Excerpts from the Illinois Agri-Women newsletter, Eleanor Z's legislative report and The President's E-letter

2007 Illinois Legislative Positions:

Policy

Gross Receipts Tax - IAW OPPOSES a gross receipts tax because it will place our state at a competitive disadvantage relative to neighboring states and other countries for products produced in the state. It will also create a negative impact on low margin businesses such as farming and potentially absorb any profit.

Healthcare – IAW OPPOSES efforts to mandate employers provide health insurance to employees. IAW opposes efforts to tax employers or institute other fees that would support a state-managed health insurance fund. IAW supports access to health insurance at competitive premium rates regardless of pre-existing illnesses or catastrophic future illnesses.

Agricultural License Plate, HB1024 – IAW SUPPORTS creating an agricultural license plate to help fund Agriculture-in-the-Classroom activities. Provides that in addition to the appropriate registration fees, an applicant for the special plate shall be charged a fee of $40 at original issuance and $27 renewal in subsequent years. Provides that $25 of the additional original issuance fee and the renewal fee shall be deposited into the Agriculture in the Classroom Fund. Provides that $15 of the original issuance fee and $2 of the renewal fee shall be deposited into the Secretary of State Special License Plate Fund.

Limiting Methamphetamine, SB 1665 – IAW SUPPORTS this amendment to the Technology Advancement and Development Act. Provides that grants under the Act may be made to research and test products that render the use of anhydrous ammonia inert in the production of methamphetamine.

Popular Vote, SB 78 – IAW OPPOSES this effort to adopt an agreement among the states to elect the president by national popular vote under which participating states agree to allocate each state’s electoral votes to the presidential slate receiving the largest national popular vote total. Any movement in this direction would negate an aspect of a state’s sovereignty wherein its citizens may vote as they deem best for their personal, regional and state interests. It would also undermine one of the primary purposes of the electoral college which was to give representation to less populated, yet often very large land areas.

Definitions in Recreational Use Act, SB 146, HB 29 – IAW SUPPORTS these amendments to the Recreational Use of Land and Water Areas Act. A combination of the House bill’s broad categorizations of, “the definition of ‘recreational or conservation purpose’ to mean any activity undertaken for conservation, resource management, exercise, education, relaxation, or pleasure on land owned by another” including but not limited to the specific measures outlined in the Senate bill, “hiking, operating an off-highway vehicle, rock climbing, trapping, horseback riding on the rider's own horse, fishing, swimming, boating, camping, picnicking, water or snow skiing, sledding, snowmobiling, engaging in an activity with an educational or conservation purpose, a combination of any of those activities, or any activity solely related to any listed activity (at present, only hunting, recreational shooting, a combination of those 2 activities, or any activity solely related to hunting or shooting are included in the definition),” would be desirable to more tightly define the range of activities in the act’s jurisdiction.

Rachel Carson Day Resolution, HR 117 – IAW OPPOSES this resolution because chemical pesticides, when used properly according to the labels, have improved our society’s quality of life and offer many benefits to the economics and health of our society. IAW also recognizes that natural pesticides can have the same effects – both beneficial when used properly and potentially harmful when misused – as chemical pesticides.

Private Sewage Off-Lot Systems, SB 184, HB 613 – IAW SUPPORTS this amendment to the Private Sewage Disposal Licensing Act. Defines "Off-Lot Discharging Private Sewage Disposal System". Provides that every owner of an off-lot discharging private sewage disposal system must file a "Notice of Intent" with the Department of Public Health to allow coverage of the system under the blanket National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit of the State.

Renewable Energy – In general, IAW SUPPORTS development and application of renewable energy through tax credits (ex.HB 208 home systems, HB 608 hybrid/flex fuel vehicles), public research (C-FAR and other) and information sharing (HB 271 web links to industry sources). Any bills that require “new” money or would require reallocation from existing agricultural priorities would require individual analysis before stating support.

