Taxes, MPCA top topics with farmers
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 02/02/2012 9:14 AM
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While the budget won't be a challenge this year as long as the February forecast is as rosy as the November one, redistricting and impending campaigns will be.
Rep. Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock, expects the Legislature and governor to fail to agree on a redistricting map before Feb. 21 in which case the courts will release their map showing the boundaries of the state's new legislative districts.
A five-judge panel is expected to release their plan on Feb. 21. Under the proposals out there, rural districts will generally grow in size and there will be fewer rural lawmakers.
Falk's House district lost the most people of any district, losing 7,395 people from the ideal population. Most of the growth came in the ex-burbs.
The continued loss of rural population means it will be harder to maintain the quality of services expected in rural Minnesota and it will be harder to build coalitions to focus on rural areas, Falk said.
The even year of a legislative session is a bonding year, but that doesn't mean policy issues will be discussed.
Miller said he hears about a lot of frustration with the Department of Natural Resources and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency at every agricultural event he attends in his district.
Constituents tell him there is an inconsistency on the interpretation of rules by people within the agencies.
He plans to continue to work with the governor and state agencies to improve consistency. He thinks there has been positive progress in working with MPCA, but there is still a lot of work to do, Miller said.
There needs to be an attitude shift where state agencies work together with farmers and small business owners to achieve a positive result, he said.
He's heard that there are too many statues on the books governing feedlots. Those need to be re-evaluated and if they are no longer needed, they need to be eliminated.
"We need to let our farmers farm," Miller said.
Farmers, like teachers and health care workers, are the experts in their fields.
Magnus said they will have a hearing on MPCA and feedlot issues, but the date has not been set.
Rep. Kent Eken, DFL-Twin Valley, also hears from constituents about issues with the MPCA and DNR.
One concern is land acquisition and management. The state is third in the nation in terms of land holdings. The Legacy amendment allows for more land purchases, but Eken said the DNR needs to do a better job of managing the land they already own before purchasing more.
Other issues Miller hears from constituents include a need to continue funding for agricultural education, FFA, 4-H and vocational agricultural training. Farmers want to keep or get the next generation interested in agriculture.
Farming is not only the heartbeat of southeast Minnesota, Miller said, it is also an economic driver in the state.
A third issue he hears revolves around exports. Producers want and need access to export markets in order to be successful. Miller participated in Gov. Dayton's trade mission to South Korea last year just before the South Korea Free Trade Agreement passed.
That agreement will open doors for pork and beef producers, he said.
An issue Falk and Eken hear a lot about is the market value exclusion. Falk said his constituents hate it, and want the market value homestead credit back.
The exclusion excludes a portion of a homestead's value for property tax purposes, shifting the tax burden to other properties within the taxing district.
Falk and Eken are co-authors of a bill to bring back the market value homestead credit. The bill, House File 1775, had 35 cosponsors last week.
Finding funds to offer relief in 2012 is going to be pretty difficult, Falk said.
Property taxes are going up six times faster on rural businesses than businesses in the metropolitan area, Eken said. He'd like to see some form of targeted rural property tax relief come out of this session.
Over the past few years, the state has been shifting the tax burden from the state to local governments, he said. This doesn't bode well for rural districts that get back more than they put in for roads, bridges, nursing homes, schools and other government services.
Other issues he'd like to have discussed this session include invasive species control and eradication. It would be a good fit to spend Legacy dollars on prevention and eradication of invasive species on land and in the water, Eken said.
He also hopes to hear how money in the Agri Fund will be spent. The fund was set up to capture a portion of the funds that used to be spent on ethanol producer payments. They are to be invested in other agricultural endeavors.