Legislative Update: Important bills move to the floor
By Amanda Bilek, Minnesota Corn Growers Association senior public policy director
It was a flurry of activity this week in St. Paul as legislators put in long hours to assemble supplemental finance bills for committees with jurisdiction over different parts of the state budget.
The finance bills being put forward by different committees also contain various changes to existing law and new policy proposals. Since the Legislature and Governor Mark Dayton finalized a two-year state budget during the 2017 legislative session, the finance bills under consideration this year offer adjustments to the existing budget or supplemental spending proposals based on a February budget forecast projecting a $329 million surplus for the current state budget. As covered in last week’s update, House Republicans have allocated $107.45 million of the projected surplus for tax relief and simplification, and are waiting for additional details from the House and Senate on their specific tax proposals.
Nitrogen Fertilizer Rule
The week started off with a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives on HF 2887, a bill authored by Rep. Jeff Backer (R-Browns Valley) that proposes to prohibit the adoption of nitrogen fertilizer water resource protection requirements unless specifically approved by law. The bill passed by a vote of 69-56, largely along party lines with six Republicans opposed and one Democrat for the measure.
As covered in another blog with an update on the nitrogen rule, Gov. Dayton has promised a veto of this bill. HF 2887 bill language is also included in the House and Senate agriculture policy bills (HF 4133/SF 3536) and in the House and Senate agriculture finance bills (HF 3719/SF 2893). MCGA policy supports legislative review of state agency rules.
Agriculture Finance
As mentioned above, the House and Senate Agriculture Finance Committees finalized their bills (HF 3719/SF 2893) and will have a stop in the full finance committee in each body before they are heard on the floor. Once passed, there are some differences that will need to be worked out in a conference committee, but here is a quick look at what is currently included:
- Funding for rural mental health – $217,000 (House) and $200,000 (Senate)
- Funding for Farm advocates – $30,000 (House)
- Extension of Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council and the fertilizer surcharge and account to June 2030 (House and Senate)
- Modify the Bioincentive Program to lower minimum production eligibility for the Advanced Biofuel Incentive and Renewable Chemical Incentive
Environment Finance
The House and Senate Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committees also finalized their bills (HF 3502/SF 3141). Here are a few items that would be of most interest to agriculture:
- Modifying environmental permitting requirements for industrial water permits and adopt external peer review of water quality standards
- Prohibiting the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency from increasing water permit fees until approved by the Legislature
- Exempting temporary grain storage facilities from certain air permitting requirements
- Expanding eligibility of MDA AgBMP loan program to public drainage authorities to assist with public drainage ditch buffer implementation and adding an option for drainage authorities to assess repair costs (Senate only)
Farm Bill
In Washington D.C. this week, the House Agriculture Committee took the first step in the Farm Bill reauthorization process by marking up and passing out of committee H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Action of 2018. Please refer to this statement from the National Corn Growers Association.
If you have a question about any of the above or any policy-related issued, please contact Amanda Bilek at abilek@mncorn.org.
