Legislative Updates

The Policy Committee for Minnesota Farmers Union and our staff are busy sorting through the resolutions sent in this year by county conventions for delegates to consider at the 78^th Annual MFU Convention, Nov. 22-24. The Policy Committee this year includes some familiar faces as well as new members. Serving the Policy Committee this year is:

• Krista Osendorf, Stearns
• Kirsten VanDerPol, Chippewa
• Erik Hatlestad, Kandiyohi
• Frank Grimm, Sibley
• Laurie Driessen, Yellow Medicine
• Theresa Keaveny, Brown
• Eunie Biel, Filmore
• Jim Kanten, Chippewa

There have been many resolutions submitted by each county for members to consider at state convention. These resolutions will be categorized, edited and refined by the policy committee and MFU staff prior to the convention, who will then present the final resolutions to delegates for consideration.

While there is a wide spectrum of resolutions to consider, a few resolutions have appeared to be consistent across many different counties. Here are a handful of the most common submissions:

• Support for more transparency, accountability and oversight of all commodity check off payments.
• Support for the creation of an indemnity fund to protect farmers with the risks associated with elevator collapse or damage.
• Support for collaborating with government officials to figure out a better trade solution to help provide relief to farmers being damaged by tariffs.
• Support to refine small-scale enterprise food license guidelines and funding.
• Support for the appropriate funding regarding cottage food laws and safety regulations and providing more information about cottage food programs.
• Support the increase of ethanol in the fuel supply and the manufacturing of more ethanol capable/flex-fuel vehicles.
• Support strong funding for the Forever Green Initiative.
• Support for an increase in funding for the Minnesota Farm Advocate Program.
• Support for the establishment of a meat cutting and custom processing operations training program to expand the meat processing market to smaller communities.
• Support for exploring single-payer or universal health care solution as well as a control on pharmaceutical prices.
• Support for a gas tax increase to maintain roads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure across the state.

These are just a sampling of what will be more than 100 changes for the delegates at the state convention to consider. If you have an opinion on one of these issues, come to the convention and join the debate! MFU has a great grassroots debate foundation and opportunities for members to make their voices heard on these and other issues. If you are unable to attend, be sure to speak with your county delegates prior to the convention so they can share your input. Members who have any questions about policy are encouraged to contact Government Relations Director Stu Lourey at stu@mfu.org.

MFU staff and members welcomed September with the final days of the State Fair, flew out to Washington, D.C. for the National Farmers Union Legislative Fly-in and closed with county conventions across the state. Each provided opportunities to drive on MFU’s priority issues from health care costs to trade.

On Sept. 8, more 40 MFU members and staff flew to Washington DC, which provided nearly 400 Farmers Union members from across the country the opportunity to meet face-to-face with members of Congress, members of the administration and others who help craft the federal policy farmers experience every day.

Having a strong, collective voice on agriculture and rural issues in our nation’s capital is as important now as ever. On top of chronically low prices and rising input costs, farmers are being hit with a devastating trade war, agribusiness consolidation and unpredictable weather. But in the face of these challenges, there are also opportunities, like new local markets, biofuels and hemp. To help family farmers tackles these challenges and take advantage of new opportunities, NFU members requested that Congress strengthen the farm safety-net, promote climate smart practices and biofuels, restore competition to the ag economy and resolve ongoing trade disputes.

To help make these issues real for legislators, farmers shared on-the-ground experiences about how these policies affect their farm and family.  For example, in a Congressional meeting, MFU members discussed the affect that the negative affect that grocery mergers, like the tech giant Amazon’s purchasing of Whole Foods, have had on their ability to sell to local co-ops, illustrating the need to put a moratorium on big mergers in the food sector. In others, members talked about ethanol plant closures in their communities, illuminating the devastating effects of the administration’s numerous small refinery waivers that allow big oil and gas companies to skirt the Renewable Fuel Standard, plummeting the demand for corn ethanol. And finally, in order to underscore the need to get pharmaceutical provisions out of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, another member relayed a powerful story about a friend who couldn’t afford the prescription medication they needed to survive.

Each of these stories were important not only because they relate to a policy request, but also because they help legislators understand what family farmers are facing and how they can better represent an important part of their district. Even for urban legislators – while they may represent a limited number of farmers, their constituents depend on our nation’s farmers for a safe, stable and sustainable source of food, fuel and fiber.

