Hastings, Minn. - State Representative Denny McNamara (R-Hastings), chairman of the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee issued the following statement after Governor Dayton vetoed the Legislature's compromise agreement on agriculture and environment funding which passed on a combined, bipartisan vote of 118 to 80 out of the House and Senate.
"It's disappointing the governor has rejected a bill that met the needs of our environmental agencies and also addressed his land buffer initiative - a proposal he traveled statewide to promote - in a responsible and bipartisan way. At no point did the Governor or his staff tell us definitively that there were items that must be removed from the bill to avoid a veto. In fact, House Republicans and Senate Democrats went out of our way to re-open the bill to include further modified language for the buffer initiative that his administration wanted,” said Rep. McNamara. "It seems the governor's version of compromise is his way or the highway. Moving forward from this veto, which blindsided us, will be difficult."
Among the items the governor rejected with his veto is funding to help state agencies continue to combat avian flu and to extend much-needed assistance to farmers and workers impacted by the epidemic.
“The unthinkable part of the governor’s veto is his failure to provide much-needed assistance to the farmers whose livelihoods have been put in jeopardy because of the avian influenza outbreak,” added Rep. McNamara.
The bipartisan budget funds state agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, the Agriculture Utilization Research Institute, the Board of Animal Health, Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), Minnesota Zoo, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Metropolitan Council – Regional Parks, Minnesota Conservation Corps, Board of Soil and Water Resources (BWSR), and the Science Museum of Minnesota for the 2016-17 budget cycle. Furthermore, parks and trails were funded without a fee increase on Minnesota families and the Division of Forestry was funded above the governor's recommendations.
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