1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to agriculture; establishing pilot programs for plant-based food research, 
1.3 	training, and workforce development; requiring a report; appropriating money.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. CITATION.
 1.6 	This act may be cited as the "Producing Lucrative Agriculture with New Technologies 
1.7 	Act (PLANT Act)."

1.8 	Sec. 2. PLANT-BASED FOOD RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PILOT 
1.9 	PROGRAM.
 1.10 		Subdivision 1.Establishment. The commissioner of agriculture shall establish and 
1.11 	administer a plant-based food research and development pilot grant program. The 
1.12 	commissioner shall award competitive grants to eligible entities for activities, as described 
1.13 	in subdivision 2, that support research focused on creating foods with the same characteristics 
1.14 	as animal-based meat using plants.
1.15 		Subd. 2.Activities. Eligible grant activities include:
1.16 	(1) characterization of functional properties, breeding efforts, scalability, environmental 
1.17 	sustainability, and nutrition of plant proteins and crop-based sidestreams for use as ingredients 
1.18 	in plant-based foods;
1.19 	(2) development of new and standardized high-throughput screening and analytical 
1.20 	methods to measure the usefulness of crops and their components in plant-based foods;
2.1 	(3) development of extraction and processing techniques for making plant-based 
2.2 	ingredients more functional, palatable, affordable, and scalable when producing plant-based 
2.3 	foods; and
2.4 	(4) innovation in plant-based food end product manufacturing processes, including 
2.5 	equipment design and pilot production methods.
2.6 		Subd. 3.Report. No later than January 15, 2025, the commissioner of agriculture must 
2.7 	report grant activity and program outcomes to the legislative committees with jurisdiction 
2.8 	over agriculture policy while identifying additional opportunities to make public investments 
2.9 	in research and development of plant-based foods.

2.10 	Sec. 3. PLANT-BASED FOOD WORKFORCE SCHOLARSHIPS PILOT 
2.11 	PROGRAM.
 2.12 		Subdivision 1.Establishment. The commissioner of agriculture shall establish a 
2.13 	Minnesota plant-based food workforce development scholarship pilot program to assist in 
2.14 	meeting the workforce demand for the plant-based foods industry in Minnesota and to 
2.15 	enhance long-term economic self-sufficiency by connecting students, institutions of higher 
2.16 	education, employers, and communities.
2.17 		Subd. 2.Coordination. The commissioner shall coordinate funds and award scholarships 
2.18 	to students pursuing careers in the plant-based foods industry at colleges and universities 
2.19 	in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System while prioritizing students from 
2.20 	underrepresented communities within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 
2.21 	disciplines.

2.22 	Sec. 4. PLANT-BASED FOODS PRODUCTION TRAINING PILOT PROGRAM.
 2.23 	The commissioner of agriculture shall establish and administer a plant-based foods 
2.24 	production training pilot grant program to award grants to secondary career and technical 
2.25 	education programs and institutions of higher education for the purpose of offering instruction 
2.26 	in plant-based food production. The commissioner shall give priority to institutions that 
2.27 	coordinate with local producers of plant-based foods. Grants may be used for costs, including 
2.28 	but not limited to:
2.29 	(1) equipment required to produce plant-based foods;
2.30 	(2) facility renovation to accommodate plant-based food production; and
2.31 	(3) training faculty to teach the fundamentals of plant-based food production.

3.1 	Sec. 5. APPROPRIATION.
 3.2 	$3,000,000 in fiscal year 2023 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
3.3 	of agriculture for the purposes of this act. This is a onetime appropriation and is available 
3.4 	until June 30, 2024. Of this amount:
3.5 	(1) $2,000,000 is for the plant-based food research and development pilot program in 
3.6 	section 2;
3.7 	(2) $500,000 is for the plant-based food workforce scholarships pilot program in section 
3.8 	3; and
3.9 	(3) $500,000 is for plant-based foods production training grants under section 4.

3.10 	Sec. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; EXPIRATION.
 3.11 	This act is effective the day following final enactment and expires January 15, 2025.