Hello from the State Capitol,
As a farmer, I enjoy serving on the House agriculture committee and finding ways to improve and promote agriculture in our state. Unfortunately, there are times when ridiculous proposals are granted a hearing by the House majority that cause more agricultural harm than good. One of them received a debate this week.
HATCHING A SOLUTION TO A NON-EXISTENT PROBLEM
Were you lucky enough to watch an egg hatch when you went to school? For many students, that was one of their most memorable experiences – witnessing the miracle of life.
This is why I was irate Tuesday – on Poultry Day at the Capitol no less - after learning the ag committee was going to discuss a bill that would ban all bird hatching in Minnesota’s schools. During testimony on this ridiculous bill, one testifier broke down in tears concerned about the well-being of newly-born birds. The bill author talked about how it’s more important for a bird embryo to remain close to its mother as life begins.
If only the radical, progressive left felt this way about unborn babies and their mothers.
Not every child can learn successfully just by reading out of a textbook. Kids need to understand the miracle of life, and watching a chick hatch from an egg is the type of hands-on experience that causes many students to thrive. Let’s also not forget that Minnesota is facing a veterinarian crunch. This is the type of exposure that could inspire a boy or girl to consider making animal care their career.
If you’re trying to inspire the next generation of students to consider animal agriculture, ending a program that allows students to witness the birth of a chick in their classroom is not the way to do it. Thankfully, the bill author amended the bill to limit the ban to waterfowl, still allowing chicken egg hatching programs to continue. The bill was laid over in committee and my hope is that it will not be included in any final policy bill.
PERMITTING TIMES WOULD INCREASE UNDER NEW PROPOSAL
If you’ve ever tried to obtain a permit from the State of Minnesota, you understand how slowly the government acts on your request. Now, consider this: on Wednesday, House Democrats unveiled legislation that would mandate that green energy proposals receive preferential treatment when it comes to obtaining a permit from the State of Minnesota.
In other words, if your project isn’t related to green energy, it would be sent to the back of the line.
Minnesota is in desperate need of permitting reform, but abandoning the needs of mining companies, as well as communities and small businesses looking to expand, is not the way to go about it. Keep in mind, it will be the same number of workers in an agency handling the permit requests; they would just be ordered to review green energy projects first. Increasing wait times for all other permits costs jobs and countless other opportunities across Minnesota, as we’ve seen with a soybean processing plant in Crookston.
The Democrats obsession with green energy has become hypocritical. You can’t be serious about green energy without being serious about mining. Lawmakers should be focused on ways to shorten the length of time it takes to secure a permit, not picking winners and losers based on the service they provide.
POULTRY DAY AT THE CAPITOL
Enjoyed having the opportunity to visit with members of the poultry industry from across the state during Poultry Day at the Capitol on Tuesday as they advocated for High Path Avian Influezna prevention, funding and research. A big thank you to Ashley Kohls, the executive director of Minnesota Turkey Growers Association for the testimony before the House Ag Committee.
I would also like to thank Eric and Erica Sawatzke for stopping by my office to discuss industry issues and HF4655, a bill that would ban bird hatching projects in classrooms.
Erica is currently the president of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health and a strong voice for animal agriculture in Minnesota.
Motorcyclists at the Capitol
Thank you to Tim Sandland for making the trip down to St. Paul to advocate for motorcyclists across the state of Minnesota.
A.B.A.T.E. seeks to promote the positive aspects of motorcycling and strives to protect the rights of motorcyclist by being involved in the local, state and national political process. Safer motorcycling, reducing accidents and fatalities can be best accomplished by education and training of both the motorcyclists and the general public not necessarily through additional legislation.
bikeMN
Appreciated having Andy Mueller and Glen Kajewski from Thief River Falls stop by and visit about biking issues such as E-bikes and their legal classification along with a discussion about improving driver education as it relates to bikers and pedestrians.
