| Legislative Committee |
| Legislative Conference Report |
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| SDASCOE |
Bill Chase, EJ Goetz, Peggy Groen, Becky Zirpel, Jim Anderson, and Larry Olson attended
the Legislative Conference held in Washington DC March 7-9th.
On Monday evening we registered and attended the Legislative Trivia Contest. Tuesday
we spent the day in meetings preparing for our visits to the hill. We first heard from our
President Myron Stroup who welcomed us and gave us a brief overview of the day’s events.
Our Legislative Co-Chairs, Mike Mayfield and Terry Stehr then talked about making effective
visits to our legislators. Later we had some role playing on Congressional visits. Evidentially
EJ didn’t pay close enough attention on that part as on Wednesday she failed the role playing
experiment.
We had a presentation on PAC and the importance of the PAC, a legislative tool, to
NASCOE. We would like to see at least an 8% increase in the number of members
contributing to the PAC. Our NWA Legislative Chairperson, Greg Chewakin will be attending
our SDASCOE convention to promote the PAC and also CAPWIZ.
We were also addressed by Paul Newton from RASCOE. He reminded us that RASCOE is
our future and that at times like this, don’t wait for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the
rain.
We were updated on the MIDAS project. There are several changes they are looking to
implement and eventually get those to the field offices, but budget could play a big part in this.
Craig Turner, President of NAFEC gave a good presentation on why NAFEC is important to
NASCOE. They can ask for things from the legislature that NASCOE cannot. Please
encourage your County Committee members to become members of NAFEC. When they
become members there are several benefits that they can obtain. Have them visit the NAFEC
website at: http://fsacountycommittees.org/
After lunch Congressman Stehpen Fincher from Tennessee addressed the group. He
spoke of the tight budget situation and the mood of the congress.
Robert Redding, NASCOE Legislative Consultant spoke to us on the importance of getting
a personal connection with our legislators. He stated that the next farm bill will be very difficult,
but that we need to be ready. We can’t be defensive only.
Mike and Terry then presented the position papers. We reviewed some of the highlights
on them and then we broke into Area groups. All of the position papers are on the NASCOE
website.
We had our usual get together at Old Ebitt’s on Tuesday evening. We had a large crowd.
Most of the NWA area was there. We were also fortunate enough to have Cindy Beringer,
Lana Nesbit and Vicki Larson and their spouses’ join us. Josh Tonsanger from Senator
Johnson’s office was also in attendance.
Wednesday morning we met Cindy and Lana for coffee in the south Ag building. We went
over our position papers and decided which topics to discus.
Our first meeting was with Representative Kristi Noem and Renee Latterell, Legislative
Assistant. Because Kristi was previously on the State Committee, we were able to jump right
into the issues. We visited about the budget and some of the recommendation that NASCOE
has regarding savings. We also discussed the upcoming farm bill and employee benefits. We
felt the meeting with Kristi was productive as she was unaware of some of the issues and said
she would look into them further.
After lunch we met with Senator Tim Johnson. He brought up the office closures and
stated that he was glad to have helped us with that issue. We did not get a lot of time with him
as he had to go vote on the Senate floor. We did get to visit with Cyndi Bartel, Legislative
Assistant, Carrie Johnson, Research Assistant and Joshua Tonsager, Research Assistant. All
three of them were very knowledgeable about the issues facing FSA. They told us that we are
a valuable resource to them and that they would be glad to be a resource for us.
Our last meeting was with Senator Thune. We first met with Lynn Tsjeerdsma, who just
recently left FSA to return to Senator Thune’s office. Lynn helped write the 2008 farm bill and
will help with the writing of the 2012 farm bill. Lynn was very interested in our suggestions and
will put his FSA experience to good use. Senator Thune returned from the vote on the Senate
floor and was able to spend a few minutes with us.
With the current budget situation we need to continue to be proactive and be ready when
asked for ideas and input. We will struggle to just keep the benefits that we have, but we need
to stay strong and be ready when called upon.
Respectfully submitted by: Bill Chase and EJ Goetz, Co-Legislative Chairs.
the Legislative Conference held in Washington DC March 7-9th.
