Land Stewardship Bill Passes First Test
With Charlie Hoffman at the table, HB 419 easily passed out of the Appropriations and Revenue Committee and now makes its way to the House floor. The bill passed almost unanimously with one pass from Representative Jim Comer keeping it from being put on the “consent” calendar and thus guaranteeing a floor debate before the final vote. After the meeting I talked with Rep. Comer who explained that he had wanted to ask a few questions of the sponsor, but the speed of the vote prevented him from doing it. It is hoped that Rep. Hoffman will be able to answer any questions Rep. Comer may have and secure his vote on the floor. The fact that the bill would be beneficial to the PACE program and that Rep. Comer is a farmer should help.
In other news, Senate bill 105 which this writer has pronounced a “fowl” measure sits in the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee. Hopefully we can prevail upon the always fair and forthright Rep. Tom McKee to consider the protection of citizens effected by large confined animal feeding operations as well as the standards of care for the animals themselves, and not take away local’s ability to protect their constituents.
It looks as if HB 408, the alternate energy bill constructed by a consortium of groups interested in energy efficiency and the environment will go the way of the “stream Saver” bill of yesteryear and not get a hearing in Rep. Gooch’s Natural Resources Committee. There is some reason for optimism though as Rep. Rocky Adkins is poised to introduce his own energy bill which hopefully will contain some of the consortium’s recommendations, but predictably on a smaller scale for non-fossil fuels energy production. It is difficult in a “coal” state to get any serious commitment to other forms of energy even though most everyone acknowledges the need for them in the energy mix. We’ll keep plugging.