With ethanol subsidies slated for major cuts in Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s proposal, board members at EXOL are hoping to get their message out to keep subsidies in this time of state-wide fiscal crisis.

&uot;We certainly see that cuts need to be made (in the state budget).&uot; Rick Mummert, general manager at EXOL said. &uot;However, a deal is a deal. We set things up with that deal in mind.&uot;

In 1999 the state implemented a subsidy plan which gives the ethanol plant 20 cents per gallon for the first 15 million gallons of ethanol fuel they produce. The deal was to last 10 years according to Mummert.

Gov. Pawlenty had proposed, as part of his plan to cut the $356 million budget gap, to cut $27 million in ethanol subsidies, which would give ethanol plants no per-gallon subsidy.

On Friday, Sen. Dan Sparks (DFL) visited with EXOL’s board of directors and toured the plant. He said he wanted to support the ethanol industry and said he strongly disagreed with Pawlenty’s proposal.

&uot;This is not acceptable in any way, shape or form,&uot; Sparks said.

Sparks hopes the Senate and House can come to agreement on a budget before the governor’s proposed budget is put into place, which will be sometime early this month.

The House and Senate have passed proposals which are far less harsh to ethanol interests. For overall farming cuts, the bulk of which are made of ethanol subsidies but also include small cuts in both agency budgets and grants, the governor has proposed $29.2 million in cuts, where the house has proposed $8.3 and the senate $3.2.

Mummert said that though a deal was struck for a 20 cent-per-gallon aid, he knows that each beneficiary in the state must bear some load of the economic woe.

He is pushing for proposals which may cut the per gallon rate down into the mid to upper teens, but would reallocate those missed funds when the state economy becomes healthy again. He said that maybe an 11th year could be added to the subsidy plan to make up for this difference.

Rep. Dan Dorman (GOP) agrees. &uot;What we need to do is, when the economy is back on its feet, get a recommitment to the program,&uot; he said. Dorman said he feels the state made a commitment to the industry, and said the 10-year deal will help stabilize EXOL and plants like it, to help it be competitive.

Dorman disagreed strongly with the governor’s proposal when it was made. He said he will do what he can to maintain their planned aid.

EXOL officials also argue that the plant is a great asset to the local economy, and much of that comes from the investment of the subsidies.

&uot;For every $1 of subsidy, it returns $12 to $15 into the local economy,&uot; Mummert said. &uot;What many of the lawmakers don’t realize is that this isn’t just the local economy. We have employees from Minneapolis, Des Moines and all throughout southern Minnesota.&uot;

Sparks said he felt the industry is important, especially in District 27.

&uot;We need to protect the ethanol industry,&uot; he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.