In addition to discussing policy, MFU took the opportunity to present five members of Minnesota’s Congressional delegation with NFU’s Golden Triangle Award. Since 1988, this recognition has been extended to legislators who partner with Farmers Union to champion family farmers. This year both Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), in addition to Representatives Collin Peterson (D-MN07), Tom Emmer (R-MN05) and Angie Craig (D-MN02), received the award. This recognized not only that they’ve been an excellent partner, but also that they’ve empowered their staff to go to bat for MFU members and other farmers when they have a policy issue or run into roadblocks with federal agencies.

For example, when a dairy farmer couldn’t get a straight answer from her local FSA office about whether corn silage was eligible for payments under the Market Facilitation Program (MFP), she worked with Representative Craig’s office to get clarification from the head of the program at USDA that corn silage is in fact included. This, of course, helped her operation. But it also had had a broader impact given that it resulted in a directive to agency staff clarifying that all intended uses of corn are eligible non-specialty crops for MFP.

In all, members who joined and shared their stories ensured that the trip reinforced MFU’s leadership on agriculture and rural issues. If you’d like to join for next year’s NFU Fly-In or have questions about this fall’s, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at (320) 232-3047 or stu@mfu.org.

August was a busy month, bookended by Farmfest and the State Fair and packed with county conventions, listening sessions and other events across the state. Significantly, many of these meetings and events were attended by elected officials and their staff, allowing MFU members the opportunity to engage with them on priority issues including farm prices, climate change, competition and trade.

At Farmfest, Gov. Tim Walz and Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen recruited nine other state commissioners, whose agencies oversee health, infrastructure, taxes and economic development, to sit on a panel and field questions from farmers. Part of their intent was to demonstrate a commitment to knocking down needless bureaucratic silos and working across state agencies to solve problems for farmers and others across the state. Topics discussed ranged from drainage to mental health, with each commissioner listening and adding their unique perspective on complex issues that span multiple agencies’ jurisdictions.

Another notable panel was that moderated by U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and attended by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. MFU President Gary Wertish respectfully challenged the Secretary on the administration’s “go it alone” approach to trade—a sentiment that was echoed by others in the room over the course of the panel. This exchange brought national media attention led to opportunities for President Wertish to speak out against President Trump’s devastating approach to trade on CNN, MSNBC and other national media outlets.

After each panel at Farmfest, legislators, commissioners and others visited MFU’s tent to greet members, discuss priority issues and follow up on questions. Similarly, at the State Fair, MFU members had the opportunity to engage directly with people making important decisions that affect farmers across the state. In fact, on the opening day of the fair Gov. Walz, Lt. Gov. Flanagan and U.S. Senator Tina Smith all stopped by the Farmers Union Coffee shop within the first hour of the fair to get their cup of coffee and sample some of the new foods.

These conversations with Congresspeople, administration officials and staff will help frame more in-depth meetings that MFU members will participate in as part of this year’s annual NFU Legislative Fly-In. During our time in Washington, D.C., 44 MFU members and staff will meet with officials at the USDA, our Congressional delegation and ag committee staff, in addition to engaging with and learning from NFU staff and members. Coming just after members of Congress are returning from their August recess in-state, these meetings are an opportunity to follow up on some of the main issues they heard about at meetings and forums in their respective districts.

Farmers Union plans to focus on the following issues at Fly-In:

• Resolving ongoing trade disputes by working with the administration to improve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and developing a long-term plan that ensures viability of U.S. exports.
• Strengthening the farm safety net by increase prices under the Price Loss Coverage program, address chronic oversupply, and creating supply management program in dairy.
• Supporting climate smart practices & biofuels through strengthening USDA conservation programs and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), creating new markets and eliminating barriers to higher-blend ethanol.
• Restoring competition by cosponsoring the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act, enhancing antitrust enforcement, and establishing protectors for farmers who enter into contracts.

These priorities, which are compiled by NFU, will help provide a framework for our conversations in D.C. However, outside of these four priorities, members who are joining the fly-in will have the opportunity speak about whatever issues are most affecting their farm and their family—be that broadband, infrastructure, education funding or the cost of health care in rural Minnesota. If you have any issues, stories, or experiences that you want relayed to your representatives in D.C., don’t hesitate to reach out to me at (320) 232-3047 or stu@mfu.org.

Despite the Legislature’s adjournment, this month was a busy time for MFU’s policy team. Agencies began implementing programs created during session, and the state and federal governments moved through rule-making processes on issues important to family farmers.

