Archive of Past Legislative Action

Click Here To Connect To The Legislative Action Center



IFB GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
 

FEB 24-25, SPRINGFIELD CROWNE PLAZA
 CLICK HERE FOR SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION FORM AND COST BREAKDOWN

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

ACTION REQUEST-“GAS TAX”

CLICK HERE FOR ACTION REQUEST INFORMATION:

The US Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] has published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [ANPR] regarding rules that govern greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles under the Clean Air Act. If the agency proceeds with actual rulemaking and finds that greenhouse gas [carbon dioxide, methane or nitrous oxide] emissions “endanger” public health and welfare and should be classified as pollutant, it will trigger the automatic application of other sections of the Clean Air Act. This will have negative consequences for agriculture and our Christian County Livestock Producers.

Now, the ANPR is technically not a formal proposal and it is done to discover whether the agency should in the future issue formal draft rules that could propose to place GHG emissions under the CCA. If the rules are formally published, one of the proposed provisions that would be in the rules would be Title V, which requires an entity that emits more than 100 tons of a related pollutant each year to obtain a permit. USDA calculates that any operation with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 head of beef cattle or 200 hogs emits more than 100 tons and would be required to obtain a permit.

USDA statistics indicate that the permit requirement would include 99 percent of milk production, more than 90 percent of beef production and more than 95 percent of all hog production in the United States. The permit fee varies from state-to-state, but the rate per ton is calculated at approximately $43.75 per ton. This amounts to a de facto tax on cows and hogs.

AFBF Submitted comments on the ANPR and testified at a hearing. IFB has also submitted comments to the agency. According to AFBF, if the agency decides to proceed to formally propose any rules on the issue, it would be after the new administration takes office.

Attached are an Action Request and a potential letter for you to submit comments to the EPA. This is a very crucial issue for our livestock producers and one to pay very close attention to.

Please take time to submit to the EPA.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

AUGUST 15TH LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

23 & 24 Special Sessions – Will They End?

The House and Senate returned on Tuesday and Wednesday this week for yet another Special Session called by Governor Blagojevich.  The special session Tuesday was intended for the General Assembly to address education reform, while Wednesday was intended to once again address a capital construction program.

The Governor provided no outline, ideas, specifics, concepts, or negotiations to address education reform.  The Governor said he called the special session for education reform at the request of the African-American Caucus members of the Senate who are calling for immediate reform.  Senator Meeks, who is the lead spokesperson for education reform in the African-American caucus, was appalled at the Governor’s actions and lack of leadership on the issue. 

There were many comments between the two in the media.  Based on Senator Meeks' comments, he may be positioning himself for a run for Governor.

The Governor has indicated that he will start calling daily special sessions in September if a capital construction plan is not approved.  This will only lead to higher tensions as the election season will then be in full swing.  Senate President Jones is concentrating on keeping his super majority of 37 members and Speaker Madigan is concentrating on increasing his caucus from 65 members to a super majority of 71 members.  Being in session will strap the two legislative leaders' resources and will undoubtedly increase the lack of unity between the Governor and two legislative leaders.

No Base Salary Increase

After weeks and weeks of speculation and political posturing, the Senate finally voted on a resolution to decide the fate of the proposed legislator payraises recommended by the Illinois Compensation Review Board.  The House passed the resolution to reject the payraise earlier in the year leaving the Senate with the final say.

On Tuesday, August 12th, the Senate passed HJR 132 that simply disapproved the Illinois Compensation Review Board's 2008 report, in effect stopping the recommended legislator payraise.  The 2008 report called for a salary increase in excess of 7% for Illinois lawmakers.  The Compensation Review Board's justification was the lack of cost of living increases offered to legislators in 2005 and 2006.

Illinois legislators did get a 3.8% cost of living increase as a result of the 2007 Compensation Review Board report.  That increase is reflected in the Fiscal Year 2009 budget that just went into effect this summer.

Governor’s Latest Plan of Attack

The Governor has devised a new plan to get his agenda noticed and adopted.  The Governor is using his Amendatory Veto power to put politically popular items into law.  The Governor has stated he will Amendatorily Veto up to 50 different bills.  He has already used this approach on two bills.  Since the House was in Session this week, they took action on the Governor's expanding Amendatory Vetoes.  The House accepted both measures despite the controversy surrounding this political tactic. 

