Governmental Affairs Update
by Bailey Conrady, CCFB Manager
Well, it’s been an interesting few weeks in the governmental affairs space to say the least. Champaign County Farm Bureau staff and volunteers were in Springfield on Feb. 18th for IL Farm Bureau’s Governmental Affairs and Leadership Conference. This conference brings together farm bureau members from across the state to learn about issues at the local, state, and national level and to interact with legislators at the annual legislator reception held that evening. Thank you to Sen. Chapin Rose, Sen. Paul Faraci, Rep. Brandun Schweizer, Rep. Chris Miller, and Rep. Adam Niemerg for stopping by to visit with our members in attendance. A big shout-out also goes to our adopted legislator from Chicago, Rep. Hoan Hyunh for stopping by. It is always nice to catch up with our legislators and discuss the topics of interest to the farm bureau. This is a great conference every year, and I would encourage any member interested in ag advocacy to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.
At the state level, the Family Farm Preservation Act, which would make changes to the IL estate tax to benefit family farms remains the top priority for IL Farm Bureau. I would encourage CCFB members to discuss this issue with any state legislators that you may see out and about at community events. Sen. Paul Faraci is a co-sponsor on the Senate Bill, and we thank him for taking a leadership role on this issue for the farm bureau. More information on the Family Farm Preservation Act can be found at: https://ilfb.org/ifb-in-action/what-were-working-on/family-farm-preservation-act/.
At the federal level, upheaval is still the theme. The CCFB and IFB are working to understand the impacts of the changes at the federal level on our farmer and agribusiness members. Illinois Farm Bureau is committed to responding to the issues in a measured and thoughtful way and not just reacting to the breaking news of the moment. If you have any concrete examples of funding being frozen for farmers or have been impacted in a direct way, please reach out to bailey@ccfarmbureau.com. We are working to provide defined examples of issues faced by our members to our federal legislators and we need your help in identifying these issues.
Locally, the broadband project, Connect Champaign County, is running full speed ahead. If you are a landowner on the proposed Phase 1 backbone project, you should be receiving information from Volo Internet + Tech in the mail shortly. This information will include the scope of the project and the proposed easement. If you have any questions about this project, please feel free to reach out to the CCFB office.
There are a lot of great CCFB programs coming up on a variety of issues, but if you have a topic or idea that you think the CCFB should be working on, please reach out to either bailey@ccfarmbureau.com or lucas@ccfarmbureau.com. We are always happy to talk to members about ideas!