On June 11, MFU President Gary Wertish joined Gov. Tim Walz, legislative leaders and representatives from various advocacy organizations for a ceremonial signing of SF1, the agriculture, housing and rural development finance bill. The agriculture bill provides a two-year budget for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and addresses several MFU priorities, including increased funding for rural mental health and Farm Advocates, increased funding for meat inspections, an initial investment in a soy research facility in northwestern Minnesota and funding for the DAIRI program, which provides financial assistance to small and mid-sized dairies who participate in the federal Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program. Also, the bill invests $40 million in broadband infrastructure, so rural areas can have the same opportunities as urban ones for quality internet. This bill was truly bipartisan, earning a unanimous vote in the GOP Senate and a wide margin of favor in the DFL House.

Gov. Walz also held a ceremonial signing of the Legacy finance bill, SF3, which provided $4.3 million for the Forever Green Initiative (FGI) at the University of Minnesota. This was a priority for MFU because it will increase research of perennial cover crops that may help improve soil health and provide new market opportunities for farmers. In addition, the bill provided funding for Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) and technical assistance at MDA, which provide on-the-ground assistance to farmers.

These ceremonial signings were opportunities for the governor, legislators and advocates to celebrate what they achieved this session. That said, the governor officially signed all budget bills at the end of May, following a day-long special session of the Legislature to finish them. With his signatures, the bills became law, so agencies could begin work on making changes and rolling out new programs, like DAIRI.

At MDA, this work is aided by new Assistant Commissioner Patrice Bailey, who joined the department after serving as the Outreach Director for the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage. MFU staff have met Assistant Commissioner Bailey and are eager to partner with him in his new role overseeing outreach, agricultural marketing and development, dairy and meat inspection, and food and feed safety at MDA.

MDA also has finalized its nitrogen fertilizer rule, aimed at reducing the risk of nitrates from fertilizer leaching into groundwater. This follows years of gathering input from farmers and other stakeholders, including MFU. The rule, also known as the Groundwater Protection Rule (GPR), includes two parts. The first restricts fall application of nitrogen fertilizer in specific areas of the state and will become effective on Jan. 1, 2020. The second seeks to promote best management practices and involve local farmers and agronomists in adopting Alternative Management Tools where additional action is needed and practices make sense on the ground. No regulatory action associated with part two of the rule will come about until at least 2022.

On the federal level, the Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced a change in policy that will allow farmers who plant cover crops on prevented plant acres to hay, graze or chop those fields starting on Sept. 1, instead of Nov. 1, without surrendering any of their prevented plant insurance payment. This change, which so far applies only to 2019, will help avoid feed shortages from excessive rain and flooding this spring. It reflects legislation proposed in the FEEDD Act, introduced by Congresswoman Angie Craig (D-MN02) and endorsed by NFU and MFU.

Significantly, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is holding a special sign-up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to help farmers plant cover crops on lands affected by excess rainfall. The deadline to apply is July 12. Farmers should contact their local NRCS offices before planting to indicate interest in cost-share for planting cover crops.

On June 25, MFU Vice President Bryan Klabunde and other staff joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) at a public hearing regarding the agency’s proposal to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list and return the species to management by the state. Bryan spoke in favor of the proposal, as did many farmers and ranchers from throughout northern Minnesota. The public comment period goes until July 15. If you’d like to submit comments, visit www.regulations.gov.

As with during the legislative session, if you have any thoughts or questions about MFU’s policy work, don’t hesitate to reach out to Stu.

After a frenetic month of May marked by budget debate and a one-day special session, the Minnesota Legislature finished its work for 2019 on the morning of May 25. Despite a divided government, several priorities for our organization were included in the final bills expected to be signed by Gov. Tim Walz in the coming days.

Possibly the biggest piece of the budget deal agreed to by Walz, Speaker Melissa Hortman and Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka just before the end of regular session was the repeal of the sunset of the provider tax, which is a key source of funding for MinnesotaCare, Medical Assistance, the Office of Rural Health and other programs in the health care safety net. Though Gov. Walz’s ONEcare plan to make health care plans more affordable was not included, MFU was pleased to provide a voice for rural Minnesotans in building momentum for the plan and will continue to work on it next year.

The agriculture finance bill was the first special session bill to be passed off both the House and Senate floors and sent to Gov. Walz for signature on Friday morning (after nearly passing both houses with only minutes to go in the regular session that ended on May 20). The bill earned broad bipartisan support (114-14 in the House and 66-0 in the Senate). The bill includes a number of MFU priorities:

• Rural mental health / Farm Advocates – $100k increase over two years (one-time) for the Farm & Rural Helpline, $274k over two years to hire another counselor at Minnesota State, $47k per year increase for MDA Farm Advocates.
• Meat inspections – additional $150 million/year to address the backlog, particularly w/ E2 inspections.
• New trade and marketing position that includes developing new markets for Farm to School at $100k per year.
• Soy Research Facility – $5 million in 2021 as an initial investment in a soy research facility in northwestern MN that could help develop new markets for bean farmers.
• Dairy relief – the ag bill includes $5 million and the jobs bill includes another $3 million for a total of $8 million that will be paid out to farmers upon their enrollment in the new federal Dairy Margin Coverage program.
• New investments in ag emergency preparedness and response, industrial hemp, noxious weed control, and a number of other good things.
• $40 million for broadband.