The controversy stems from the interpretation of the Governor’s Amendatory Veto power in the Illinois Constitution.  The original intent of the current constitution appears to have been to allow the Governor to make technical changes to the underlying original bill.  There have been several indecisive court cases on previous gubernatorial Amendatory Vetoes so there is no clear precedent.  It will take time and a court challenge for either of the constitutional questions to be tested.

The two initial bills impacted by the Governor's far reaching Amendatory Vetoes are:

HB 4201 (Rep. Sommer/Sen. Rutherford) – The original bill made changes to the Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Section of the Property Tax Code to extend a TIF District in Downs, Illinois.  The Governor’s Action creates a new property tax exemption for disabled veterans.  The bill clearly states that this is an unfunded mandate on the local taxing districts.  This would mean that any tax reduced would be shifted to other property tax payers.  IFB Policy opposes unfunded mandates on local governments and the creation of new property tax exemptions.  The House accepted the Governor's Amendatory Veto by a vote of 78 yes, 12 no, and 1 present vote (60 votes were required to accept the Amendatory Veto) and the bill will now be sent to the Senate.

HB 5285 (Rep. Jefferson/Sen. Hendon) – The bill that was sent to the Governor amended the Illinois Insurance Code to provide that a college student's medical leave of absence or reduction in course load must be because of a catastrophic illness or injury. Provides that continuation of coverage is subject to all of the policy's terms and conditions applicable to those forms of insurance and shall terminate 12 months after notice of the illness or injury or until the coverage would have otherwise lapsed pursuant to the terms and conditions of the policy, whichever comes first, provided the need for part-time status or medical leave of absence is supported by a clinical certification of need from a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches. The new provisions do not apply to short-term travel, accident-only, limited, or specified disease policies or to policies or contracts designed for issuance to persons eligible for coverage under Medicare or any other similar coverage under State or federal governmental plans.  The Governor’s Action added a provision that insurance policies for accident, health insurance, or managed care plans that cover dependents shall not terminate or deny election of coverage for an unmarried dependent due to age before the dependent’s 26th birthday. It also mandates similar coverage for unmarried dependents before their 30th birthday if the dependent meets certain military service requirements.  The House accepted the Governor’s changes with a vote of 70 yes and 21 no votes and will be sent to the Senate for their action.

Questions

If you have any questions on the items listed in this edition of QuickView or on other state legislative matters please contact us at ccfb@ctitech.com. You can also reach our State Legislative Team by e-mail at statelegislation@ilfb.org.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

May 20th Legislative Update
Budget Action or Inaction
IFB & CCFB communicated to the General Assembly regarding the organizations legislative priority.  We support the development of a FY 2009 appropriation for agricultural programs that maintains funding at adequate levels to provide for the sufficient execution of agricultural programs.  We also respectfully request that this be done within the current revenue stream provided to the State.  We did share the wish for increased funding in several of the agricultural pass-through programs like U of I Extension, SWCDs, Ag Education, etc.
 
We also indicated our support for adequate funding and staffing for key programs within the Illinois Department of Agriculture.  Three of our top areas within the operating budget of the Illinois Department of Agriculture that need funding at a minimum of the FY 2008 appropriated levels are:
 
Ø       The Warehouse and Ag Product Inspection Bureau that administer compliance of licensed grain dealers and warehouses with the Illinois Grain Code,
Ø       The Bureau of Environment that need funds to provide the necessary testing for pesticide applicators and other programs, and
Ø       The Meat and Poultry Inspection staff that insure the quality of meat and eggs and allow livestock producers avenues to market.  
 
Also we clarified that Christian County Farm Bureau supports funding the appropriations for agricultural programs within the current revenue streams of the state.  It was respectfully stated we have strong concerns about and do not support any agricultural or natural resource fee increases. Those fees go into special funds, which have been collected and transferred into the general revenue fund, and were not used on purposes for which they were collected.
 
The Senate will most likely propose and pass a budget similar to the form of the past several years.  There will be just one operating budget and one capital budget.  We anticipate the budget to be very close to the current FY 2008 appropriated levels.
 
