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Munzlinger, Houghton hopeful Missouri working animal bill will pass (AUDIO)

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Compromise legislation that would prohibit Missouri cities and towns from banning the use of a working animal was heard Tuesday afternoon by a House committee in Jefferson City.

State Sen. Brian Munzlinger (R-Williamstown)

Missouri Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee Chairman Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, testifies efforts to ban carriage rides in St. Louis prompted this bill.

Munzlinger emphasizes he’s worked with all parties on the bill’s language.

“This bill does not take away local control and the ability of the cities to make rules about working animals on public streets, especially when it comes to the health and welfare of the animals or the citizens,” Munzlinger testifies.

Munzlinger’s bill defines “working animal” as the use of any animal for the purpose of performing a specific duty in entertainment, transportation or educational exhibits.

Munzlinger notes the bill creates a definition that lawmakers have never had before. Livestock animals are not included in the definition.

During his testimony, Munzlinger emphasized multiple times that his legislation to prohibit cities and towns from banning the use of working animals still protects local control.

“So if the city of St. Louis feels that they need to say there should not be any horse-drawn carriages out in rush-hour traffic, that’s okay, as long as the rules and regulations are not intended to ban the whole industry,” says Munzlinger.

Munzlinger testified before the Missouri House Agriculture Policy Committee, which is chaired by veteran State Rep. Jay Houghton, R-Martinsburg.

Chairman Houghton hopes the compromise legislation will be approved by the end of session, which is May 18.

Houghton’s committee heard about 45 minutes of testimony Tuesday, including Missouri Farm Bureau’s testimony expressing concern with some of the bill’s language.

“The concerns that I’ve heard deals with a city or municipality imposing fees upon these folks that own working animals that could possibly keep them from doing business in a town,” Houghton says.

Munzlinger responded to Farm Bureau’s language concerns during the hearing, saying that the bill has been “out there” for four months.

Houghton tells Missourinet his policy is for the committee to hear a bill one week and vote on it the following week, indicating the committee will likely vote next week.

The Senate has already passed the bill, and Munzlinger and Houghton are both hopeful the House can pass the same version by the end of session.

Houghton admits time is a factor, with the session’s end one month away.

This is the eighth version of Munzlinger’s bill.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and House Ag Policy Committee Chairman Jay Houghton, R-Martinsburg, which was recorded on April 17, 2018 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

Curls: farmers’ market bill will help Missouri agriculture and low-income seniors

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Legislation that would establish a Missouri senior farmers’ market nutrition program is expected to head to the House floor in Jefferson City.

State Sen. Kiki Curls (D-Kansas City)

The House Agriculture Policy Committee voted last week to approve the bill, which is sponsored by State Sen. Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City.

“It will increase the availability of more nutritious food for our seniors, increase the profitability of our local farmers and help to strengthen our local economies,” Curls testified Tuesday.

Curls’ legislation would require the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) to apply for a federal grant to provide low-income seniors with vouchers that could be exchanged for eligible food at farmers’ markets and roadside stands.

A diverse coalition ranging from the Missouri Soybean Association to Empower Missouri testified for Curls’ bill last week.

The Missouri State Alliance of YMCAs and the American Heart Association also testified for it.

“Missouri is one of only seven states that do not participate in this worthwhile program,” Curls testifies. “All of Missouri’s neighboring states participate, putting Missouri farmers at a competitive disadvantage.”

Curls says investing in Missouri agriculture is always a great way to support economic development and to provide nutrition for low-income seniors.

The Missouri Senate has already approved Curls’ bill, which now heads to the House Rules Committee. It would then go to the House floor.

Senator Curls testifies that under the bill, a couple over the age of 60 with an annual household income less than or equal to $20,826 would be eligible.

The Silver Haired Legislature said in January that about 330,000 Missouri seniors would qualify for the legislation.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Missouri Senate Ag Committee Chair optimistic about industrial hemp bill (AUDIO)

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The Missouri House Agriculture Policy Committee voted Tuesday in Jefferson City to approve legislation that would create an industrial hemp pilot program in Missouri.