The omnibus tax bill also includes some key pieces for MFU:

• Ag2School increase – most significantly, the bill includes a phased in 30 percent increase to the school building bond agricultural credit. Once the phase-in is complete in 2023, this will mean that when a capital school construction bond levy is passed, owners of agricultural land will be reimbursed for 70 percent of that levy—a win-win for farmers and rural school districts.
• Section 179 – the bill makes significant moves toward full conformity with Section 179 for equipment expensing.
• Homestead fix – the bill includes a fix to the ag homestead eligibility rules to ensure that families who structure their farm as a dual entity (i.e. the land owned by one party and the farm business by another, usually to help with transitioning to new ownership), they still qualify for the ag homestead tax credit.

Any questions, thoughts or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to Government Relations Director Stu Lourey at stu@mfu.org, (320) 232-3047 or @stulourey on Twitter.

On Sunday night, Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and Gov. Tim Walz announced a compromise budget deal just one day ahead of the legislature’s constitutional deadline. Leaders agreed that, while they didn’t get everything they’d hoped, the $48.3 billion two-year spending deal represents a step forward for not just negotiations, but also for the state.

At MFU, we’re pleased to see that the deal included commitments on a number of key priorities including a repeal of the sunset of the provider tax, a commitment to tax conformity and a modest increase in funding for agriculture programs in the state. Here’s more on that deal from MPR and MinnPost.

The repeal of the sunset of the provider tax is particularly significant for MFU given that health care has been a main priority for our membership this session. With so many farmers being hit by high health care costs – along with all the other stressors of the current ag economy – protecting a proven investment in affordable health care is critical. The provider tax — which is now lowered to 1.8 percent instead of 2 percent — raises some $700 million each year which plays an important role in funding MinnesotaCare, Medical Assistance, the Office of Rural Health and a number other programs that help make up the rural health care safety net.

Despite a deal being reached, a special session is all but inevitable based on the work that committees have left to do negotiating their respective budgets. A particular challenge will be the thousand-some page Health and Human Services bill. The agriculture finance committee, on the other hand, could be wrapped up quickly.

This seems even more likely given that the ag policy bill passed unanimously off the floor of both the House and Senate before earning the signature of the Governor. The largely non-controversial bill includes a number of requests from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture along with a five-year extension of the Organic Advisory Taskforce, expanded eligibility for beginning farmer loans, food safety provisions and a number of other items.

Of course, everything will be developing quickly through Monday at midnight and MFU’s legislative team will be at the Capitol, making sure that the voices of family farmers are heard. If you have any questions or thoughts on MFU’s legislative work don’t hesitate to reach out to Stu at stu@mfu.org, (320) 232-3047, or @stulourey on Twitter.

At the Capitol, legislators have just over one week to wrap up legislative business ahead of the constitutional deadline on May 20. However, much of that work is stalled due to a lack of agreement between the Senate GOP, the House DFL and the Walz administration on overall state spending. That said, once leaders reach a compromise agreement and define spending targets for individual conference committees, legislators will have to work quickly to finish their business and avoid a special session. Throughout session, and in these final weeks, the MFU legislative team has retained a steady presence at the Capitol, advocating policies that lower the cost of health care, provide property tax relief to farmers, repair crumbling roads and bridges in rural Minnesota and create and expand markets for farmers.

As of today, the Senate GOP’s offer remained some $2 billion dollars away from the spending proposal put forward by the Walz administration and the DFL-controlled House at the start of session. That gap – which includes the Governor’s proposed investments in the ONECare buy-in plan, road and bridge repair, and increased support for students across the state – makes the difference between the House and Senate agriculture proposals seem less severe. While the House, led by Chair Poppe (DFL-Austin), proposed new investments in meat inspection, markets for hemp, ag emergency preparedness and other important initiatives, the Senate, led by Chair Westrom (R-Elbow Lake), proposed no new spending, leaving the two houses about $6.5 million dollars apart.

