1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to agriculture; providing funding for county 
  1.3             extension work; establishing an aid and grant program; 
  1.4             establishing a statewide advisory committee; 
  1.5             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, 
  1.6             sections 38.33; 38.331, subdivisions 1, 2, by adding a 
  1.7             subdivision; 38.35; 38.36, subdivisions 2, 3; Laws 
  1.8             2003, chapter 133, article 1, section 4, subdivision 
  1.9             4; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.10            chapter 38; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2002, 
  1.11            sections 38.331, subdivision 3; 38.37.  
  1.12  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.13     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 38.33, is 
  1.14  amended to read: 
  1.15     38.33 [COORDINATION TO MAINTAIN COUNTY EXTENSION WORK.] 
  1.16     Sections 38.33 to 38.38 38.39 coordinate the work of the 
  1.17  federal, state, and county government and the Minnesota 
  1.18  Extension Service of the University of Minnesota and provide 
  1.19  support to maintain county extension work. 
  1.20     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 38.331, 
  1.21  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.22     Subdivision 1.  [APPLICATION.] In sections 38.33 to 
  1.23  38.38 38.39, the definitions in this section apply.  
  1.24     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 38.331, is 
  1.25  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.26     Subd. 1a.  [COMMISSIONER.] "Commissioner" means the 
  1.27  commissioner of agriculture.  
  1.28     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 38.331, 
  2.1   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  2.2      Subd. 2.  [COUNTY EXTENSION WORK.] "County extension work" 
  2.3   means educational programs and services provided by the county 
  2.4   extension educators committee in the areas of agriculture; 
  2.5   agricultural finance; economic development; nutrition; youth 
  2.6   leadership development including 4-H programs; leadership; and 
  2.7   environment and natural resources. 
  2.8      Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 38.35, is amended 
  2.9   to read: 
  2.10     38.35 [STATE APPROPRIATIONS; HOW SPENT.] 
  2.11     Money appropriated by the state to maintain and pay 
  2.12  expenses of for county extension work must be spent under the 
  2.13  direction of the director of extension, who, acting with the 
  2.14  county extension committee, shall to carry out sections 38.33 to 
  2.15  38.38 38.39. 
  2.16     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 38.36, 
  2.17  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  2.18     Subd. 2.  [BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.] In cooperation with the 
  2.19  director of extension, or the director's designee, The county 
  2.20  extension committee, each year, in accordance with county 
  2.21  budgetary deadlines, shall prepare a budget showing the total 
  2.22  funds available and needed for county extension work and shall 
  2.23  recommend to the county board the amount of county funds 
  2.24  necessary a proposed budget to maintain, support, and pay the 
  2.25  expenses of county extension work during the following year.  A 
  2.26  copy of the budget must be presented to the county board.  
  2.27     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 38.36, 
  2.28  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.29     Subd. 3.  [COUNTY APPROPRIATIONS, HOW SPENT.] The county 
  2.30  board shall consider the recommended county share of money 
  2.31  necessary to maintain, support, and pay the expenses of budget 
  2.32  for county extension work during the following year.  For these 
  2.33  purposes, the county board may appropriate money annually from 
  2.34  its general revenue fund and may include the amount of the 
  2.35  county's share in the annual levy of county taxes or may make a 
  2.36  special levy for county extension purposes work or both.  The 
  3.1   money set aside and appropriated by the county board for these 
  3.2   purposes is the county extension fund.  Money from the fund may 
  3.3   be paid out by orders of the director of extension, or the 
  3.4   director's designee, to pay a part of the compensation of the 
  3.5   agents employed, to pay directly the compensation of county 
  3.6   support employees, and to pay other for expenses incident to, 
  3.7   including employee compensation or contract expenses, for county 
  3.8   extension work.  An order to pay money from the fund must not be 
  3.9   issued until the expenditure has been audited and signed by the 
  3.10  county auditor or other appropriate county official.  A balance 
  3.11  in the county extension fund at the end of a year must be 
  3.12  carried over or reappropriated.  
  3.13     Sec. 8.  [38.39] [COUNTY EXTENSION AID.] 
  3.14     Subdivision 1.  [PURPOSE.] The purpose of county extension 
  3.15  aid is to support extension work at the county level.  The aid 
  3.16  is provided as a supplement to county funds appropriated to 
  3.17  support the extension priorities identified by county extension 
  3.18  committees and for services that are consistent with the 
  3.19  standards established by the Statewide County Extension Advisory 
  3.20  Board created in subdivision 4. 
  3.21     Subd. 2.  [DISTRIBUTION OF STATE APPROPRIATIONS.] Of the 
  3.22  appropriation in law for county extension aid, at least 70 
  3.23  percent must be distributed to counties as an annual base 
  3.24  payment of county extension aid.  Except for counties with a 
  3.25  city of the first class located in the metropolitan area as 
  3.26  defined in section 473.121, subdivision 4, an equal base payment 
  3.27  must be made to each Minnesota county that maintains county 
  3.28  appropriations for county extension work at 85 percent or more 
  3.29  of the county appropriations in 2003.  The commissioner must 
  3.30  annually notify each eligible county by May 1 of the amount of 
  3.31  aid to be paid under this subdivision in the following year.  
