Subd. 1. Establishment; membership.

1. (a) The Minnesota Agriculture Education Leadership Council is established. The council is composed of 17 members as follows:

   1. (1) the chair of the University of Minnesota agricultural education program;
   2. (2) a representative of the commissioner of education;
   3. (3) a representative of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities recommended by the chancellor;
   4. (4) the president and the president-elect of the Minnesota Association of Agriculture Educators;
   5. (5) a representative of the Future Farmers of America Foundation;
   6. (6) a representative of the commissioner of agriculture;
   7. (7) the dean of the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota;
   8. (8) a representative of the Minnesota Private Colleges Council;
   9. (9) two members representing agriculture education and agriculture business appointed by the governor;
   10. (10) the chair of the senate Committee on Agriculture, General Legislation and Veterans Affairs;
   11. (11) the chair of the house Committee on Agriculture;
   12. (12) the ranking minority member of the senate Committee on Agriculture, General Legislation and Veterans Affairs, and a member of the senate Education Committee designated by the Subcommittee on Committees of the Committee on Rules and Administration; and
   13. (13) the ranking minority member of the house Agriculture Committee, and a member of the house Education Committee designated by the speaker.

2. (b) An ex officio member of the council under paragraph (a), clause (1), (4), (7), (10),

   (11), (12), or (13), may designate a permanent or temporary replacement member representing the same constituency.

Subd. 2. Powers and duties.

Specific powers and duties of the council are to:

1. (1) develop recommendations to the legislature and the governor and provide review for agriculture education programs in Minnesota;
2. (2) establish a grant program to foster and encourage the development of secondary and postsecondary agriculture education programs;
3. (3) coordinate and articulate Minnesota's agriculture education policy across all programs and institutions;
4. (4) identify the critical needs for agriculture educators;
5. (5) serve as a link between the agribusiness sector and the agriculture education system to communicate mutual concerns, needs, and projections;
6. (6) establish and maintain an increased awareness of agriculture education and its continued need to all citizens of Minnesota;
7. (7) operate the Minnesota Center for Agriculture Education created in section 41D.03;
8. (8) gain broad public support for agriculture education in Minnesota; and
9. (9) report annually on its activities to the senate Agriculture and Rural Development Committee and the house Agriculture Committee.

Subd. 3. Council officers; terms and compensation of appointees; staff.

1. (a) The chair of the senate Agriculture, General Legislation and Veterans Affairs Committee and the chair of the house Agriculture Committee, or their designees, are the cochairs of the council.
2. (b) The council's membership terms, compensation, filling of vacancies, and removal of members are as provided in section 15.0575.
3. (c) The council may employ an executive director and any other staff to carry out its functions.

Subd. 4. Expiration.

This section expires on June 30, 2008.