As they have for the bulk of the session, repealing the sunset of the provider tax to protect the health care safety-net and increasing the state’s gas tax to pay for roads and bridges remain the defining questions for leaders to negotiate. MFU has been out front in support of retaining and building on investments in affordable health care and making responsible investments in infrastructure across the state.

According to the Minnesota constitution, legislators need to come to an agreement on state budgets and otherwise wrap up their work by May 20 – or risk having to call a special session. As the Legislature nears this deadline, MFU’s legislative team has been working to advance proposals that make health care more affordable, provide property tax relief to farmers, make responsible investments in deteriorating roads and bridges and other priorities defined by our members.

Monday, May 6 marked another deadline (this one self-imposed) for House and Senate leaders, along with the Walz administration, to agree on the amount of money each conference committee can spend in their respective budgets. Whether or not they reach an agreement by this deadline, conference committees will continue to meet, working on compromise bills that will define the budgets for agriculture, health care, transportation and other important areas.

As of Monday, the agriculture budget conference committee has yet to meet to start ironing out differences between the bills passed by the House and Senate. However, conferees were named and the committee will includes members with a strong knowledge of farming and the needs of the ag community. Conferees are: Chair Poppe (DFL-Austin), and Representatives Hausman (DFL-St. Paul), Pelowski (DFL-Winona), Vang (DFL-Brooklyn Center) and Gunther (R-Fairmont) from the House and Chair Westrom (R-Elbow Lake) and Senators Weber (R-Luverne), Goggin (R-Red Wing), Draheim (R-Madison Lake) and Dziedzic (D-Minneapolis) from the Senate. As these legislators begin their work on a compromise bill, MFU will continue advocating for increased investment in the Farm Advocate program, addressing the backlog in meat inspections, investments needed to combat noxious weeds, farm to school, the Good Food Access Fund and other priorities. Of course, the conference committee’s ability to make new or increased investments is dependent on strong budget target.

In addition to the agriculture budget, MFU has also been working with legislators and others to make progress on repealing the sunset of the provider tax that funds important health care programs, increasing the Ag2School tax credit, fully conforming with Section 179 for equipment expensing, and making needed investments in transportation infrastructure. If you have questions, thoughts, or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to Stu at stu@mfu.org, (320) 232-3047 (C), @stulourey on Twitter.

As we near the end of April, the Legislature is ramping up to finish their work ahead of their May 20 deadline. MFU is at the Capitol working hard to make sure the interests of farmers and rural communities are heard in final negotiations and reflected in legislation.

Last week, the House and Senate passed important budget bills off the floor, which means these bills are headed to conference committees where leaders in the House, Senate and Walz administration will work to reach a compromise. MFU priorities in question include the agriculture budget, the ONECare buy-in proposal, property tax relief and funding for roads and bridges.

Both Houses passed their agriculture budget bills and, importantly, the House bill was passed with strong bipartisan support. Chair Poppe (DFL-Austin) earned the votes of nearly all DFLers as well as almost half of Republicans, including Ranking Member Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake). The House bill includes an increase to the agriculture budget, investing in addressing the backlog in meat inspections, farm mental health, funding to combat noxious weeds, developing new markets, Farm to School and other MFU priorities.

The House also passed its omnibus tax bill, which includes property tax relief in the form of a 30 percent increase to the Ag2School tax credit, full conformity with section 179 and a provision intended to ensure that farmers who pass their farm business on to the next generation don’t lose their homestead tax status. In the Senate, Tax Committee Chair Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes) released his bill, which includes section 179 conformity and a homestead fix, but wouldn’t provide further property tax relief via the Ag2School tax credit. MFU testified in his committee to thank him for these provisions and request that both an increase to the Ag2School credit and compensation for buffers are included in a final package.

Early next week, House and Senate leadership are expected to announce their joint compromise budget targets, which will serve as a starting point for conference committee negotiations.

On the federal level, the U.S. House is expected to vote on a new disaster relief proposal that includes resources to address urgent needs in the Midwest, including flooding in Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri. MFU President Gary Wertish submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), calling on the agency to clear the way for year-round sale of E15. He also urged the agency to stop issuing hardship waivers that allow refineries to avoid blending renewable bio-based fuel in compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), decreasing the use of and demand for ethanol.

As always, if you have any questions, thoughts, or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to Stu at stu@mfu.org, (320) 232-3047 or @stulourey on Twitter.

While the Legislature was in recess last week, legislators were back in their home districts, meeting with constituents and gathering feedback for the final weeks of session. Similarly, the MFU staff was traveling across the state, meeting with dairy farmers in Greenwald and hosting a Rural Voices Discussion in Alexandria. Both of these meetings and the stories, ideas and feedback members and others shared will help the legislative team make their case for MFU priorities, including rural health care, broadband funding, responsible transportation funding and programs at the Department of Agriculture.

