Sunday, September 9, 2001

For more information, contact: Jen Waller, Communications Assistant 859-288-6154 or http://gov.state.ky.us/sga/index.htm

SOUTHERN GOVERNORS OUTLINE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2002 FARM BILL

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Today, the southern governors passed a resolution outlining recommendations to Congress on the 2002 farm bill. The resolution came on the heels of a report from the SGA Agriculture Working Group, which has worked on recommendations for the governors for the past year.

"Agriculture is a $66 billion industry in the South," said Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, sponsor of the resolution, "and it's imperative that the next farm bill is fair to our region so we can maintain and improve our production and competitiveness in the world economy."

Several specific recommendations were highlighted in the working group's report and the resolution adopted by the governors which includes:

• Creating a major funding research and development block grant initiative to spur value added processing;
• Continuing Loan Deficiency Payments and marketing assistance loans to protect farmers against price levels below the marketing loan rate;
• Enacting agricultural federal tax incentives - reducing local property taxes for small producers in high tax areas - so farmers can continue to farm rather than sell land for other uses as well as other tax provisions for environmental/conservation improvements, agriculture research and donations of commodities to charitable organizations;
• Working together to ensure fair application of current and future trade agreements that will open the door to new foreign markets;
• Discouraging dual marketing systems for biotech and non-biotech products, maintaining the current regulatory system on labeling of biotech foods, and passing legislation to protect against crop destruction aimed at academic research institutions and biotechnology companies; and,
• Implementing a farm labor system, based on the agreement between Canada and Mexico, which will provide an orderly, efficient way to import farm workers.

While the House Agriculture Committee passed a bill this summer, the working group report and SGA resolution will be used to educate Congress on the key issues of importance for southern agriculture.

"The report of this working group will be a critical tool to help the Administration and Congress know our region's interest in this new, massive piece of legislation," said Governor Huckabee.

Founded in 1934, the Southern Governors' Association is the oldest and historically largest of the regional governors' associations. The mission of SGA is to support the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan, regional forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve state and regional problems. The association's membership is composed of the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia and West Virginia.