In the end it is expected that each chamber will pass a budget with simple majority votes along partisan lines. We anticipate the House will not consider the Senate’s and vice versa.  Ultimately no budget will be adopted by the May scheduled adjournment. That leads to the Constitutional requirement that a bill passed after May 31st is required to have a 3/5 vote.  
 
There is cautious optimism by some members of the General Assembly that a budget will be adopted by the end of May.  After last year, the State Legislative Staff is taking a more realist approach that it will take some time for everything to come together.  Then there is the unknown of what the Governor will do with a spending bill that hits his desk.

The Clean Car Act - Vehicle Emission Standards of California – HB 3424 (Rep. May), SB 663 (Sen. Link) and SB 2238 (Sen. Link)

HB 3424 provides that the Environmental Protection Agency shall propose and the Pollution Control Board shall establish by rule a Clean Car Program that is (i) authorized by Section 177 of the federal Clean Air Act, and (ii) applicable to vehicles of the 2011 model year and every subsequent model year.  In effect, the bill will place the California Low Emissions Vehicle Program (CA LEV) in Illinois Statute and Administrative Rules.
 
The bills sponsor Rep. May and the proponents continue to push hard for the passage of this bill.  They have been tenacious in their pursuit and are trying to split the opposition coalition.  Please let your legislators know of the impact this will have if it is passed.
 
The following information outlines Christian County Farm Bureau's opposition to HB 3424.
 
Adoption of the Clean Car Act will:
 

  • Compromise Illinois' promotion of renewable fuels and flex fuel vehicles
  • Limit vehicle choice for Illinois consumers - particularly by limiting the availability of light trucks and SUVs
  • Cede Illinois' regulatory authority to California - a state that is vastly different, has not shown Illinois' commitment to ethanol, and has no accountability to Illinois residents
     

Currently:
 

  • Illinois has 175 E85 pumps - 168 are retail E85 pumps accessible by the public - 2 additional are planned
  • California has 7 E85 pumps - 2 are retail E85 pumps accessible by the public - 5 additional are planned
  • 12 states have adopted California's program.  Of the 12 states that have adopted the California program:
     

Ø      12 have less than 20 E85 pumps
Ø      10 have less than 10 E85 pumps
Ø      5 have 0 E85 pumps
 

  • There are 22 Flexible Fuel Vehicle models offered in the United States at this time.  All 22 models may be used in Illinois.  Only 13 models may be used in California.  
     

The provisions of the Clean Car Act bills have also been included in Global Climate Change bills that make many environmental changes above and beyond the Clean Car Act Provisions.  CCFB opposes HB 3424, SB 663 and SB 2238.  HB 3424 is on 2nd reading in the House.  SB 663 is in Senate Rules Committee. and SB 2238 is in Senate rules committee after the sponsor chose not to move the bill out of Environment and Energy Committee.
 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

***FEDERAL ACTION ALERT***May 12, 2008***

Please contact your U.S. Representative and your U.S. Senators to request their support of the passage of the farm bill conference report.

This bill includes a necessary safety net for a farmer that is very important to manage risk during periods of poor production and low prices.  (The current structure of the safety net includes direct payments, counter-cyclical payments and the marketing loan program.  In 2009, an Average Crop Revenue Election program will be offered and this will be the first effort for a revenue based safety net.)

This bill will assist both consumers and farmers with substantial increases for nutrition program funding while providing farmers with a production safety net.

Conservation programs have been enhanced along with renewable energy and international food aid programs.  The farm bill provides programs that are important to every district in Illinois.

This bill implements key reforms for farm program payment limitations. 

Some of those reforms include:

•Individuals with more than $500,000 in 3-year Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of off-farm income will be ineligible to receive direct payments.
 
•Individuals with more than $750,000 in 3-year AGI of farm income will be ineligible to receive direct payments.
 
•Direct attribution is required and the three-entity rule is eliminated.
 
•Individuals with more than $1,000,000 in 3-year AGI would be ineligible for conservation payments unless two thirds of that money comes from farming.
 
•Limits are placed on how much farm loss can be carried over to offset non-farm losses for tax purposes for wealthy Americans.