The Legislature is back in full swing with both chambers debating and voting on the large spending bills that will determine the state’s budget for the next two years. The Senate started out by taking up their agriculture budget (SF2226) and environment budget (SF2314), while the House started with education (HF2400) and a large package that includes provisions related to economic development, state government operations, telecomms and energy (HF2208). In the House, where amendments to bills need to be submitted in advance, there were more than 200 filed to be debated on the floor.

Today, the House is set to take up their health and human services bill (HF2414), which includes two MFU priorities that will help address high health care costs: Gov. Walz’s ONECare proposal and a repeal of the sunset of the provider tax, which funds important health care access programs across Minnesota. In the Senate, Tax Committee Chair Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes) will release his committee’s omnibus bill, where MFU will watch for provisions important to family farmers. This includes an increase the Ag2School tax credit and Section 179 full conformity, both of which were included in the House tax bill championed by Chair Paul Marquart (DFL-Dilworth).

All week, MFU staff will be at the Capitol reviewing amendments, engaging with legislators and making sure that the final budget bills the needs and perspective of family farmers and rural communities. Don’t hesitate to reach out to Stu Lourey at stu@mfu.org, (320) 232-3047 or @stulourey on Twitter.

This past Friday marked the Minnesota Legislature’s second deadline, by which all bills that spend state funds needed to be heard by the relevant committees and sent to the House or Senate Floor for a vote. That said, a lot of changes can—and will—happen before these bills have the chance to be signed into law by Gov. Walz, making MFU’s continued advocacy over the next two months important.

First, there will be amendments to these bills on the House and Senate floor. And second, there will undoubtedly be significant differences between the bills passed in either house, meaning that members will have a lot of work to do to reconcile the bills once they make it to conference committee. The House proposes investing an additional $6 million in the agriculture budget, funding meat inspections, noxious weed control and rural mental health. The Senate, on the other hand, cuts staffing at MDA and funding for existing initiatives, like Farm to School, in order to maintain current levels of spending while adding new priorities, including dairy modernization grants. The House health and human services budget bill includes the governor’s health care buy-in proposal (ONECare) along with a number of important provisions to MFU, while the Senate bill doesn’t include this recommendation.

Friday’s deadline also marked the end of a busy week for MFU at the Capitol. Intern Emily Pliscott testified in the House Tax Committee about the significant difference a 30 percent increase to the agriculture school building bond tax credit would mean for farmers and rural school districts. Significantly, the change would provide $30 million in agriculture property tax relief. MFU President Gary Wertish also testified in the House Tax Committee in favor of repealing the sunset of the provider tax, which funds Minnesota’s rural health care safety net. He also testified about the need for a strong, responsible transportation funding package that will pay for needed repairs to roads and bridges, particularly in rural Minnesota. All of these priorities were voted out of committee and sent to the House floor for a vote.

This week, the Minnesota Legislature is in recess. Watch for town halls and other opportunities to connect with your representatives and make sure they understand the issues that are important to you as they get to work in the final moths of session.

On the federal level, Tom Emmer (R-MN06), Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN08), Jim Hagedorn (R-MN01), Angie Craig (D-MN02) and House Ag Committee Chair Collin Petersen (D-MN07) signed a letter requesting $2 million for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN). Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced the bipartisan Family Farmer Relief Act, which would raise the Chapter 12 operating cap.

MFU has been working hard at the Legislature and with the new administration on a number of policy priorities, including bringing down health care costs, providing tax relief to farmers and rural landowners, securing responsible funding to repair our roads and bridges and more.

In the past weeks, staff and members have joined Gov. Tim Walz for a series of roundtables on his health care buy-in proposal, ONEcare. His plan would provide people on the individual market more options and leverage the state’s buying power to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs. At committee hearings and across the state, we’ve worked to build momentum for this proposal and make sure that rural voices are part of this important conversation.

On April 3, the Governor delivered his State of the State address and featured his guest, dairy farmer and MFU Goodhue County President Deborah Mills in his remarks. In addition to highlighting the strain that high health care costs put on farm families, he also made the case for increased mental health resources for farmers. Our hope is that Deborah’s story, along with continued advocacy from MFU and others, will help push the MN Senate to move forward on providing increased resources for both rural mental health counseling and the farm advocates who support that work, both of which passed unanimously out of the MN House.

