2-15-1839. Montana-Ireland trade commission. (1) There is a Montana-Ireland trade commission.

(2) The commission consists of:

(a) one member of the senate appointed by the president of the senate;

(b) one member of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;

(c) one member of the senate appointed by the minority leader of the senate;

(d) one member of the house of representatives appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives;

(e) the director of the department of commerce, or the director's designee;

(f) the director of the department of agriculture, or the director's designee;

(g) the commissioner of higher education, or the commissioner's designee;

(h) one Montana resident, appointed by the governor, who represents the Irish American community in this state and is interested in furthering trade between Montana and Ireland; and

(i) one Montana resident at large, appointed by the governor, who is part of a Montana business association, trade organization, economic development organization, or chamber of commerce headquartered in this state and is focused on the promotion of international trade.

(3) (a) Each appointed member shall serve for an initial term of 2 years and may be reappointed. A vacancy must be filled for the remainder of the term in the same manner as the original appointment.

(b) The appointing authority for a member may remove the member and substitute another appointee for the member at any time for the duration of the term.

(4) (a) The appointed members serve staggered terms of 2 years. The initial appointments are as follows: the two members appointed by the governor shall serve 1 year each, and the four legislative members shall serve 2 years each.

(b) All initial appointments must be made no later than October 1, 2025.

(5) (a) Commission members shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed as provided in 2-18-501 through 2-18-503 for travel expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, within the limit of funds available to the commission.

(b) The commission shall raise all money necessary, through direct solicitation or other fundraising events, to fund the activities of the commission, including meetings and travel expenses related to the commission's purposes as provided in 90-1-156. The funds raised pursuant to this subsection (5)(b) must be deposited in the Montana-Ireland trade development special revenue account provided for in 90-1-158.

(6) The commission is allocated to the department of commerce for administrative purposes only as provided in 2-15-121.