  3.32  The remainder of the annual state appropriation for county 
  3.33  extension aid must be distributed as grants under subdivision 3 
  3.34  by the commissioner in consultation with the commissioner of 
  3.35  employment and economic development and the Statewide County 
  3.36  Extension Advisory Board created in subdivision 4. 
  4.1      Subd. 3.  [COUNTY EXTENSION GRANTS.] (a) A county extension 
  4.2   grant program is established to enhance local extension services 
  4.3   provided by Minnesota counties.  All Minnesota county extension 
  4.4   committees are eligible to apply to the commissioner for grants 
  4.5   to pay up to 50 percent of the cost of providing specific 
  4.6   extension services.  One or more county extension committees may 
  4.7   submit a joint application for shared extension services. 
  4.8      (b) Applications must be made to the commissioner on forms 
  4.9   prescribed by the commissioner and providing the information 
  4.10  requested by the commissioner.  At a minimum, the application 
  4.11  must describe the county extension service to be provided, the 
  4.12  group or groups to be served, the methods of delivering the 
  4.13  service, and anticipated outcomes.  All services must be 
  4.14  consistent with the definition of county extension work in 
  4.15  section 38.331, subdivision 2, and meet standards established 
  4.16  under subdivision 4. 
  4.17     (c) The Statewide County Extension Advisory Board must 
  4.18  review all applications and make funding recommendations to the 
  4.19  commissioner.  In making recommendations, the advisory board 
  4.20  must consider the demonstrated need for services, the 
  4.21  availability of similar services provided by other 
  4.22  organizations, and local resources committed to providing 
  4.23  services. 
  4.24     (d) In awarding grants, the commissioner must consult with 
  4.25  the commissioner of employment and economic development and 
  4.26  consider the recommendations of the Statewide County Extension 
  4.27  Advisory Board.  The commissioner may make two-year grants under 
  4.28  this subdivision. 
  4.29     Subd. 4.  [STATEWIDE COUNTY EXTENSION ADVISORY BOARD.] An 
  4.30  11-member Statewide County Extension Advisory Board is 
  4.31  established under section 15.059 to advise the commissioner, the 
  4.32  commissioner of employment and economic development, and the 
  4.33  governor on county extension grants, standards for persons 
  4.34  employed for county extension work, and other issues of 
  4.35  providing extension services at the local level.  The 
  4.36  commissioner must appoint one member of the advisory board from 
  5.1   each Minnesota congressional district and three at-large 
  5.2   members.  All persons appointed to represent a congressional 
  5.3   district must be members of a county extension committee at the 
  5.4   time of appointment.  The at-large members must be knowledgeable 
  5.5   about the educational programs and service delivery methods 
  5.6   included in county extension work.  
  5.7      Sec. 9.  Laws 2003, chapter 133, article 1, section 4, 
  5.8   subdivision 4, is amended to read:  
  5.9   Subd. 4.  Special
  5.10  Appropriation                         63,367,000     63,367,000
  5.11                                                       53,767,000
  5.12  (a) Agriculture and Extension Service 
  5.13      50,625,000     50,625,000 41,025,000
  5.14  This appropriation is for the 
  5.15  Agricultural Experiment Station, 
  5.16  Minnesota Extension Service.  The 
  5.17  appropriation for fiscal year 2003 
  5.18  includes the amount necessary to match 
  5.19  federal formula funds for the 
  5.20  cooperative extension service required 
  5.21  by the Agricultural, Research, 
  5.22  Extension, and Education Reform Act of 
  5.23  1998.  
  5.24  Any salary increases granted by the 
  5.25  University to personnel paid from the 
  5.26  Minnesota Extension appropriation must 
  5.27  not result in a reduction of the county 
  5.28  responsibility for the salary payments. 
  5.29  During the biennium, the University 
  5.30  shall maintain an advisory council 
  5.31  system for each experiment station.  
  5.32  The advisory councils must be broadly 
  5.33  representative of the range in size and 
  5.34  income distribution of farms and 
  5.35  agribusinesses and must not 
  5.36  disproportionately represent those from 
  5.37  the upper half of the size and income 
  5.38  distributions.  
  5.39  The University must continue to provide 
  5.40  support for the rapid agricultural 
  5.41  response fund, and sustainable and 
  5.42  organic agriculture initiatives 
  5.43  including, but not limited to, the 
  5.44  alternative swine systems program. 
  5.45  (b) Health Sciences 
  5.46       4,929,000      4,929,000
  5.47  This appropriation is for the rural 
  5.48  physicians associates program, the 
  5.49  Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, 
  5.50  health sciences research, dental care, 
  5.51  and the Biomedical Engineering Center. 
  5.52  (c) Institute of Technology  
  6.1        1,387,000      1,387,000
  6.2   This appropriation is for the 
  6.3   Geological Survey and the Talented 
  6.4   Youth Mathematics Program. 
  6.5   (d) System Specials 
  6.6        6,426,000      6,426,000
  6.7   This appropriation is for general 
  6.8   research, student loans matching money, 
  6.9   industrial relations education, Natural 
  6.10  Resources Research Institute, Center 
  6.11  for Urban and Regional Affairs, Bell 
  6.12  Museum of Natural History, and the 
  6.13  Humphrey exhibit. 
  6.14     Sec. 10.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  6.15     $9,600,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  6.16  commissioner of agriculture for fiscal year 2005 for the 
  6.17  purposes of county extension aid and county extension grants 
  6.18  under section 8. 
  6.19     Sec. 11.  [REPEALER.] 
  6.20     Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 38.331, subdivision 3; 
  6.21  and 38.37, are repealed.