At the Legislature, it’s been a busy week with both the House and Senate unveiling their agriculture omnibus bills. While both houses are working within budget targets that force committee members to choose between worthy investments, the House committee led by Chair Jeanne Poppe (DFL- Austin) largely did a good job balancing needs of the agriculture community with budget constraints. This bill includes a number of MFU priorities including funding for farm advocates, Farm to School. The Senate bill invests in dairy modernization grants but makes steep cuts in a wide variety of areas, including meat inspection, noxious weed control and ag emergency preparedness. Once both bills pass out of their respective houses, they’ll go to conference committee, where we’ll work to make the case for the positive proposals in the House bill.

Finally, in the House Property and Local Tax committee, Rep. Paul Marquardt (DFL-Dilworth) championed a 30 percent increase to the Ag2School tax credit, which would offset a greater portion of a school district’s construction bond levied on agricultural land. MFU President Gary Wertish testified in support of this proposal, describing how this is a win-win for farmers and rural schools and would provide needed property tax relief to farmers under significant economic stress. This proposal, along with the rest of the tax bill, still needs to be voted off the House floor and then reconciled with whatever deal is reached in the Senate.

The recent bomb cyclone has devastated rural communities in other parts of the Midwest, such as Nebraska and Iowa, with floods. According to DTN, livestock losses in Nebraska are estimated at about $400 million, and Iowa farmers have reported $214 million in losses.

If you’d like to donate to rescue efforts, here are a few places you can contact:

Farm Rescue: farmrescue.org

Agriculture Disaster Exchange: https://www.nefb.org/ag-disaster-exchange

Nebraska Farm Bureau Disaster Relief Fund: https://www.nefb.org/get-involved/disaster-assistance

Nebraska Cattlemen Disaster Relief Fund: http://nebraskacattlemen.org/disaster-relief-fund/

American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund: www.redcross.org

Last week, MFU President Gary Wertish participated in a news conference at the State Capitol in support of investing in our transportation infrastructure, alongside LiUNA!, Minnesota Transportation Alliance, American Society of Civil Engineers and others. Our members have strongly supported raising the gas tax so roads throughout the state can be improved. “We’ve been kicking the can down the road for so long that it’s fallen into a pothole,” President Wertish said.

President Wertish also testified in favor of a bill sponsored by Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, that would establish an indemnity fund to protect farmers caught up in grain elevator financial wrongdoing, such as what happened at the Ashby Cooperative. We are the only agricultural organization that has supported such a fund so far.

Other issues we worked on this week were a bill to expand benefits of solar gardens, funding for the Good Food Access Program, Farm to School and Right to Repair. This Friday, March 29, is the second committee deadline for bills, which means that committees must act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that originated in the other chamber of the Legislature. We’ll be at the Capitol all week keeping track of this and sharing updates on Twitter.

You know the legislative session is heating up when the first committee deadline passes. Last Friday was the last day for bills to be heard in at least one of the legislative chambers to be able to continue moving forward. Many issues pertinent to MFU members came up in bill hearings.

Most importantly, both chambers unanimously passed SF2225, which would allow the MDA Rural Finance Authority to free up funds for farm weather disaster recovery by including snow, sleet and ice as eligibility conditions for disaster loans. With around 100 barn and shed collapses in the state so far, according to Minnesota Milk, we are glad to see strong legislative cooperation on this. Gov. Tim Walz signed the bill this afternoon. The Rural Finance Authority Board will meet soon to consider whether to declare a disaster.

Meanwhile, we encourage you to contact your local FSA office for federal disaster assistance you may be able to use. And let us know how we can help, too.

The ONEcare health care initiative proposed by Gov. Walz has been heard in the House Commerce Committee and Health and Human Services Policy Committee so far. We continue to support that and work to build further legislative support. MFU President Gary Wertish, Executive Committee Chair Carol Anderson and Stearns County President Mike Orbeck participated in a roundtable with Gov. Walz and other health care advocates in St. Cloud last week, where we expressed the need for easier health care access. The ONEcare plan would be a step in the right direction.

The House Agriculture and Food Committee heard several bills of interest to us – HF1569 for funding the Forever Green Program, HF2202 to establish a next generation farmer development program and HF1546 to modify the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit to set aside credits for socially disadvantaged farmers. The committee also heard the omnibus agriculture policy bill, which we are currently studying.

That’s just a glimpse of what’s happening at the Legislature right now. More information about our legislative work this session is available at www.mfu.org/legislative-updates/. Our full legislative agenda is available here.

Today MFU officially welcomed Stu Lourey as our new Government Relations Director. Stu grew up on a beef farm in Kerrick, Pine County, and previously worked with Senator Tina Smith’s staff, with a focus on health care.