State Sen. Brian Munzlinger (R-Williamstown)

The bipartisan vote was 11-2.

Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee Chairman Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, the bill sponsor, tells Missourinet he’s optimistic it will pass.

“I think it would be a new agricultural product that Missouri can raise and one that they used to raise here in Missouri, you know, to help the war effort,” Munzlinger says.

He’s referring to World War II.

Both chambers have already approved industrial hemp bills, but only the House version contained language that the Missouri Highway Patrol “may perform aerial surveillance” to ensure that marijuana plants are not being cultivated near industrial hemp.

The House Ag Policy Committee, chaired by State Rep. Jay Houghton, R-Martinsburg, approved an amendment adding that provision on Tuesday, a provision that Munzlinger supports.

Munzlinger’s bill now heads to the House Rules Committee, before heading to the House floor.

Munzlinger says State Rep. Paul Curtman’s industrial hemp bill should be ready to go to the Missouri Senate floor soon.

Proponents and opponents of the legislation testified on Tuesday.

A southern Missouri food/health company called “Beyond Organics” supports the bill.

Lobbyist Brian Grace tells lawmakers that Chairman Munzlinger’s bill allows Missouri to capitalize on the ag component of hemp.

“I can go down the street right now to a grocery store and I can buy granola bars or protein powders or lotions that contain hemp,” Grace testifies. “None of that hemp is being grown in Missouri so Missouri farmers are missing out on that profit.”

While Grace testifies the bill is not a “steppingstone to legalizing marijuana,” retired Missouri state trooper Ed Moses tells the committee there have been shootings and “other criminal behavior” in Kentucky hemp fields.

Munzlinger’s bill would allow those licensed by the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) to grow, cultivate and market industrial hemp.

He tells State Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, that applicants would undergo a fingerprint criminal history background check, under the bill.

“With marijuana out there and other things, I don’t know,” Munzlinger tells Lavender.

“Yeah, and I’m ok for the checking and perhaps paying a fee to be able to grow it,” Lavender responds.

Representative Lavender says she’s still disappointed that background checks are required to grow what she calls an ag product.

Under Munzlinger’s bill, permits could not be issued to anyone found guilty of any state or federal felony offense involving a controlled substance in the past five years.

Curtman, R-Pacific, the House sponsor of industrial hemp, says the legislation aims to “keep Missouri economic development dollars in Missouri.”

 

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Missouri Senate Ag Committee Chairman Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, which was recorded on April 10, 2018 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

 

 

 

British official emphasizes free trade and security in address to Missouri lawmakers

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The British Consul General in Chicago called for a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, during an address this week to the Missouri House in Jefferson City.

British Consul General John Saville (left) listens as Senator Roy Blunt addresses the Missouri House on April 4, 2018. House Speaker Todd Richardson is on Mr. Saville’s left (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

British Consul General John Saville tells House members that the United Kingdom is the fourth-largest export market for Missouri companies.

“Missouri goods and services exports to the U.K. are worth well over $1 billion annually and support over 8,000 jobs here,” Saville says.

Saville says a trade working group has been formed.

He tells lawmakers that about 150 British companies currently employ more than 23,000 Missourians, adding that Missouri-based companies Monsanto and Emerson Electric employ thousands in the United Kingdom.

St. Louis-based Monsanto’s website describes the company as “a global modern agriculture company.” Monsanto has facilities in 69 nations.

Ferguson-based Emerson’s website says its “newly energized focus” is on its two core business platforms: automation solutions and commercial and residential solutions.

Saville says about one million people in the U.K. work for American companies, and that about one million Americans work for British companies.

He says tariffs between the two nations are low.

Saville also addressed security issues during Wednesday’s address, describing the United States as the United Kingdom’s greatest ally.

He says Missouri is the “birthplace of the special relationship” between the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

“Later today, I’ll be following in the footsteps of Winston Churchill when he visited Westminster College (in Fulton) at the invitation of President and Missourian Harry Truman over 70 years ago to deliver his Sinews of Peace,” says Saville.

The speech was later called the “Iron Curtain” speech.

Then-President Truman (D) joined Churchill at the 1946 event at Westminster College, which drew about 30,000 people to Fulton.