Increased spending for the conservation title by $4.5 billion, including additional funding for working lands programs, is also included.

$2.4 billion in additional funds for Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

$1.1 billion in additional funds for the Conservation Stewardship Program.

Nutrition title funding increases by $10.3 billion.  In addition to increased food stamp benefits, this title also increase funding for the school snack program by more than $1 billion.

More than $1.3 billion in new mandatory funding is provided to specialty crops.  The bulk of this funding is in the form of block grants to states, but other provisions include technical assistance for specialty crops, farmer’s market promotion, and organic certification cost share.

The bill scores at $10 billion over the budget baseline, but is fully off-set with customs user fees, which has been deemed an acceptable off-set by House and Senate Democrats and Republicans.  The White House disapproves of the use of this off-set because they want to use it for other legislative priorities, but they have recognized that it is NOT a tax increase.

******************************************

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE-JULY 3RD

SPECIAL SESSION!!!!

The Governor is calling the members of the General Assembly back into Special Session on July 9th and 10th.  He will ask them to pass all the revenue items he is seeking to “balance the budget.”  The largest of the revenue enhancements the Governor is calling for passage is the capital construction package (details of the package are listed on page 4 below).  Also included in his request is legislation that will grant broad authority for the Governor to “sweep” dedicated/special funds at his discretion.

The best way to explain what the Governor’s intentions is to use exact statements from his press release:

“On July 9, the Governor will convene a special session of the General Assembly to address the revenue bills necessary to balance the budget, including the Hastert-Poshard Illinois Works Capital plan which will put 600,000 Illinoisans to work and to pass fund transfer legislation that would free up $530 million to support spending. If the House does not act on July 9, the Governor will issue a second proclamation for July 10 to take action on any budget balancing steps he must take.”

The Governor also said, “If the House fails to act on July 9, I will be forced to take all action necessary to eliminate the $2 billion budget deficit. I will not take those actions lightly, and will only act when it becomes abundantly clear that the House can’t or won’t act responsibly on its own, adding that lawmakers would be acting irresponsibly if they override the vetoes.”

NO STATE BUDGET (Again)

What is becoming a common practice during the Blagojevich administration no state budget is in place at the beginning of the fiscal year is happening again.  The short and simple of it is that the state fiscal year started yesterday, July 1st, without the budget being approved.

The appropriation bills were approved on May 31st, but were not officially sent to the Governor until June 30th (the Illinois Constitution allows the General Assembly 30 days from the passage of a bill to send it to the Governor to allow for proofing and processing).  The Governor has 60 days from the day he receives them to take action.

Last Wednesday the Governor’s office released their proposed cuts (as reported in FarmWeek, June 30, 2008) to “balance” the budget.  In that announcement there were $18 million in agricultural cuts, of which Cooperative Extension, agricultural research, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Illinois Grape & Wine industry support, AgriFIRST, AgrAbility, and county fairs all saw proposed funding cuts.

So what does this mean?  The first major fiscal deadline is the cutting of employee payroll checks which begins on July 10th.  If there is no budget approved by that date many state employees (approximately 4,900) will not get paid.  If it is not approved by the following week approximately 8,200 more employees will not be paid.

A second major impact of no approved state spending authorization is that programs dependent on state funding or businesses providing services to the State will also not get paid.  Already $1.3 billion in Medicaid bills remains unpaid from the previous budget year that still have to be paid.  State law[1] allows Medicaid expenses of health care providers to be incurred in one year, but paid out of a subsequent year.  So the state has an additional $1.3 billion shortfall from last year according to Comptroller Hynes’ office.

Couple the $1.3 billion of unpaid Medicaid bills with what the Governor says is a $2 billion budget shortfall and we have a state budget short fall of at least $3.3 billion.  To put that in perspective the State of Illinois has estimated a total of $33.4 billion in FY 2008 in General Revenue Funds.  That means the current tentative FY 2009 State budget is approximately 9.8% over what was collected last year.  Of course there are estimates that new revenue generation for the State in FY 2009 will be about $1 billion which translates into an overall short fall of $2.3 billion. 

What Do We Expect To See?

The House and Senate will convene in Special Session on the 9th.  We anticipate that the House will make several public moves to see that the revenue bills for the capital construction plan are not called or defeated and we expect the same for the fund sweep legislation.

