1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to government operations; reforming governance of the Agricultural 
1.3 	Utilization Research Institute; requiring new board appointments;amending 
1.4 	Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 116V.01, subdivisions 2, 4, 10.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. ACT TITLE.
 1.7 	This act may be referred to as the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute Ethics 
1.8 	and Reform Act of 2014.

1.9 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 116V.01, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
1.10 		Subd. 2.Board of directors. (a) The board of directors of the Agricultural 
1.11 	Utilization Research Institute is comprised of:
1.12 	(1) the chairs of the senate and the house of representatives standing committees 
1.13 	with jurisdiction over agriculture finance or the chair's designee;
1.14 	(2) two representatives of statewide farm organizations, appointed by their 
1.15 	organization;
1.16 	(3) one representative of a statewide farm organization that exclusively represents 
1.17 	sustainable and community-scale farmers, appointed by the organization;
1.18 	(4) two representatives of agribusiness, one appointed by the speaker of the house of 
1.19 	representatives and one appointed by the senate Committee on Rules and Administration; 
1.20 	~~and~~
1.21 	~~(4)~~ (5) three representatives of the commodity promotion councils~~.~~, one appointed 
1.22 	by the speaker of the house of representatives, one appointed by the senate Committee 
2.1 	on Rules and Administration, and one appointed by the governor so that no commodity 
2.2 	promotion council has more than one representative;
2.3 	(6) two representatives of organized labor units that represent food or other 
2.4 	agricultural product employees, one appointed by the speaker of the house of 
2.5 	representatives and one appointed by the senate Committee on Rules and Administration 
2.6 	so that no organization has more than one representative; and
2.7 	(7) the commissioner of agriculture or the commissioner's designee.
2.8 	(b) Board members are subject to section 10A.09.
2.9 	(c) An appointing authority must not appoint the organization's registered lobbyist.
2.10 	(d) Board members appointed under paragraph (a), clauses (2) to (6), serve four-year 
2.11 	terms. Members serve at the pleasure of their appointing authority.

2.12 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 116V.01, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
2.13 		Subd. 4.Staff. The board of directors shall hire staff for the Agricultural Utilization 
2.14 	Research Institute. Persons employed by the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute 
2.15 	are not state employees and may participate in state retirement, deferred compensation, 
2.16 	insurance, or other plans that apply to state employees generally and are subject to 
2.17 	regulation by the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. The salary and 
2.18 	the value of all other forms of compensation of the executive director must not exceed 80 
2.19 	percent of the salary of the commissioner of agriculture. Any institute-paid staff travel 
2.20 	outside of the state must be preapproved by the board of directors.

2.21 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 116V.01, subdivision 10, is amended to read:
2.22 		Subd. 10.Meetings. The board of directors shall meet at least ~~twice~~ eight times
2.23 	 each year and may hold additional meetings upon giving notice in accordance with the 
2.24 	bylaws of the institute. Board meetings are subject to chapter 13D, except ~~subdivision~~ 
2.25 	~~1b~~ section 13D.01, subdivision 6, as it pertains to financial information, business plans, 
2.26 	income and expense projections, customer lists, market and feasibility studies, and trade 
2.27 	secret information as defined by section 13.37, subdivision 1, paragraph (b). The institute 
2.28 	must post approved meeting minutes on the institute's Web site. The institute must post 
2.29 	an audio recording of each meeting on the institute's Web site no later than the day 
2.30 	following the meeting.

2.31 	Sec. 5. NEW APPOINTMENTS REQUIRED.
 2.32 	(a) The terms of all Agricultural Utilization Research Institute board members 
2.33 	serving on the date of final enactment, other than the chairs or designees of the legislative 
3.1 	committees with jurisdiction over agriculture finance, expire June 30, 2014. Effective July 
3.2 	1, 2014, new board members must be appointed as provided in this act.
3.3 	(b) Notwithstanding the four-year terms specified in Minnesota Statutes, section 
3.4 	116V.01, subdivision 2, to establish staggered terms henceforth the initial appointees 
3.5 	required under this act serve terms of the following lengths:
3.6 	(1) one of the representatives of a statewide farm organization serves a two-year 
3.7 	term, ending June 30, 2016, and the other representative of a statewide farm organization 
3.8 	serves a four-year term ending June 30, 2018. If the representatives are not able to agree 
3.9 	which person serves the four-year term, this shall be determined by lot;
3.10 	(2) the representative of a statewide farm organization representing sustainable and 
3.11 	community-scale agricultural producers serves a four-year term, ending June 30, 2018;
3.12 	(3) the representative of agribusiness appointed by the speaker of the house of 
3.13 	representatives serves a two-year term ending June 30, 2016, and the representative of 
3.14 	agribusiness appointed by the senate Committee on Rules and Administration serves 
3.15 	a four-year term, ending June 30, 2018;
3.16 	(4) the representatives of commodity promotion councils appointed by the speaker 
3.17 	of the house of representatives and the senate Committee on Rules and Administration, 
3.18 	respectively, serve a two-year term ending June 30, 2016. The representative of a 
3.19 	commodity promotion council appointed by the governor serves a four-year term, ending 
3.20 	June 30, 2018; and
3.21 	(5) the representative of organized labor appointed by the speaker of the house of 
3.22 	representatives serves a four-year term ending June 30, 2018, and the representative of 
3.23 	organized labor appointed by the senate Committee on Rules and Administration serves a 
3.24 	two-year term, ending June 30, 2016.