During a 2017 interview with Missourinet, former U.S. Sen. John Danforth noted that Churchill did not call it the “Iron Curtain” speech.

“He (Churchill) called the speech ‘Sinews of Peace’, meaning binding the world together, the post-World War II world together, free nations together, in the face of the threat of the Soviet Union and the Iron Curtain,” Danforth told Missourinet in 2017.

During Wednesday’s address in Jefferson City, Saville blasted Russia for recent actions, noting 60 Russian diplomats were expelled from the United States.

Bagpipe players from the Boone County Fire Protection District perform in the Missouri House on April 4, 2018 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Saville tells lawmakers the partnership between the U.S. and the United Kingdom “is vital to international peace and security.”

The Boone County Fire Protection District’s bagpipe players were in the House chamber, performing before Mr. Saville’s address.

Missouri Congressman defends Trump tariffs: “China has been a bully on the playground for a long time”

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Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Missouri, says President Trump’s method of negotiating with other countries is to “grab them by the neck and shake them a little bit to get their attention.” He tells Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly that Trump is a businessman who thinks at 30,000 feet and long term. Luetkemeyer, whose district covers 13 counties east-central Missouri, is defending Trump for threatening $50 billion and possibly another $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports.

Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer

“You have to be watching out for a whole lot more things than just a straight tariff war going on between the two countries. The Chinese have been big bullies on the playground for a long, long time. They have subsidized their industries to try and undermine ours, our economy and our workers. This is just the president trying to push back against that bully,” he says. “These guys are some bad actors. The president is trying to get their attention to get them to the table.”

Luetkemeyer, who serves as the U.S. House Small Business Committee vice chair, says China often “slips in the back door” and tries to buy American companies.

“If they (China) can’t buy it one on one in this country, they’ll buy a Canadian company and try and get in that way,” he says.

China is fighting back by proposing $50 billion in tariffs on U.S. products including wheat, pork, beef, corn, cotton, automobiles and aircraft.

“He (Trump) starts at the top with some sort of big, rash statement and then sort of gets down to where he wants to get down to, which is in this situation, a negotiation with the Chinese to be able to stop the nonsense of trying to undermine our industries here,” Luetkemeyer says.

He says it doesn’t make sense for China to impose tariffs on American corn and soybeans. Luetkemeyer says China has built up its agricultural production through hogs and cattle to the point the country can’t do without corn and soybeans.

“There are some other markets in the world they could go to, but they get huge amounts of it from us. So, it’s going to be hard to replace that amount. If they don’t, they’d just raise the price of the corn and beans to their own producers by 25%. So, it’s going to have an inflationary effect on their own economy,” says Luetkemeyer.

Opponents of Trump’s tariffs say his approach could cripple the U.S. economy for many years.

Trump’s tariffs are not set to take effect for 60 days.

Missouri agriculture official on tariffs: Trump has entered into a high-risk policy

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Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst says it’s hard to remember a “more potentially calamitous week for U.S. agriculture.” He’s responding to President Trump’s second round of tariffs on Chinese imports and China’s proposed tariffs on American goods. Trump is proposing $50 billion and possibly another $100 billion in Chinese import tariffs. China has retaliated by proposing $50 billion in tariffs on U.S. products including beef, pork, soybeans, cotton, automobiles and aircraft.

Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst

“If fully implemented, China’s proposed tariffs spell trouble for Missouri agriculture. China is by far the leading destination for U.S. soybeans, with the country buying nearly two-thirds of all U.S. soybeans exported, and one-fourth of our total crop. The Trump administration has entered into a high-risk policy, one that can bring great benefits to our citizens, but one that is fraught with danger for farmers and the U.S. economy.

Hurst says the costs of failure will cripple agriculture for a generation.

“There is one thing for certain: Round after round of increasing import taxes between our two countries will make everyone poorer. There is no winner in a trade war without a negotiated peace,” he says.

A recent Purdue University study estimates that tariffs similar to ones proposed by China would cause a 40% decline in U.S. soybean exports and up to $3.3 billion in annual economic losses. Hurst says that figure doesn’t include the economic costs of lost sales of pork, corn, cotton, and beef, all important products for Missouri agriculture.