Once that is done we fully expect, as outlined in the Governor’s press release today, that the Governor will release his vetoes sometime late on the 9th or early the 10th and call the General Assembly back in to deal with those on the 10th.  We anticipate that the Governor will use his pen to form some type of veto message that will make the cuts he promised last week.  The Governor has several veto options he can use.  He can use a total veto, line item veto, or reduction veto.  There was discussion over the past several weeks that he may use his total veto on the FY 2009 budget, which would cause a huge government shut down similar to last year. 

A line item veto allows the Governor to eliminate a single appropriation line in the budget in its entirety.  To restore this item requires a three-fifths vote in both chambers.

A reduction veto allows the Governor to reduce the appropriation level of any single spending line item to a level he recommends.  The reduced appropriation can be restored to its full amount by a majority vote in both chambers.  If the reduced appropriation is not restored to its original level, the lower level created by the Governor becomes law.

Please note that when the line item veto or the reduction veto is used, only those specific items in the Governor’s message are impacted.  All other spending measures become law and allow for immediate spending of those amounts.  If the Governor were to use his traditional total veto all the budget would be denied and a total shut down could be enacted.

We are thinking he will use a combination of line item and reduction veto.  There was some speculation last week that the Governor may use his total veto and force another budget fight similar to last year.  But with what has transpired today, we feel the combination of line item and reduction vetoes will be used. 

Now the question arises what if the House and/or Senate do not take action on the Governor’s line item or reduction vetoes on July 10th?  If this were to occur the appropriations not vetoed would become law, the items that have the reduction veto used could most likely operate up to the amount the Governor reduces them to, and the items that are eliminated by his line item veto would be frozen until action of the General Assembly is taken.

We are not clear as to what the House and Senate will do once these vetoes are issued.  Will they attempt to override the vetos, accept the vetoes, or do nothing?  The past several years have given us great practice in dealing with the unknown, and we simply have to work within the current political environment to the best of our abilities to protect the viability of production agriculture in the long term.

Would another round of Special Sessions be called this summer?  Political “buzz” currently around State House is that it will not likely happen.  The reason for this is because of the upcoming national Presidential Conventions (to which many of the General Assembly members are delegates), and upcoming elections (it is typical for state caucus legislative staffs to take a leave of absence to campaign and this is already occurring, and leaves a skeleton crew to staff the General Assembly process).  Also the Compensation Review Board recommendation for salary increases for legislators will occur unless affirmatively stopped by the Senate before the election (there are several in Senate Democrat leadership who wish to see the salary adjustment enacted).

******************************************

CCFB LEGISLATIVE UPDATE-APRIL 22ND 

AG FUNDING FREEZE HEARING-FULL SUMMARY

In order to address the Governor's decision to freeze more than $40 million in funds for Agricultural programs, 33 House and Senate Ag Committee and  Senate Appropriations Committee members met to hear testimony from the impacted organizations as well as testimony from the Governor's Office of Management and Budget.

The following groups testified at the hearing, Extension Partners, 4-H, Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Council on Food and Agricultural Research, AgrAbility, Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners, AFSCME Employee's Union, Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association on behalf of the Fertilizer Research & Education Committee, Nature Conservency, and Glenview Park District.

Each of these groups gave brief but impassioned testimony explaining the need for the Governor to release the money that was appropriated to them and the consequences if they do not receive these funds.  Many of these groups are facing extensive layoffs or possibly closure of entire offices.

After the groups made their case, the Governor's Office of Management & Budget was called before the committee to explain their reasons for not releasing these funds and to answer questions from the committee members.  This was the moment that many of the committee members had been waiting for.  This was the show that the audience was waiting for and they weren’t disappointed.

Ginger Ostro, from the Office of Management & Budget, sat in front of the frustrated legislators and outlined the reasons for the predicament.  Once her opening comments were complete, questions were fired one right after another and typical of budget type hearings, the Governor’s office answers were carefully crafted and most often not satisfactory to the Committee members or the audience.  Bottom line, the main reason was that realized tax revenues were much lower than those predicted.