Road Weight Limits, SB 26 – IAW SUPPORTS this amendment to the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a local highway jurisdiction may issue permits for the movement, to or from a farm or other production agriculture facility, of divisible and non-divisible loads of production agriculture commodities and goods used in production agriculture that exceed posted local size and weight limits. Provides that the permitted size and weight of these loads may not exceed the limits allowed on State highways.

Limits Nuisance Lawsuits Against Livestock Facilities, SB 145 – IAW SUPPORTS this amendment to the Environmental Protection Act that would not allow a civil suit to be filed against a pending livestock facility until all required local, state and federal permits have been acquired and animals are present and the facility is operating based on the presumption that the facility can be operated lawfully under the permits.

IEPA-No Anonymous Complaints, SB 54 – IAW SUPPORTS this amendment to the Environmental Protection Act to require that a complainant provide his name and address when filing complaints alleging violation – arising out of agricultural production – of the Act and the EPA to verify that the complainant exists, while holding the complainant’s identity in confidence.

Clarify Definition of Farm Machinery and Equipment, HB 325, SB 131, SB 203 – IAW SUPPORTS this amendment to the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. In provisions exempting farm machinery and equipment, provides that "farm machinery and equipment" includes drainage, irrigation, and sub-irrigation systems, which include, without limitation, sub-irrigation tiling.

APPROPRIATIONS

Agriculture Funding – IAW SUPPORTS funding for Agri-First MIN. $4M up to $25M (HB 547), the Council for Food and Agricultural Research MIN. $4.5M, PREFERRED $15M; Soil and Water Conservation District operations and program delivery; adequate regulatory inspection for meat, pesticides and grains.

Dedicated Funds– IAW SUPPORTS allocating dedicated funds for their intended purposes and not re-directing funds to other initiatives or commitments.
 

Illinois Issues:

Gross Receipts Tax - IAW OPPOSES:
The Illinois Agri Women is asking all members to contact their state senator and state representative. Ask your lawmakers to OPPOSE the Gross Receipts Tax Proposal. Please contact your legislators at their Springfield Office. Contact information can be found on the Illinois General Assembly Website: www.ilga.gov.

IAW Position: IAW opposes a gross receipts tax because it will place our state at a competitive disadvantage relative to neighboring states and other countries for products produced in the state. It will also create a negative impact on low margin businesses such as farming and potentially absorb any profit.

Status: President Emil Jones placed the language to implement the Governor’s proposal in Senate Bill 1. The bill is on Third Reading but the Amendment 1 has been held in rules as of print time.

HJR37 Rachel Carson Day - IAW OPPOSES:
This Resolution in placed on the calendar order of resolution waiting for vote by the House.

IAW supports coordination of all government policies that encourage voluntary conservation and integrated best management practices and legislation that allows EPA to consider the risk/benefits when deciding whether to approve a pesticide.

IAW wants EPA to implement Food Quality Protection Act in a manner utilizing sound science and real world data and that pesticide reduction goals should be voluntary, commodity and region specific and based on scientific evidence of need for further reduction and that risks and benefits for everyone concerned should be considered when reviewing crop protection cancellation.

The campaign to ban the pesticide, DDT began with the publication "Silent Spring" of Rachel Carson's book in 1962. The claims by Carson against DDT was never scientifically validated.

It is in the opinion of IAW, the establishment of the Rachel Carson Day would set precedent and send a message to governmental agencies not to base decisions on emotions or media heights but on sound science and consider the risks and benefits first. Contact your Representative today and ask them to Oppose HJR37.
 

Horse Slaughter Ban HB1711 - IAW OPPOSES:
The Bill has passed the House with 74 yes and 41 no votes. It is currently been signed to the Senate Public Health Committee. IAW joins IL Pork, IL Beef, Horsemen's Council in Opposing this bill. If this bill is passed we are just one step closer to banning all animals from being slaughter for meat consumption. We can stop this bill by asking State Senators to Vote NO on HB 1711. Contact your Senator today.

Ag License Plate HB1024 - IAW SUPPORTS:
This bills authorize an Ag License Plate to support Ag in the Classroom program. HB 1024 has passed the House and passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee. It is on the Senate Floor waiting for approval . There is no opposition to this bill and the Secretary of State supports the effort.

