JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Farm Bureau (MFB) has issued their legislative priorities, highlighting the legislative disapproval of a proposed tax increase on farmland, but also promoting legislation they say will have a positive impact on agriculture, such as telehealth and transportation funding.
Other priorities include appropriated funds for last year’s Missouri Dairy Revitalization Act, as well as increased appropriations for telehealth and telemedicine programs. Telemedicine programs allow those who live in areas without adequate health facilities to seek care via phone or video chat.
MFB wants to see “legislation addressing long-term funding for the state’s road and bridge system” and “stronger statutory protections for landowners in negotiations pertaining to siting and compensation in the construction of utility infrastructure.”
In addition to transportation funding and utility infrastructure, MFB would like to see legislators address state agency owned land “payments in lieu of taxes” (PILT), and removing livestock owners’s livestock from the peace disturbance statute.
Also listed is support for at least one University of Missouri curator to have agriculture involvement. There is currently an opening on the board of curators.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.