Rep. Bill Black asked a question as to why the funds for FREC weren’t being released because they are not appropriated and are currently sitting in their account and could be released at any time.  Ostro danced around the question which only infuriated Rep. Black.  After raising his tone, as only Rep. Black can, and asking again and again why these funds aren’t being released, Ostro continued to dodge the question and Rep. Black slammed his microphone into the desk.

Committee members continued to fire question after question at the Office of Management and Budget.  Ostro said that they would look at the Agriculture funding and that they would be willing to work with the legislators to take a closer look at this issue. 

In the end, the hearing was much appreciated by the agricultural and conservation participants and much appreciation was shown to the legislators that participated and made the hearing possible.  CCFB & IFB will continue to work with all involved to garner action on the part of the Governor’s office to release the funds.

The battle will be a lengthy one that will test the will of all involved.  We are encouraging continued involvement by the interested parties to keep the pressure on the Governor's Office. 

So the question is what is the next step?  We would encourage that letters to the editors of your local and regional news papers be sent on the impact that these cuts will have in your county.  We need to remain vigilant in letting the entire populace know that these programs are vital for the future of agriculture.

COAL BED METHANE & DRILLING OPERATIONS ACT-SB 2079

After several negotiation sessions hosted by Senate Haine, the bill has been amended with language that contains an agreed amendment by IFB and the Oil and Gas Association.  The amendment explicitly adds coalbed methane to the Drilling Operations Act to insure that coalbed methane wells clearly have to follow the Act.  It also increases notification by drilling operators of potential drilling on their property.  The notification requirements will increase from 8 days direct/personal notification and 10 days by mail, to 15 days notification for both methods. SB 2079 passed the Senate with 53 yes and 0 no votes and is now on 1st reading in the House.

YOUTH EDUCATOR RESTORATION-SB 1921 & HB 4228

Seeks the restoration of the University of Illinois Extension Services Youth Educator funding levels to FY 2008 budget level.  This will restore the 29 youth educators that were eliminated by the Governor’s Line Item Veto in the FY 2008 state budget.  CCFB & IFB supports SB 1921 and HB 4228.  SB 1921 is being held in the Senate Rules Committee and HB 4228 has passed the House and is in the Senate Rules Committee

TRACTORS DRIVING ON HIGHWAY SHOULDERS-HB 4251

Provides that the restrictions on driving a vehicle on the shoulder of a highway do not apply to any farm tractor or implement of husbandry.  The Illinois Mid-West Truckers Association opposes the bill and the Illinois Road Contractors Association has requested the bill to be amended to not apply in construction zones for safety reasons.  We support HB 4251 as introduced.  The bill passed the House 108-0-0 and is currently referred to Rules Committee in the Senate.

 

 

Click on these links. . .

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE-MARCH 10, 2008

SB 2079- SENATOR HAINE

COALBED METHANE

This bill has been assigned to the Senate Environment & ENERGY COMMITTEE

This requires coal bed methane operators to justly compensate landowners and owners of rural property when private property is being drilled upon in the absence of an agreement with the landowner.  There are four components to the bill.  They are: 1) increases the notice to a land owner before a well is to be installed is increased from 8 days to 30 days, 2) address the lack of compensation for damages to the surface, 3) adds that a landowner may recoup the cost of attorney fees and appraisal costs when calculating the value of the surface land, and 4) clarifies that the Drilling Operations Act applies to coalbed methane gas.  The Illinois Oil and Gas Association adamantly oppose this legislation. We strongly support it!

Depending on where, your legislators may differ. Click on http://www.farmbureaunews.com/action.htm and scroll towards the bottom of the page, you will find the contact information for your legislators. Call your legislator and encourage them to support Senator Haine’s Bill on COALBED Methane.

HOUSE TO HOLD TRAVELING STATEWIDE HEARINGS TO HEAR ABOUT BUDGET

The House of Representatives have scheduled 19 hearings across the state to give community leaders, business owners, labor officials, service providers, advocacy organizations, health care facilities, school districts, colleges and local residents an opportunity to share their views about state budget funding priorities, ways to reduce costs and means to improve government efficiency.  We would encourage any one interested in providing testimony to please do so.

