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Minnesota lawmakers expect fast-paced session starting March 1 Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Agri News staff writer
Legislators expect a fast-paced session when they return to St. Paul March 1 for a legislative session that's supposed to adjourn by May 22.
Bonding is the main task of the Legislature in even-numbered years, yet legislators expect a plethora of issues to come forward in agriculture alone.
Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, said he's carrying 46 or 47 bills this session, including a bill that will avoid a repeat of last year's partial government shutdown. The bill authorizes agencies to continue with the previous biennial budget in the event the Legislature is unable to pass a budget by July 1.
Davids, who chairs the House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, plans to hold a hearing regarding rotational grazing of dairy herds and construction of low-cost parlors. Maybe grazing and low-cost parlors are a way to fill empty dairy barns, Davids said.
Sen. Jim Vickerman, who chairs the Senate Agriculture, Veterans and Gaming committee, said he's concerned about the high price of fertilizer and rising cash rents, which make it nearly impossible for young farmers to start. He'd like to figure out a way farmers could farm, make money and have a happy life.
When it comes to bonding, Vickerman, a DFLer from Tracy, said he's satisfied with what's in the bonding bill for veterans and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, but there needs to be $3 million for Lewis and Clark Rural Water.
"We just don't have any water in this area," Vickerman said.
If an ethanol plant wanted to locate in Worthington, Vickerman said, officials would have to say no because there's no extra water.
Feedlot issues may be back and Sen. Steve Dille, R-Dassel, is drafting legislation to require the positives of a livestock project be talked about in an Environmental Assessment Worksheet or an Environmental Impact Statement. Now, the two focus on how the livestock facility will adversely effect the environment, Dille said. Both the positives and negatives should be discussed.
Speaking of the environment, Rep. Al Juhnke, DFL-Willmar, expects to be playing offense and defense for the Clean Water Legacy bill. Agriculture is unfairly blamed for a lot of the pollutants in the waters of the state, Juhnke said, and the agricultural community needs to stress how it's taking a proactive approach to protecting the water.
"Farmers are the best environmentalists, I think," Juhnke said. |
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