Responsible, Authentic, Common Sense Leadership
Fobbe’s work on Veterans & Ag bill pays off
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While other budget bills were the target for fierce partisan debate, Senator Lisa Fobbe helped craft a budget bill that had wide bipartisan support.
The Agriculture and Veterans Omnibus Policy and Finance Bill sets budgets for agricultural and veterans programs for the next two years. While some agricultural programs will see cuts, overall funding for veterans’ programs will actually increase, despite the budget shortfall.
“We had to balance the budget out of the biggest deficit in state history,” said Senator Fobbe, so cuts in some ag programs occurred. But we cannot make cuts to programs serving veterans, especially at a time when so many are serving and so many are returning to our communities.”
Veterans & Agriculture bill a bipartisan success story
Highlights of the legislation include:
- Increased funding for veterans homes by 5.1%
PASSED
- Enhanced veterans’ preference in state hiring. All state government job interviews lists must include at least five veterans who served during or after 9/11. PASSED
- Gold Star License Plates will be available for family members of military service personnel who have died in active military service.
PASSED- 21st Century Agriculture Reinvestment Program is established to promote the advancement of the state’s agricultural and renewable energy industries. PASSED
- Extension of the Farmer-Lender Mediation program. The sunset date of the program is extended to 2013.PASSED
- Rural Finance Authority Bonds. The Rural Finance Authority (RFA) partners with local lenders to provide affordable credit to eligible farmers. PASSED
- Budget cuts. To help balance the budget, the Department of Agriculture was cut $6.7 million, the Animal Health Board by $358 thousand and the Agriculture Utilization Research Institute by $434 thousand.PASSED
Lisa Fobbe, State Senate
Prepared and paid for by (Lisa) Fobbe for Senate 16, 29003 138th St NW, Zimmerman, MN 55398