Trump’s tariffs take effect in 60 days.

“There is time for an agreement that can both satisfy U.S. farmers and protect U.S. companies and employees who have suffered because of past Chinese actions,” Hurst says.

Trump says the U.S. tariffs are meant to address China’s longtime illegal trade practices. He says China has chosen to retaliate by harming America’s farmers and manufacturers.

Southeast Missouri Republican Congressman Jason Smith, a key Farm Bureau ally, supports Trump’s tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel.

Blunt says 51 percent of rural Missourians lack access to broadband

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Senator Roy Blunt (R) emphasized agriculture, broadband and jobs during his Wednesday address to the Missouri House in Jefferson City.

Senator Roy Blunt addresses the Missouri House on April 4, 2018 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Missouri’s junior senator says world food demand will double between now and 2050.

“Nobody is better at this than we are as a country, and frankly nobody in the country is better positioned than we are to take advantage of that unbelievable opening,” Blunt says.

Senator Blunt has described the Mississippi River valley as the biggest piece of contiguous agricultural ground in the world, with the “best farmers and ranchers in the world.”

Missouri House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, says the Show-Me State currently ranks 40th in the nation in access to broadband service.

Blunt tells the Missouri House that broadband was a key topic of discussion at an ag forum he participated in last week in Springfield, with Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Chris Chinn and Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst.

“We had 45 minutes of questions and answers, not a single question was about the next (federal) farm bill,” says Blunt. “Every single question was about rural broadband, transportation and regulation.”

Blunt says 51 percent of rural Missourians don’t have access to broadband.

Bagpipe players from the Boone County Fire Protection District enter the Missouri House chamber on April 4, 2018 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

“We need to do something about that. Broadband is going to be just as important over the next 50 years as the telephone was over the last 50 years,” Blunt says.

The Missouri House has voted 149-1 to approve legislation from State Rep. Curtis Trent, R-Springfield, that would enable the state’s rural electric cooperatives to make unused capacity available for residential and commercial purposes.

Trent’s bill declares that the expansion of broadband service is in the best interests of Missourians.

Trent says rural broadband is critical for education and health care.

The Missouri Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee has approved the bill, which is now waiting for debate on the Senate floor.

This is the eighth straight year that Senator Blunt has addressed the House. He was elected to the Senate in 2010, and was re-elected in 2016.

Meantime, Missouri House members on both sides of the aisle paused for a moment of silence Wednesday, which was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Blunt describes Dr. King as “one of the most influential voices of the 20th century.” Blunt tells the House it’s a good time to think about the importance and value of life.

“And the difference that one committed life can make, and I think with the Speaker’s indulgence I’m going to suggest we just take a few moments here of silence and think about all those issues particularly about Dr. King,” says Blunt.

Blunt says Dr. King’s contributions to the civil rights movement inspired generations of Americans to carry on his legacy.

Heated debate over western Missouri meat company’s expansion plans

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The proposed expansion of a Johnson County cattle operation in western Missouri drew heavy crowds to a public hearing hosted by Missouri’s Department of Natural Resources.

An overflow crowd sought to make their opinions known on plans by Valley Oaks Steak to build a feedlot outside Lone Jack, about 30 miles southeast of Kansas City, that would house almost seven-thousand cattle.

Supporters stressed the need to stand for Missouri’s family farms and finish more cattle in the state, noting that while Missouri ranks second in the number of cattle raised, over 95 percent go to feedlots out of state.

Opponents included several dozen nearby residents who said the feedlot would damage air and water quality, lower property values and endanger their health.

Also speaking against the proposal were regular visitors to Powell Gardens, located three miles east of the proposed site.

Only 150 people could fit into the room where the hearing took place, prompting many to observe in the neighboring gym or remain standing outside.

The Department of Natural Resources has 90 days to review public comment and determine whether to issue the permit allowing construction to go forward.

