Agriculture and Rural Development

Fall Forum of the NCSL Standing Committees
Meeting Summary

Standing Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

December 11 - 13, 2002
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill
Washington, D.C.

Committee Officers
Chair: Representative Maxine Bell, Idaho
Vice-Chair: Representative Jeff Kropf, Oregon
Vice-Chair: Senator Steve Morris, Kansas
Vice-Chair: Senator Larry Mumper, Ohio
Vice-Chair: Representative Clay Pope, Oklahoma
Vice-Chair: Representative Roger Thomas, Kentucky
Staff Chair: Bobby Gierisch, Texas
Staff Vice-Chair: Barry Denk, Pennsylvania

The 2002 Fall Forum was the first meeting of the new Agriculture and Rural Development Committee. As of December, the Committee had officers but no members, since appointments to the new committees will not be solicited until after the legislatures reconvene in January 2003. As a result, the Fall Forum consisted mainly of concurrent sessions, rather than committee time.

 
Concurrent Sessions Co-Sponsored by the Agriculture & Rural Development Committee

Wetlands and Non-Point Source Pollution

Thursday, December 12, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon

Sponsored by the Agriculture & Rural Development and Environment & Natural Resources Committees

Moderator:

Representative Carol Rubley, Pennsylvania and Chair, Environment & Natural Resources Committee

Speakers:

Representative Maxine Bell, Idaho and Chair, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee
Represenative Ricca Slone, Illinois
Francoise Braiser, Environmental Protection Agency
Larry Morandi, Group Director, NCSL

During the first hour of this session attendees learned what states are doing to respond to recent U.S. Supreme Court decicions - Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) and Tulloch - affecting wetlands management. Representatives Bell and Slone briefed attendees on a conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, that they recently attended on the evolving state-federal partnership on wetlands protection and management. This was followed by an update on activities related to non-point source pollution, Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) and other water quality-related issues. EPA reported that proposed rules issued earlier in the year were being recalled for additional consideration, modification, and reissue later.

Handouts are available from Nick Steidel (202-624-5400). 

Connecting Rural Areas to New Opportunities

Thursday, December 12, 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Sponsored by the Committees on Agriculture & Rural Development; Communications, Technology & Interstate Commerce; and Economic Development, Trade & Cultural Affairs

Moderator:

Hawaii Senator Carol Fukunaga

Speakers:

Senator Steve Kelley, Minnesota and Chair, Communications, Technology & Interstate Commerce
Senator Royal G. (Mac) McCracken, South Dakota
Delegate Joe May, Virginia
Brad Ramsay, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners

The bounty of information technology is especially important in rural areas, setting the stage for new business growth and connecting residents to telemedicine and distance learning, among other benefits. This session investigated creative ways states can help plan and fund rural connections to new opportunities.

Handouts are available from Monica Kearns (303-856-1446). 

Committee Business Meeting

Thursday, December 12, 3:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Presiding:

Chair: Representative Maxine Bell, Idaho

Attending:

Vice-Chair: Representative Jeff Kropf, Oregon
Vice-Chair: Senator Steve Morris, Kansas
Vice-Chair: Representative Clay Pope, Oklahoma
Vice-Chair: Representative Roger Thomas, Kentucky
Staff-Chair: Bobby Gierisch, Texas
Vice Staff Chair: Barry Denk, Pennsylvania
Paul Baker, Office of Senator Nancy Larraine Hoffmann, New York
Monica Kearns, Policy Specialist, NCSL
Jeremy Meadows, Committee Director, NCSL
Nick Steidel, Committee Assistant, NCSL

Rural Policy Context

To set the stage for rural policy discussions, the Chair invited Kansas Senator Steve Morris to highlight the key points of the NCSL Rural Development Task Force and present the task force's final report. The report discusses 10 principles for rural development and three examples of comprehensive state organizations for rural development.

In addition, Bobby Gierisch presented a summary of the State and Local Government Summit on Rural Policy held in Airlie, Virginia. NCSL joined with the Council of State Governments, the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Towns and Townships and the National Association of Development Organizations at this November 20 - 22 summit to discuss improving state and local strategies for rural America.

State-Federal Relations Policies

The committee will assume many federal lobbying responsibilities of the former AFI Agriculture & International Trade Committee. Jeremy Meadows reviewed these policies and discussed the policy development process. Existing policies can be found on the NCSL State-Federal Relations web page at www.ncsl.org/statefed/preface.htm. The Chair reassured members present that this Committee retained joint jurisdiction with the Economic Development, Trade, & Cultural Affairs Committee of policies regarding agricultural trade. Jeremy Meadows and Nick Steidel work out of the NCSL office in Washington, D.C. and are the Committee's contacts on federal issues and lobbying.

The committee discussed an action calendar resolution introduced by Kentucky Representative Roger Thomas. The resolution would authorize lobbying the U.S. Congress and the Administration to provide the full $100 million designated for the Rural Strategic Investment Program in the 2002 Farm Bill and to be administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Committee approved the action calendar resolution.

The committee considered a policy sponsored by New York Senator Nancy Larraine Hoffman that would establish a tax credit for farmers to alleviate the cost of voluntarily using animal ear tags that record animal identifications and premises of origin in an effort to prevent the spread of animal diseases. The Committee had a concern about the voluntary approach not being effective enough but was wary of recommending a mandatory approach without compensation. Furthermore, a tax credit may not be effective if the producer does not owe taxes. The Committee decided not to take action on this policy at this time but agreed that the issue should be studied further and revisited.

The Committee officers agreed that the Committee needs a broad rural development policy upon which lobbying activities can be based.

Next Steps

Representative Bell asked Jeremy and Monica to survey new Committee members concerning the issues and work products they would like to see the Committee pursue.

Committee officers decided it would be helpful to have a conference call before the April meeting to discuss these survey results; Monica and Jeremy will schedule this.

Representative Roger Thomas told the Committee officers about a meeting for Legislative Agriculture Committee Chairs that is being jointly organized by NCSL, CSG and the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI). The meeting will be in Dallas February 14-16, 2003.

The Committee's next meeting will be during the Spring Forum of the NCSL Standing Committees, to be held in Boston, Massachusetts from April 24-27, 2003.

Note that information about the committee and links to other resources are available from the committee's web page at http://www.ncsl.org/standcomm/scag/scag.htm.

• Materials circulated at the committee meeting include:
• NCSL Rural Development Task Force final report
• 12 Things You Can Do for Rural Development in Your State (Without Passing Legislation) by Bobby Gierisch
• NACo Fact Sheet: "Restore Funding for Rural Strategic Investment Program"
• Joint letter to President Bush to support three federal initiatives for rural America, including replication of the U.S. Health and Human Services rural initiative, launching the National Board on Rural America, and organizing a National Conference on Rural America.

Copies are available from Nick Steidel (202-624-5400).

Forum Business Meeting

Friday, December 13, 12:15 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.

Presiding:

Representative Spencer Coggs, Wisconsin and Chair, NCSL Standing Committees

Legislators and legislative staff attending the Fall Forum heard reports from the 15 Standing Committees on the concurrent sessions they sponsored, their Committee business meetings, and any policies the Committees may have adopted. The Agriculture & Rural Development Committee's Action Calendar Resolution regarding the Rural Strategic Investment Program was adopted by the full Forum. This action grants NCSL staff the ability to lobby in Washington, supported by the resolution, until it expires at the 2003 Annual Meeting in San Francisco.