On Monday evening we registered and attended the Legislative Trivia Contest. Tuesday
we spent the day in meetings preparing for our visits to the hill. We first heard from our
President Myron Stroup who welcomed us and gave us a brief overview of the day’s events.
Our Legislative Co-Chairs, Mike Mayfield and Terry Stehr then talked about making effective
visits to our legislators. Later we had some role playing on Congressional visits. Evidentially
EJ didn’t pay close enough attention on that part as on Wednesday she failed the role playing
experiment.
We had a presentation on PAC and the importance of the PAC, a legislative tool, to
NASCOE. We would like to see at least an 8% increase in the number of members
contributing to the PAC. Our NWA Legislative Chairperson, Greg Chewakin will be attending
our SDASCOE convention to promote the PAC and also CAPWIZ.
We were also addressed by Paul Newton from RASCOE. He reminded us that RASCOE is
our future and that at times like this, don’t wait for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the
rain.
We were updated on the MIDAS project. There are several changes they are looking to
implement and eventually get those to the field offices, but budget could play a big part in this.
Craig Turner, President of NAFEC gave a good presentation on why NAFEC is important to
NASCOE. They can ask for things from the legislature that NASCOE cannot. Please
encourage your County Committee members to become members of NAFEC. When they
become members there are several benefits that they can obtain. Have them visit the NAFEC
website at: http://fsacountycommittees.org/
After lunch Congressman Stehpen Fincher from Tennessee addressed the group. He
spoke of the tight budget situation and the mood of the congress.
Robert Redding, NASCOE Legislative Consultant spoke to us on the importance of getting
a personal connection with our legislators. He stated that the next farm bill will be very difficult,
but that we need to be ready. We can’t be defensive only.
Mike and Terry then presented the position papers. We reviewed some of the highlights
on them and then we broke into Area groups. All of the position papers are on the NASCOE
website.
We had our usual get together at Old Ebitt’s on Tuesday evening. We had a large crowd.
Most of the NWA area was there. We were also fortunate enough to have Cindy Beringer,
Lana Nesbit and Vicki Larson and their spouses’ join us. Josh Tonsanger from Senator
Johnson’s office was also in attendance.
Wednesday morning we met Cindy and Lana for coffee in the south Ag building. We went
over our position papers and decided which topics to discus.
Our first meeting was with Representative Kristi Noem and Renee Latterell, Legislative
Assistant. Because Kristi was previously on the State Committee, we were able to jump right
into the issues. We visited about the budget and some of the recommendation that NASCOE
has regarding savings. We also discussed the upcoming farm bill and employee benefits. We
felt the meeting with Kristi was productive as she was unaware of some of the issues and said
she would look into them further.
After lunch we met with Senator Tim Johnson. He brought up the office closures and
stated that he was glad to have helped us with that issue. We did not get a lot of time with him
as he had to go vote on the Senate floor. We did get to visit with Cyndi Bartel, Legislative
Assistant, Carrie Johnson, Research Assistant and Joshua Tonsager, Research Assistant. All
three of them were very knowledgeable about the issues facing FSA. They told us that we are
a valuable resource to them and that they would be glad to be a resource for us.
Our last meeting was with Senator Thune. We first met with Lynn Tsjeerdsma, who just
recently left FSA to return to Senator Thune’s office. Lynn helped write the 2008 farm bill and
will help with the writing of the 2012 farm bill. Lynn was very interested in our suggestions and
will put his FSA experience to good use. Senator Thune returned from the vote on the Senate
floor and was able to spend a few minutes with us.
With the current budget situation we need to continue to be proactive and be ready when
asked for ideas and input. We will struggle to just keep the benefits that we have, but we need
to stay strong and be ready when called upon.
Respectfully submitted by: Bill Chase and EJ Goetz, Co-Legislative Chairs.
| From left to right: Larry Olsen; Becky Zirpel; Senator Tim Johnson; EJ Goetz; Bill Chase; Peggy Groen; and Jim Anderson |
| From left to right: Larry Olsen; Bill Chase; EJ Goetz; Senator John Thune; Peggy Groen; Becky Zirpel; and Jim Anderson |