An MFU member himself for several years, Stu is enthusiastic about working for our organization and speaking up for MFU policy at the Capitol. We’re glad to have him on board!

To contact Stu, call him at (651) 288-4067 or email stu@mfu.org.

Despite the NFU Convention, our work at the State Capitol pressed forward. This Friday, March 15, is the deadline for bills to be heard in committee.

We were pleased to see a bill introduced in the House Health & Human Services Policy Committee to establish the ONEcare program, which was part of Gov. Tim Walz’s budget proposal and is effectively a MinnesotaCare Buy-in option. We testified in support of the bill. Legislators were moved by stories we shared about people who have to pay $45,000 a year for health care. The bill will be heard by the House Commerce Committee this Wednesday. Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, is the chief author.

Some great news was that the funding package to support rural mental health efforts, including funds for more Farm Advocates, passed the House unanimously. MFU thanks Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, for authoring this bill. The Senate companion has been laid over for inclusion in a larger committee bill later.

Lastly, the House Commerce Committee heard HF1138, the Digital Fair Repair Act, on Friday morning. This would address our Right to Repair priority, as it would require equipment manufacturers to make information and instructions for repairing the equipment readily available. Jackson County Farmers Union member John Nauerth sent a letter in support of Right to Repair, describing his own experiences with the matter. The Senate companion is SF1077. MFU thanks Rep. Peter Fischer, DFL-Maplewood, and Sen. Dave Osmek, R-Mound, for authoring this bill.

It was a particularly busy week for MFU at the State Capitol. We saw several bills introduced that we support, covering rural broadband, farm-to-school and the Forever Green program.

MFU State Secretary Anne Schwagerl made another trip to the Capitol to testify in support of Senate File 9 on Feb. 27, which appropriates funds for rural broadband grants. She pointed out that high speed internet access helps rural residents access virtual health care and allows students to have e-learning days when we experience bad weather like we’ve had this winter. The bill’s House companion is HF 7. We and the Rural Broadband Coalition thank Sen. Mark Koran and Rep. Rob Ecklund for introducing this bill. We also thank Secretary Schwagerl for her leadership and being a voice for the family farmer.

We also saw an outpouring of bipartisan support for farm-to-school funding, which was formally presented in the House on Feb. 26. Rep. Todd Lippert is the primary sponsor of HF 811, which establishes a formal farm-to-school program. MFU joined a large number of agricultural organizations in testifying in support. Sen. Mike Goggin introduced the Senate companion, SF 1346, on Feb. 28.

On Feb. 28, Rep. Jeff Brand introduced HF 962, which appropriates $5 million to the University of Minnesota Forever Green Program. We have long supported this program which researches new crop options for family farmers which not only are beneficial to the environment, but also add economic value to our operations. We participated in a news conference along with various agricultural and environmental organizations to show support for HF 962. Sen. John Marty is the Senate sponsor.

We are pleased to announce that Stuart Lourey will begin duties as MFU Government Relations Director on March 11. Stu is a former staff member of Sen. Tina Smith in both Minnesota and Washington, D.C. He grew up on a grass-fed beef farm in Kerrick, Pine County, and is enthusiastic about advocating for family farmers. Our organization is excited to have Stu on board, representing our members at the Capitol.

About a quarter of the 2019 Legislative session is over, and it is starting to heat up. Much time has been waiting the release of Gov. Walz’s budget which sets forth his administration’s priorities for legislative action. Now that it has been released, the Legislature and organizations like Minnesota Farmers Union are analyzing what is in it and looking for areas which we can support or hope to see expanded.

These early weeks have included a lot of introductions, and overview presentations on issues. Your MFU legislative team is meeting with legislative leaders and members, talking with the Walz administration and commissioners and meeting with other groups who are working on issues with us. We’ve also had a meeting with the Speaker of the House, Melissa Hortman. Topping the discussions so far is health care, and especially our support for a buy-in to the Minnesota Care program, extending the provider tax, lowering drug prices and continuing to allow farmers to form health care cooperatives.

We’ve been pleased to see bills introduced on some of our top priorities, including funding for the Forever Green Program, for Farm-to-School programs, rural mental health treatment, the Farmers Legal Action Group and the Good Food Access Program. Each of these are important resources for family farmers and rural residents, especially during this time of low prices.

If you ever want to make a trip to the Minnesota State Capitol and spend the day with one of our MFU staff, we can arrange that and help you try to schedule a meeting with your legislators. Each day at the Capitol is different, depending on the issues in front of the Legislature that day. Contact us if you’re interested.