The Vermilion County Farm Bureau hosted state legislators at a special meeting this past Monday morning. One of the most popular issues among those in attendance was conditions of roads, especially for hauling grain at harvest time. GOP 104th District State Rep Mike Marron stated that it was back during some time he spent in Brazil that something hit him: Brazil may grow an abundance of grain, but they often don’t have adequate roads and infrastructure to get it all to market. He says that should definitely be a warning about conditions in Illinois, to all levels of government.
AUDIO: Brazil’s one of our main competitors. We have to maintain that transportation infrastructure to make sure that it’s superior. Because I do think in some areas we are going in the wrong direction, while they are starting to invest in their infrastructure; and one day they may catch up with us. So that’s a competitive advantage that we have to maintain. That’s got to be a priority.
GOP 51st District State Senator Chapin Rose agreed. He says with so many roads needed for farming still under township jurisdiction, downstate townships sometimes do not have enough people in office to get the job done. And Rose says with an unfunded state mandate passed last year, requiring all entities such as townships to do a once a year study about possible consolidations, that can lead to trouble. Rose says townships up in the collar counties around Chicago can consider consolidation. But if you put a mandated study like that on downstate townships. a lot of people just might say, “Forget this, I have no desire to serve in township government.”
AUDIO: I mean I suggested, “Look, can you put like some sort of annual budget limit in it, you know that I mean, so that these little tiny townships that have, you know, next to no budgets aren’t wasting what little money they do have on these types of studies?” (The answer was) “nope, no, everybody’s going to be in.” So all I’m doing is screaming as loud as I can scream. I literally, in my current area; we have a hard enough time finding people to show up for local villages, local township boards; because there’s hardly anybody left. And now we’re going to put even more junk on them.
Another thing bothering Rose right now is the Grain Belt Express Wind Power Transmission line set to go across Southern Illinois via eminent domain. Last year’s passed state energy bill included clearance for this. But Rose says this was not eminent domain being used so everyone in your county could have phone service or power lines. It was simply a private company looking to make a profit. Rose, a lawyer and former Senior Assistant State’s Attorney in Champaign County, says that if case in Missouri fighting this doesn’t succeed, he looks for a possible case in Illinois that could go all the way to the Supreme Court.
AUDIO: Absolutely. I think if this (Grain Belt Express) doesn’t fail in Missouri; it’s currently up in Missouri Courts right now; but if it doesn’t fail there and comes to Illinois, there will be a lawsuit here. And I think the intentions of the homeowners that I represent will be to take it all the way.
Meanwhile, 52nd District Democratic State Senator Scott Bennett recently co-sponsored a bill that would create an annual Soil Health Week in Illinois, starting with March 7th to 11th this year. He says it would be designed to educate the public that good soil for Illinois farms cannot be taken for granted.
AUDIO: We’re trying to pass that resolution as part of the spring session. We’re always talking about being “stewards of the land.” We want to make sure that people are aware of their own roles in keeping soil healthy. You know my family farms in Ford County and they’re not making any more of it. I know that most farmers that I’ve grown up with are excellent stewards of the land; we need to make sure we continue that. But we also need to give the funding to those soil and water conservation groups that need our help.
A representative for 53rd District GOP Senator Jason Barickman also attended.