Kyle Hill of MissouriNet affiliate KDKD contributed this story

Curtman: industrial hemp bill would “keep Missouri economic development dollars in Missouri” (AUDIO)

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The Missouri Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee voted 4-1 on Monday afternoon in Jefferson City to approve industrial hemp legislation from veteran State Rep. Paul Curtman, R-Pacific.

State Rep. Paul Curtman speaks on the House floor in April 2017 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Sen. Sandy Crawford, R-Buffalo, cast the lone no vote. The bill now heads to the Senate floor.

Curtman testifies his legislation is an opportunity to introduce “a brand-new economic footprint” to Missouri.

“And doing everything we can to free our farmers, so that way they can grow a product that is already in the market right now,” Curtman says.

His bill would create a pilot program to allow those licensed by the state Department of Agriculture (MDA) to grow, cultivate and market industrial hemp.

“We certainly don’t want Missouri, the Show-Me State, to be the last state in the nation to allow our people to engage in this market and keep Missouri economic development dollars in Missouri,” says Curtman.

The Missouri House approved Curtman’s bill in February by a 141-4 vote.

While the Senate has already approved State Sen. Brian Munzlinger’s, R-Williamstown, industrial hemp legislation, it could be merged with Curtman’s bill.

The main difference between the two is that Curtman’s bill says the Missouri State Highway Patrol “may perform aerial surveillance” to ensure that marijuana plants are not being cultivated near industrial hemp.

That provision was an amendment from State Rep. Don Rone, R-Portageville, that was approved by the House.

The marijuana issue came up several times during Monday’s hearing.

A retired Missouri state trooper warns that law enforcement officers won’t be able to tell the difference between industrial hemp and marijuana.

Ed Moses, who worked for the Patrol for 35 years and served part of that time as an undercover officer, traveled to the Missouri Capitol to testify against Curtman’s industrial hemp bill.

“This would automatically legalize marijuana,” Moses testifies. “We would lose probable cause by law enforcement (officers), because we’d no longer be able to tell the difference,” Moses testifies.

Moses tells senators he believes marijuana supporters are behind the industrial hemp efforts, behind the scenes.

Three others also testified against the bill, including Lincoln University student Cheyenne Savage. She worries it will impact law enforcement efforts.

But Munzlinger and Curtman disagree. They say cross-pollination would destroy both farmers’ and drug dealers’ crops.

Munzlinger, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, tells Missourinet that Curtman’s legislation is a “drug eradication bill.”

“You know it’s been a long, hard battle just getting to people to understand exactly what industrial hemp is and I think we actually saw some of that today where they’re (opponents) trying to compare it to a drug crop and we’re doing an agricultural crop here,” says Munzlinger.

Under both versions of the bill, applicants would undergo a fingerprint criminal history background check.

Chairman Munzlinger, who represents 14 counties in northeast and north central Missouri, says there are currently 19 states producing industrial hemp.

Munzlinger has described hemp as “one of the oldest crops known to man.“

The Midwest Hemp Association testified for Curtman’s bill on Monday.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Brian Munzlinger, which was recorded on March 26, 2018 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

McCaskill says metal tariffs will hurt Missouri’s manufacturing and agriculture industries

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President Trump in Springfield

President Trump’s order begins today that places taxes on steel and aluminum shipped into the U.S. from other countries. During a hearing this week with Trump’s trade chief, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, says the taxes are going to harm many Missouri businesses, including the manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

“Some of this issue is about businesses that are relying on specialized steel imports. It’s not a matter of price, it’s a matter of availability. I’ve got a small company in Joplin that relies on Japanese specialized steel to make the bearings—and it’s not available in the United States,” says McCaskill. “It is not one of these things that they can actually turn to a more expensive. They’re not bringing this in because they’re getting it cheaper than they can get it in the United States. They’re bringing it in because they can’t get it.”

Democrats say the taxes will create a trade war with other countries, increase prices of many goods and cost some manufacturing workers their jobs.

The president says America’s reliance on imported metals jeopardizes U.S. national security. He goes on to say that many countries are calling to negotiate better trade deals because they don’t want to pay the steel and aluminum tariffs.

Under Trump’s order, aluminum shipments coming to the U.S. from other countries will be taxed 15% and steel imports will get slapped with a 25% tax.