(a) There is hereby established a Governor's Council for Agricultural Development for advisory purposes only, consisting of the following members: (1) The Commissioner of Agriculture, who shall serve as the chairperson of the council, (2) the dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at The University of Connecticut, or the dean's designee, (3) the chairperson of the Connecticut Milk Promotion Board, or the chairperson's designee, (4) six members appointed by the Governor, who shall each be actively engaged in agricultural production, (5) one member appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be engaged in agricultural processing, (6) one member appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, who shall be engaged in agricultural marketing, (7) one member appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, who shall be engaged in agricultural sales, (8) one member appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, who shall be from a trade association, (9) one member appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, who shall be from the green industry, and (10) one member appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who shall be actively engaged in agricultural education.

(b) The council shall make recommendations to the Department of Agriculture on ways to increase the percentage of consumer dollars spent on Connecticut-grown fresh produce and farm products, including, but not limited to, ways to increase the amount of money spent by residents of the state on locally-grown farm products, by 2020, to not less than five per cent of all money spent by such residents on food. The council shall also make recommendations concerning the development, diversification and promotion of agricultural products, programs and enterprises in this state and shall provide for an interchange of ideas from the various commodity groups and organizations represented.

(c) The council shall meet not less than once per calendar quarter. Any vacancy in the membership of the council shall be filled by the Governor. The members shall serve without compensation or reimbursement for expenses. Any member absent from more than two meetings in a calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned.

(P.A. 91-307, S. 2, 4; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(e), (f); P.A. 04-189, S. 1; P.A. 11-189, S. 1.)

History: June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 replaced Commissioner and Department of Agriculture with Commissioner and Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004; P.A. 11-189 replaced former Subsecs. (a) to (c) with new Subsec. (a) re establishment of the council and its membership, new Subsec. (b) re duty of the council to make recommendations and new Subsec. (c) re meetings of the council, vacancies, compensation of members and absenteeism by members.