The main topics for agriculture that should be addressed are:

  • Seek the restoration of the University of Illinois Extension Services Youth Educator funding levels to FY 2007 budget levels or greater.  This will restore the 29 youth educators that were eliminated by the Governor’s Line Item Veto in the FY 2008 state budget.

 

  • Support SB 1921 (Sen. Sullivan) and HB 4228 (Rep. Gordon) that restore $1.72 million for the current State Budget year.

29 4-H Youth Educators will lose their jobs in June if this funding is not restored.

The 29 Youth Educators serve 47 counties.

  • Provide that grant programs like Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Agrability, Extension, C-FAR, and other programs see the appropriated dollars in the current FY 2008 budget released.  Each of these programs is feeling the fiscal stress of their funds being held.  SWCD are estimating that if full funding is not released in the next several weeks numerous local SWCD offices will have to be closed.

One of the closer hearings to Christian County will be hosted on March 18th at 6:00 p.m. in Champaign at Parkland College, RM D244.

HB 4696 & SB 2861[Renewable Fuels]

Provides enhancements and funding for the development of infrastructure for renewable fuels production and distribution.  This legislation was developed in cooperation between the Illinois Corn Growers Association, Illinois Soybean Association and the Illinois Farm Bureau.

There are four major components to the legislation:

Renewable Fuel Production

-Facilities - There are currently as many as seven proposed biofuel production facilities that have requested support through the Illinois Renewable Fuels Development program at the Department of Commerce and Economic Development (DCEO).  There are not sufficient funds available at this time.  These facilities have, or are in the process of negotiating, Project Labor Agreements (as required to qualify for the grant funds) with various trades and labor locals in the vicinity of their proposed plants.  There are six to eight more facilities nearing that point of the pre-construction process.  The legislation will provide $30 Million in FY09 to FY10 ($15 Million in FY11 and after) for grants for renewable fuel production facilities.

-Rail Infrastructure – Until now, existing infrastructure systems were sufficient to meet the needs of renewable fuel production, distribution and handling of co-products from Illinois renewable fuel facilities.  That structure is no longer capable of meeting the needs of the growing renewable fuels industry.  One of Illinois’ greatest advantages over other states in renewable fuel production is the fact that we are served by all major rail systems in the nation, allowing our products to move in virtually any direction to any market.  The legislation calls for $5 Million annually for five years.

The legislation provides two major improvements to assist in providing rail infrastructure.  1) Increase rail spur options at production facilities as well as increase rail storage/collection facilities on each railway mainline system allowing unit trains to be assembled more efficiently to allow moving products to market faster.  2) Assist in the creation of at least one container loading facility on each mainline system allowing movement and shipping of co-products to market.

-E-85 Pumps – Two matching grant programs will be created to assist in the installation of E-85 fuel pumping stations.  The first will provide matching grants to filling stations for the installation of E-85 pumps.  Each fueling station company will be eligible for matching grants of 50% of the construction of facilities for three stations per year, not to exceed a total of $250,000 annually.  The second matching grant program will be for units of local governments that wish to install a centralized E-85 pump.  Each unit of local government would be eligible for a 50% matching grant not to exceed $40,000.  The total funds available are $3.5 million annually.

-Competitive Commercialization

Programs - This program will coordinate various efforts and bring focus to the ultimate goal of placing Illinois at the front of renewable fuel commercialization process.  The Competitive Commercialization Program would be administered under the auspices of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity with input from an advisory group made up of 11 members.  The advisory group would have representatives appointed by each of the four legislative leaders, the Director of DCEO, a general statewide agricultural association representative, a soybean producer’s representative, a corn producer’s association representative, 2 representatives from organized labor and a representative of renewable fuels production facilities.  $1 million annually would be made available for this program.

Tractors Driving on Highway Shoulders – HB 4251 (Rep. Bill Mitchell)

Provides that the restrictions on driving a vehicle on the shoulder of a highway do not apply to any farm tractor or implement of husbandry.  The Illinois Mid-West Truckers Association opposes the bill and the Illinois Road Contractors Association has requested the bill to be amended to not apply in construction zones for safety reasons.  IFB supports HB 4251.  The bill is assigned to the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee and is posted for a hearing next week.

If you have questions on these or other ag legislative items, please contact me at ccfb@ctitech.com.