SB206 Funding for County Fairs - IAW Supports:
Passed out of the Senate and is in rules committee in the House.

January 2008 Legislative Report

Public Act 95-0201 (HB518) will allow parents or guardians access to the driving records of their teenager (under age 18) via the internet at http://ww.CyberdriveIllinois.com.
 
SB 80 P.A.95-0234 - Provides that vehicles passing a bicyclist or pedestrian must stay at lease three feet away from the bicycle or pedestrian.
 
HB634 P.A.95-0071 - Gives additional preference, under the procurement code, to businesses that use bio-based products in the contract bidding process for state contracts.
 
SB 71 P.A.95-0254 - Provides that any person transporting a child under the age of 8 in any truck or tractor equipped with seat belts is responsible for securing the child in an appropriate child restraint system.

HB624 P.A.95-0355 - Recognizes methamphetamine as an intoxicating compound subject to the same penalties as other DUI offenses. Source: The Amboy News

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Senator John Sullican and Representative Careen Gordon have introduced identical legislation (SB 1921 & HB 4228) to restore the funding for the Youth Educators in the State Cooperative Extension FY 2008 (current) budget. The Governor in his line item veto this fall eliminated the entire $1.72 million in funding for the youth educators. Source Illinois Farm Bureau

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H.R. 2421, the proposed Federal Clean Water Restoration Act, would strip state oversight of minor waterways and for the first time give federal bureaucrats control over millions of acres of drainage ditches, seasonal ponds, and small waterways that have no significant impact on larger bodies of water. Many call it the Federal Water Grab Bill.  By eliminating one word - navigable - and replacing it with the term waters of the Uniteed States,' the legislation would give the federal government authority over anything that is wet, as well as any activity on land that could affect water. Even supporters of the proposed legislation acknowledge it is a monumental expansion of federal power. Source: Environment & Climate News
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The Jo-Carroll Energy Cooperative is planning a 60-acre $140 million energy plant north of Thomson in Carroll County. The co-op, which serves 26,000 electric and natural gas customers in Carroll and Jo Daviess counties has proposed an 80-megawatt plant which would be capable of powering 10,000 homes at full capacity. It will be the first of its kind in Illinois to convert biomass - natural waste such as untreated wood in old pallets, cornstalks and switchgrass - into electricity.  The plant, slated to break ground in 2009, on Illinois State Route 84 between Savanna and Thomson, will take three years to build, creating 250 construction jobs and 30 permanent jobs upon completion.  Fifteen to 20% of the one million tons of biomass burned annually in the plant likely will come from area farmers, with the rest shipped in. Source: Dixon Telegraph

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Governors of six states inked a pact during the MGA Energy Security and Climate Change Summit in Milwaukee in November. The agreement calls for cutting carbon pollution 60% to 80%.  The accord builds on existing greenhouse gas reduction efforts in each state, as well as three existing regional efforts. States that signed the new accord are Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.  The Midwest Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord commits the states to set emissions reductions targets and time frames, and calls for the establishment of a regional cap-and-trade system.  Targets will be consistent with the 60% to 80% recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Full implementation of the accord will be completed within 30 months. Source: Prairie Farmer Midwest Extra
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture states that, between 1980 and 2005, corn production increased by 74% while use of nitrogen fertilizer over this same period of time has increased by only 3%, and use of phosphate and potassium fertilizers fell 20% and 24%, respectively. Source: Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association
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An Illinois ethanol maker and General Motors announce they have formed a partnership to make ethanol from waste for as little as $1 per gallon by 2010. That's about half the current cost.  The company, Coskata Inc., based in Warrentown in DuPage County, uses
bacteria developed at the University of Oklahoma and existing gasification technology to generate 99.7% pure ethanol.  The first commercial-scale plant making 50 to 100 million gallons of ethanol will be running in 2011. The process can use garbage, old tires, and other waste, but wood waste probably will be used at first because it is readily available. Source: FarmWeek

