Farm Bureau Asks for Lobbying Assistance

The following letter was shared with McHenry County Blog by a McHenry County Farm Bureau member:

Dear Farmers, Leaders and Friends,

McHenry County Farm Bureau and Illinois Agriculture need your help.

Last week, the Governor’s office released their decision to freeze over $40 million of funds for agriculture programs that are passed through the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s budget. The programs impacted by this decision include

  • University of Illinois Extension,
  • Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD),
  • Council on Food and Agriculture Research (C-FAR),
  • Fertilizer Research and Education Committee,
  • AgrAbility, and
  • the Grape and Wine Resources Council.

McHenry County Farm Bureau is distributing and collecting petitions. We are doing so in preparation of a joint committee hearing of the House and Senate Agriculture and Conservation Committees that will address the Governors decision to freeze funds for agricultural programs. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 8:00 a.m., to make a difference we need to have petitions (attached) returned to us by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15. You can return petitions to our office at 1102 McConnell Rd. (open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), Woodstock or you may fax them to 815-338-1522. (Any number of signatures is acceptable, your also welcome to forward this message to others as you see fit.)

We would also like to thank Rep. Jack Franks, Rep. Mike Tryon, and Sen. Pam Althoff for their support and efforts and hope this effort will help them carry our message to Springfield.

Additional Information:

McHenry County Farm Bureau is a non-for-profit 501 C 5 organization supported by our members and individual donors. We are handling the petitions because we believe that these funds should be released to the above named agencies and organizations. These agencies and organizations combined serve an important role in the future of our agricultural industry, our environment and our daily lives.

Thank you for your consideration of our request.

Sincerely,

Dan Volkers
Manager of McHenry Co. Farm Bureau

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The photograph of Senator Pam Althoff, plus State Representatives Jack Franks and Mike Tryon, was taken at their budget hearing on March 19th at McHenry County College.


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