2016, and the other representative of a statewide farm organization
serves a four-year term ending June 30, 2018. If the representatives are not able to agree
which person serves the four-year term, this shall be determined by lot;
new text end

new text begin (2) the representative of a statewide farm organization representing sustainable and
community-scale agricultural producers serves a four-year term, ending June 30, 2018;
new text end

new text begin (3) the representative of agribusiness appointed by the speaker of the house of
representatives serves a two-year term ending June 30, 2016, and the representative of
agribusiness appointed by the senate Committee on Rules and Administration serves
a four-year term, ending June 30, 2018;
new text end

new text begin (4) the representatives of commodity promotion councils appointed by the speaker
of the house of representatives and the senate Committee on Rules and Administration,
respectively, serve a two-year term ending June 30, 2016. The representative of a
commodity promotion council appointed by the governor serves a four-year term, ending
June 30, 2018; and
new text end

new text begin (5) the representative of organized labor appointed by the speaker of the house of
representatives serves a four-year term ending June 30, 2018, and the representative of
organized labor appointed by the senate Committee on Rules and Administration serves a
two-year term, ending June 30, 2016.
new text end