Don’t forget to visit http://www.farmbureaunews.com/coal.htm for the latest updates on the Taylorville Energy Center and SB 2079.

--------------------------

 

Current Federal Ag Issues-You can act now!
http://capwiz.com/afb/issues/
 
American Farm Bureau Legislative Action Center
 http://www.fb.org/index.php?fuseaction=legislative.fbact
 
 CONGRESS
 http://thomas.loc.gov/
 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Illinois Farm Bureau Board of Directors 2008 State Legislative Priorities.

2008 Legislative Priorities Are:

  • Seek passage of a state budget that maintains all funding levels at acceptable levels to provide for agricultural programs within the current tax structure.
  • Seek passage of legislation that requires coal bed methane operators to justly compensate landowners and owners of rural property when private property is being drilled upon in the absence of an agreement with the landowner.
  • Seek the restoration of the U of I Extension Services Youth Educator funding levels to FY 2007 Budget Levels or greater. This would restore the 29 youth educators that were eliminated by the Governor’s Line Item Veto in the FY 2008 State Budget.
  • Seek passage to make Illinois the top producer of renewable fuels and ensure a direct demand for Illinois grown commodities.
  • Seek passage of legislation that allows County Board of Commissioners to increase the number of elected-at-large commissioners.
  • Seek passage of legislation to expand the number of counties where statute limits the distance from a municipality that an annexation agreement will be valid.
  • Seek passage of legislation that limits a landowner’s liability when the property is used by invited guests for recreational purposes.
  • Seek passage of legislation to provide limited liability for agri-tourism and farm animal activities.
  • Seek passage of legislation to authorize counties and municipalities to establish local Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement programs to purchase agricultural conservation easements to encourage farmland preservation.
  • Seek passage of legislation to require 30 days written notice to all landowners and governmental entities whose property or district boundary is within 1 ½ miles of any parcel in an unincorporated area for which a zoning change is proposed or on which a special use permit is sought.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

State Elected Officials Contact Guide
Governor Rod Blagojevich
207 Statehouse
Springfield, IL 62706
Phone: (217) 782-0244
Fax: (217) 524-4049

 100 W. Randolph St., Ste. 16-100
Chicago, IL 60601-3220
Phone: (312) 814-2121
Fax: (312) 814-6183
 
State Senator Deanna Demuzio
demuzio@senatedem.state.il.us <http://capwiz.com/ilfb/mail/?id=152200&amp;type=ST&amp;state=IL>
M106 State Capitol
Springfield, IL 62706
Phone: (217)782-8206
Fax: (217) 854-5311

Main District Office:
140 Carlinville Plaza
Carlinville, IL 62626
Phone: (217) 854-4441
Fax: (217) 854-5311
 
Representative Gary Hannig
hanniggl@ilga.gov <http://capwiz.com/ilfb/mail/?id=3273&amp;type=ST&amp;state=IL>
 
300 State Capitol
Springfield, IL 62706
Phone: (217) 782-8071
Fax: (217) 524-1794

Main District Office:
218 South Macoupin Stree, PO Box 8
Gillespie, IL 62033
Phone: (217) 839-2859
Fax: (217) 839-4833
 
Senator Bill Brady
billbrady@senatorbillbrady.com <http://capwiz.com/ilfb/mail/?id=10672&amp;type=ST&amp;state=IL>
 
105D State Capitol
Springfield, IL 62706
Phone: (217) 782-6216
Fax: (217) 782-0116

Main District Office:
2203 Eastland Drive, Suite 3
Bloomington, IL 61704
Phone: (309) 664-4440
Fax: (309) 664-8597
 
Representative Bill Mitchell
repmitchell@earthlink.net <http://capwiz.com/ilfb/mail/?id=7866&amp;type=ST&amp;state=IL>
 
238-W Stratton Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Phone: (217) 782-8163
Fax: (217) 782-1139

Main District Office:
332 West Marion, Suite N-1
Forsyth, IL 62535
Phone: (217) 876-1968
Fax: (217) 876-1973
 
 
 CHRISTIAN COUNTY BOARD
JOHN CURTIN, CHAIRMAN
217-824-4011
ccboard@hotmail.com