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State Representative Jeanne Poppe
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4193
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
NEWS COLUMN
Rep. Poppe supports Ag and Ethanol Bills Both provide boost to rural economy
State Rep. Jeanne Poppe (DFL-Austin) joined a bipartisan group of legislators to help pass an Omnibus Agriculture Finance & Policy Bill that provides additional investment in ethanol and the Rural Minnesota economy.
"This bill makes a number of important investments in our rural economy, including $34 million for ethanol," Poppe said. "It's not a perfect bill, but it will move us forward and protects some important agricultural initiatives in the state."
In addition to the ethanol funding, the bill also includes funding for a groundwater pesticide monitoring initiative ($295,000), $50,000 to fund milk purchases by Second Harvest, which provides food to the poor, and beginning farmer and farm restructuring programs.
The bill also creates a Rural Economic Development Fund by recapturing the streams of funding from the ethanol producer payment program as producers leave the program after reaching their 10-year limit.
"We need to be looking for other emerging industries related to agriculture and use this stream of funding to help them develop and grow like we did with ethanol. This fund will allow us to that," Poppe said.
The House also approved the Ethanol Conference Committee report yesterday. This bill passed in the House earlier this week and was left almost unchanged by the Conference Committee.
Under the bill, the minimum content requirement for ethanol in fuels sold in Minnesota will be increased from 10% to 20% by January 1, 2012. The bill also sets a goal of replacing 20% of all liquid fuel with renewable fuels by 2013.
"This bill will impact the economy by an estimated $1.58 billion and create and additional 1,200 jobs," said Poppe. "This is good legislation for our environment and our economy, especially in Greater Minnesota."
News Items
- POPPE SELECTED AS AGRICULTURE POLICY COMMITTEE CHAIR - (Posted: 2012-11-16 00:00:00)
- Rep. Jeanne Poppe Encourages High School Juniors to Apply for Minnesota House of Representatives Page Program - Application Deadline is November 19th - (Posted: 2012-11-12 00:00:00)
- HORMEL INSTITUTE EXPANSION SIGNED INTO LAW - 2012 legislative session adjourns sine die - (Posted: 2012-05-11 00:00:00)
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