Legislation

Food and Agriculture Research Act

SB731 Enrolled
LRB8902948FNsbB

AN ACT concerning public food and agricultural research programs in Illinois.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title.
This Act may be cited as the Food and Agriculture Research Act.

Section 5. Findings.
It is the intent of this Act to provide a solid base of State funding for public food and agricultural research programs in Illinois while fostering public confidence in this research through public participation. Blessed with rich agricultural soils and a favorable agricultural climate, Illinois traditionally ranks fourth or fifth among the States in the nation's gross agricultural production. The food and agricultural sector, employing nearly 20% of the State's workers, is committed to providing safe, nutritious, high-quality, affordable, and convenient agricultural products and services to Illinois citizens. Compared with all other states, however, Illinois faces a tremendous challenge to meet its needs for ongoing adequate research investments that improve human health while protecting and enhancing its natural resources and environment. Without adequate State funding, the food and agricultural sector faces the consequences of falling behind in information, projects, and programs affecting human lives and the demand for improved nutrition, food quality, human health, and environment.

Currently, the State's agricultural universities conduct research that provides basic information about the structure and function of food and agricultural systems. Although these agricultural institutions have a remarkable record of contributions to an improved food and agricultural sector, their research is significantly underfunded. The State's Agricultural Experiment Station, maintained as the food and agricultural research facilities and program of the University of Illinois, ranks only 29th in state funding among the state agricultural experiment stations. Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois State University, and Western Illinois University also conduct food and agricultural research but receive no State appropriated fund allocations. This underfunding represents a missed opportunity for Illinois and places it in poor competitive position with other important agricultural states. The State's consumers and producers reap high returns from existing public investment in food and agricultural research, with a pretax return of 40%, the highest among publicly supported research activities.

Illinois needs mechanisms that allow publicly supported researchers to work closely with farmers, agribusiness, consumers, conservationists, environmentalists, and other key decision-makers. Together, these groups can identify challenges and opportunities for researchers before they conduct research and transfer the information and technology. This will allow Illinois to retain its prominence as a leading agricultural state.

The Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research (C-FAR) is a statewide coalition committed to funding relevant and high-quality research and related outreach programs leading to profitable, consumer-sensitive, and environmentally sound food and agricultural systems. The intent of the Act is to secure funds to support targeted research initiatives so that Illinois will continue to meet tomorrow's food and agricultural needs while using our natural resources responsibly.

The General Assembly of Illinois hereby:

• Identifies food and agricultural research as a critically important activity with great public benefits.
• Identifies the State's agricultural universities responsible for basic, developmental, and adaptive research related to the food and agricultural sector; and
• Authorizes the expenditure of State funds to enlarge, improve, and sustain the publicly supported programs of food and agricultural research in Illinois.

Section 10. Purpose.
The purpose of the Act is to put a solid foundation of stable and long-term State support under the important public activity of food and agricultural research while improving accountability and gathering public input concerning that research. This should provide the institutional capacity and program continuity that are required to mount effective food and agriculture research programs and that cannot be achieved with short-term funding.

It is the intent of this Act that:

• Illinois should be among the top 10 agricultural states in state funding for its agricultural experiment station, and that other agricultural institutions in the State should be funded proportionately, according to the formula specified below. These funds shall enhance, rather than substitute for, current ongoing program support.
• Research supported by this Act shall be clearly linked to practical food, agricultural, and related environmental objectives; fully integrated over the disciplines, functions, and activities required to achieve the intent of the General Assembly; coordinated with other, related food and agricultural research; and managed to minimize development time and cost and move results rapidly toward practical application.
• Researchers and other program participants shall investigate both short and long term environmental, health, social, economic, and natural resource implications of products, practices, and systems proposed for use in food and agricultural enterprises.
• This Act shall establish mechanisms by which publicly supported researchers and research administrators work closely with farmers, agribusiness, consumers, conservationists, environmentalists, health care providers, and key decision makers in the food and agricultural sector to identify problems and opportunities, formulate and prioritize research objectives, conduct research, and transfer the resulting information and technology.
• A portion of the funds shall be used to support the necessary system of research facilities and programs needed to pilot test and scale up prototype food, agricultural, and related environmental technology and that these facilities and programs be accessible at cost to qualified persons from Illinois public and private universities and nonprofit organizations that need access to such facilities to conduct research on food, agricultural, and related environmental systems.

Section 15. Allocation of funds.
Appropriations for the purposes of the Act shall be made to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which shall allocate funds appropriated under this Act to the following entities providing each the pro rata share indicated: the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, 82%; Southern Illinois University College of Agriculture, 11%; Illinois State University Department of Agriculture, 4%; Western Illinois University Department of Agriculture, 3%. Three years after the effective date of this Act and every 3 years thereafter, the Director of Agriculture shall review these percentages, ascertain their appropriateness, and report to the General Assembly.

To offset the cost of administering the appropriation, the Department of Agriculture may retain $50,000 or 1% of the total appropriation, whichever is less.

Section 20. Use of funds.
The universities receiving funds under this Act shall work closely with the Illinois Council of Food and Agriculture to develop and prioritize an appropriate research agenda for the State system. To support that agenda, funds shall be expended as follows:

• To support a broad program of food and agricultural research, to include, but not limited to, research on natural resource, environmental, economic, nutritional, and social impacts of agricultural systems, human and animal health, and the concerns of consumers of food and agricultural products and services.
• To build and maintain research capacity including construction, renovation, and maintenance of physical facilities; acquire and maintain equipment; employ appropriately trained and qualified personnel; provide supplies; and meet the expenses required to conduct the research and related technology transfer activities.
• A minimum of 15% of the funds allocated to each university shall be used to fund an innovative competitive grants program administered jointly by the four institutions identified in Section 15. The grants program is intended to be organized around desired practical, quantifiable, and achievable objectives in the food and agricultural sector. The Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research shall assist in evaluating and selecting the proposals for funding. Proposals may be submitted by any nonprofit institution, organization, or agency in Illinois. The principal investigator must be a qualified researcher with experience in a food and agriculture related discipline. Funds from other sources (both public and private) may be combined with funds appropriated for this Act to support cooperative efforts.
• It is intended that the universities that receive these funds shall continue (i) to operate and maintain the on-campus buildings and facilities used in their agriculture related programs and provide the support services typically provided other university programs, and (ii) to fund agricultural programs from the higher education budget.

Section 25. Administrative oversight.
The Department of Agriculture shall provide general administrative oversight with the assistance and advice of duly appointed representatives of the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research. Food and agricultural research administrators at each of the universities shall administer the specifics of the research program. Annually these administrators shall prepare a combined proposed budget that the Director of Agriculture shall submit to the Governor for inclusion in the Executive budget and consideration by the General Assembly. The budget shall specify major categories of proposed expenditures, including salary, wages, and fringe benefits; operation and maintenance; supplies and expenses; and capital improvements.

(505 ILCS 105/Act rep.)

Section 95. The Production Agriculture Programs Act is repealed.

Section 99. Effective date. The Act takes effect July 1, 1995.

Member Reimbursement addition to Act

The following amends the Food and Agriculture Research Act by making an addition to Section 15. The addition is as follows:

To offset the cost of members of C-FAR incurred while performing their duties as official group representatives, up to 1% of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this Act may be allocated by the Department of Agriculture to cover these expenses. Members shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. The reimbursement rates shall not exceed those rates that apply to State employees.