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The Wetlands Initiative is proposing a plan concerning the Goose Pond Nutrient Farm Pilot Project. The proposal calls for a 1,325 acre site to be used as a nutrient farm, with the intention of improving the water quality in the lower Illinois River by removing nitrogen and phosphorus through natural processes.  A good portion of the nutrients which would be removed would come from the Chicago area and sanitary districts. Wastewater would flow down the Illinois River to near Hennepin where it would be diverted to wetlands at Goose Pond, then routed back to the Illinois River.  An endangered plant, Decurrent False Aster (Boltanonia decurrens) currently grows on a half acre of land that will be under water when the project gets underway. TWI proposed to move Boltonia plants and seed to another area under the guidance of U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists. Dr. Marian Smith, Distinguished Professor Research, Department of
Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL says the plan is unfeasible and without scientific credibility. B.decurrens does not grow in sedge meadows, and seldom in wet prairies, as suggested in their proposal. It is entirely dependent upon the regular influx and egress of the river, the availability of bare, wet habitat and high quality floodplain soil.
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Chevron and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) scientists will collaborate to identify and develop algae strains that can be economically harvested and processed into finished transportation fuels such as jet fuel. Chevron Technology Ventures, a division of Chevron U.S. Inc., will fund the initiative.  Algae technology provides a means for recycling waste carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion. Algal biodiesel is one of the only avenues available for high-volume re-use of CO2 generated in power plants.  Algae grow naturally along rivers, the seashore, and in the mangrove swamps of southern Florida. They also grow in waste water treatment ponds and can be grown commercially in excavated ponds Algae can be grown especially well in desert states that have plenty of sunshine and access to water unusable for traditional agriculture or drinking.  Because of its salt content, salt water is more economical than fresh water for growing algae, so southwester states with saline aquifers might find it easy to grow them.  Algae eat CO2, convert it to oil, proteins, carbohydrates and other useful products; and emit only oxygen into our atmosphere. Source: ens-newswire
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Energy, Independency and Security Act: President Bush signed into effect the new energy bill, H. 6, in December, mandating the 360B gallons of biofuels be included in the U.S. complex by 2022. The RFS sill scale up to that total usage number from 9 billion in 2008 and 20.5 billion in 2015. This long-term usage goal will rely some upon cellulosic ethanol production that’s now in the works but yet to be implemented o a commercial scale in the U.S.  According to data from the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), the new RFS, along with increased fuel efficiency standards included in the energy bill, will reduce domestic oil use by five million barrels per day by 2030, saving the consumer public $161 billion in fuel costs each year. The environmental impact of this will amount to a 320-million-metric-ton drop in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. 12/19/07 Successful Farming magazine

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Cattlemen seek changes to 20-year-old beef checkoff program-- Cattle producers in Nebraska and other states are pushing for the first significant change to the national beef checkoff program since it started more than 20 years ago. But more than two decades of inflation have decreased the buying power of that dollar, say checkoff supporters.  Some state chapters of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association want Congress to hike the checkoff to $2, while others want producers who pay the checkoff to vote on whether it should rise. The program remains much the same since Congress authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to start it in the mid-1980s, according to association representative Don Ricketts.  Under the changes backed by the Nebraska Cattlemen, the U.S. Department of Agriculture would help petition for two votes by people who pay the checkoff. One vote would be on whether to increase the checkoff and would be held if the USDA and others were able to gather enough petition signatures. Producers have no vote now. The Nebraska group also wants to make it easier to hold a national producers' referendum on whether to keep the checkoff program at all. Under the new proposal, producers would have the opportunity to regularly vote - maybe every five years or so - on whether to keep the checkoff program.  A national task force composed of members from different cattle groups made that recommendation, along with a recommendation to increase the checkoff, more than a year ago. But the National Cattlemen's Beef Association decided to wait and hear from groups like the Nebraska Cattlemen before taking action. Some Montana ranchers challenged the constitutionality of the checkoff program several years ago. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government can force producers to pay the fee, and new efforts to change the checkoff began. Some ranchers also want checkoff dollars to be used to promote U.S. beef. Currently no country can be specified in promotions. By NATE JENKINS Associated Press Writer