Purpose

Explain and fund a new, one-time program to support meat cutting and butchery training in Minnesota’s secondary career and technical education (CTE) programs. The goal is to help schools offer instruction in meat cutting and butchery, with links to state colleges and local industry partners, and to improve workforce development in this area. The bill also sets up reporting requirements and allows coordination with the Department of Agriculture.

Main Provisions

• Funding and origin
  • A one-time appropriation of 225,000 in fiscal year 2027 from the workforce development fund to the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
  • The money is to be used to provide grants to secondary CTE programs to offer meat cutting and butchery instruction.
• Use of funds
  • Grants may cover equipment for the meat cutting program, facility renovations to accommodate meat cutting, and training for faculty to teach meat processing.
• Grant amounts and requirements
  • Each grant can be up to 75,000.
  • Up to 10% of a grant may be used for faculty training.
• Priorities
  • Preference given to applicants coordinating with meat cutting and butchery programs at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, or with local industry partners.
• Reporting requirements
  • By January 15, 2028, DEED must report to legislative chairs and ranking minority members a list of grants awarded by county and note the number and amount of grant requests not fulfilled.
  • The report may include information on outcomes produced by the grants.
  • If additional grants are awarded under this section, DEED must submit another report by November 1, 2028 covering all grants issued under this section.
• Interagency cooperation
  • DEED may enter into an interagency agreement with the Department of Agriculture, including agreements to transfer funds to administer the program.

Significance and Changes

• Creates a new, one-time funding stream specifically for meat cutting and butchery training in secondary education, expanding workforce development efforts in this field.
• Establishes concrete grant parameters (amounts, uses, and training portion) and a clear priority for programs connected to higher education institutions or local industry.
• Introduces formal reporting requirements to track grant distribution, outcomes, and unmet requests, increasing transparency.
• Enables interagency collaboration with the Department of Agriculture to help administer the program.

Key Terms (from the bill text)

• meat cutting
• butchery
• grants
• workforce development fund
• Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)
• secondary career and technical education programs
• Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
• local industry partners
• equipment
• facility renovation
• faculty training
• onetime appropriation
• grant amount (up to 75,000)
• up to 10 percent for faculty training
• reporting requirements (January 15, 2028; November 1, 2028)
• interagency agreement
• Department of Agriculture

Relevant Terms

• meat cutting
• butchery
• grants
• workforce development fund
• DEED
• secondary CTE programs
• Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
• local industry partners
• equipment
• facility renovation
• faculty training
• interagency agreement
• Department of Agriculture
• reporting (2028 timelines)