Champaign County Farm Bureau

CCFB members visit lawmakers in Washington and Springfield

As an organization, Farm Bureau realizes the importance of having personal relationships with lawmakers at the local, state and federal levels. To establish and maintain those relationships, Farm Bureau members regularly take time away from their work and family to travel to Springfield and Washington, D.C. to meet with their legislators.
Every fall and spring the Illinois Farm Bureau Leaders to Washington program takes a group of Farm Bureau members to Washington, D.C. The program gives members an opportunity to experience national government “behind-the-scenes.” The group meets with legislators and their staff to talk about issues important to Illinois agriculture. They also receive briefings from the American Farm Bureau Federation.
About two dozen county Farm Bureau leaders from around the state, including Betty Clasey, Robin Cruse and Marguerite Zahnd of Champaign County, participated in the March Illinois Farm Bureau Leaders to Washington trip.
It was the first time each of the Champaign County members had participated in the trip and all said it was an unforgettable experience.
“We didn’t stop going from the moment we landed until we got back on the plane,” Zahnd said.
The group walked the halls of Congress March 6-8 to talk up the need for a strong safety net in the next farm bill, modern locks and for an extension of presidential trade promotion authority.
They met with Representative Tim Johnson and Senator Dick Durbin as well as staff members from representatives Bobby Rush and Rahm Emanuel and Senator Barack Obama.
In addition to meeting with members of the Illinois congressional delegation, the group visited the Canadian Embassy for a briefing on U.S.-Canada trade issues including an update on Canada’s WTO challenge of the U.S. corn program. The group also received updates from USDA on soybean rust, the agriculture economy and farm programs.
The ladies reported on their trip to the Women’s Committee and the Champaign County Farm Bureau Board of Directors during their March meetings. All three said they left with a new appreciation for the way government really functions and how citizens can be part of it.
At the state level, a group of seven Champaign County Farm Bureau members made a trip to Springfield during National Agriculture Week to visit with state legislators who represent parts of Champaign County as well as CCFB’s Adopted Legislator from Chicago.
The group met with senators Dale Righter, Michael Frerichs and Dan Rutherford and representatives Greg Harris, Bill Black, Chapin Rose, Shane Cultra and Naomi Jakobsson.
CCFB members expressed concerns about the governor’s revenue proposal that includes a gross receipts tax. This proposal would tax all revenue received by a business without any deductions for the costs of doing business. It is not based on an ability to pay and the tax is imposed whether a business is profitable or not.
Even though businesses that gross less than $1 million annually are exempt, the gross receipts tax (GRT) would impact all grain farmers by increasing their input costs.
For example, according to the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association, corn producers would pay an extra $3.31 per acre and soybean producers would pay an extra $1.69 per acre for fertilizer, seed, chemicals and application.
The GRT and proposed taxes on services and payroll would also affect local grain elevators. The Illinois Grain and Feed Association estimates that an average grain elevator would pay about $185,000 per year. As a result, a 2,000 acre farm that is 75 percent corn and 25 percent soybeans will lose $7,655 per year just from lower grain prices.
The group also discussed bills addressing anonymous complaints to the IEPA, overweight permits for agricultural inputs and commodities, and recreational land use.