I would like to respond to a recent article by Rep. Rod Hamilton, who is from Cottonwood County. I disagree with his assumption the majority in the House of Representatives is trying to minimize agriculture. I was present in the House chamber when this issue was brought up. It was referred to the Rules Committee, which is standard procedure for the House on these matters. In the past, there have been two agriculture committees. The action being proposed would combine the Agriculture Finance and Environmental Finance Committees. Even if the committees were separate, agriculture finance issues would go through the Environmental Finance Committee before going to the House floor, so this change would streamline the process. This would still keep the budget issues separate, so agriculture will remain as strong as it has ever been. If this issue makes it through the Rules Committee, Rep. Shannon Savick’s vote will have been to make the system less cumbersome. Thank you.

 

Bob Haas
Albert Lea