Senate proposes major environmental rollback
The Minnesota Senate’s proposed environmental budget bill (SF 2314) makes crippling cuts to general fund spending for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (86% cut), Department of Natural Resources (17%) and Board of Water and Soil Resources (39%). And that’s not all. >>
MPR News: Lawmakers push funding boost for Forever Green
Check out Minnesota Public Radio's recent coverage of our coalition's press event on one of our major legislative priorities this session: The University of Minnesota's Forever Green Initiative to research and develop clean-water crops. >>
Environmental Trust Fund restored!
On March 5, Gov. Tim Walz signed bipartisan legislation to fix last year’s controversial use of Minnesota’s voter-approved Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund. This is a win for taxpayers and our environment, and restoring the fund was a major priority for FMR this session. Here’s what happened. >>
Position announcement: Agricultural Policy Coordinator [FILLED]
The Agricultural Policy Coordinator is a new position that will develop and advocate for agricultural policy priorities and work to establish an effective agricultural-water coalition. The position is open until filled. >>
Legislation could protect public wells with clean-water crops
Legislation introduced this month would fund the Working Lands Drinking Water Program. The program will help farmers plant and sell alternative crops that protect drinking water while maintaining farm profitability. As a pilot initiative, it's limited to the state's most vulnerable wellhead areas — places where conservation crops can protect public health. >>
How water and agriculture fared in the governor’s budget
On Tuesday, Gov. Walz announced his state budget proposal. We took a look at how our priorities for the river and clean water fared. Our take-away so far? We have some work to do. New investments in environment and agriculture were minor and failed to include full funding for the few initiatives that are essential to achieving Minnesota's clean water goals. >>
House and senate introduce full funding for Forever Green
To get to our clean water goals in Minnesota, we need to plant more perennial and cover crops. But these crops need to be profitable before farm operations can effectively make the change. To address this challenge, two bills were introduced in mid-February in the house and senate that will fully fund the University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative. >>
FMR’s Molly Pederson testifies for Environmental Trust Fund fix
In late January, a key House committee approved legislation to fix last year’s controversial raid on Minnesota’s Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund. FMR lobbyist Molly Pederson testified in support of the bill. >>
Legislative Blog: Our top three priorities in 2019
Kicking off the return of our annual Legislative Blog, here's a summary of FMR's top three legislative priorities this session: Forever Green, Working Lands and fixing the Environmental Trust Fund raid. >>
