Erik Somerfeld, District 2, Power Jeff Bangs, At-Large Director District 1 Inverness

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

BY WALTER SCHWEITZER

The holidays are a season of giving, and Montana Farmers Union has made great strides to do our part. In 2015 MFU set up an educational foundation to help fund educational activities and scholarships. This foundation has recently grown to over a million dollars. If you are a student or parent, you should go to our website at montanafarmersunion.com and click on the education tab to see available scholarships. MFU is planning to help fund a meat processing curriculum at MSU Northern. If you want to help us support educational opportunities, contact me, and we can discuss the many ways you can help.

Recently we have seen and heard about the fires in Denton and how our volunteer firefighters rallied to save most of the town. Among those firefighters were some of my neighbors who fought that fire for two days. I read in one story that there were over 187 firefighters on the scene. Volunteers from a 100-mile radius showed up to help save Denton. We don’t hear or see the stories of thouands of other fires or accidents that volunteers resolved.

These volunteers are just that - volunteers. They leave their farm, ranch, or job to get to the scene of an accident or fire. They spend countless hours of training and planning to be better and more organized volunteers. These efforts are all on their dime and time. They pay for their gas to get to the fire station or the fire. They hold fundraisers and apply for grants to buy the equipment they need. They are our local heroes.

Montana Farmers Union wants to recognize these hometown heroes. We have put together a volunteer firefighters fund and plan to match others to build this fund. Our goal is to buy as many gas cards as possible and give these gas cards to the unpaid fire chiefs of each of the volunteer fire departments in Montana to share with their volunteers. There is taxpayer money and grant money available to fund the equipment and operating costs of the fire stations. MFU would like to support the volunteers spending their own money and time to help us.

If you want to help recognize our volunteer firefighters and EMT’s contact me at wschweitzer@montanafarmersunion.com or call me on my cell at 406-799-3782.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

BY RACHEL PREVOST GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS AND MEMBER SERVICES

The Montana Legislative Interim committees have been meeting regularly following the end of the 67th Legislative session. Interim Committees work on study bills passed through the legislature, and some committees work on administrative rule reviews and receive agency updates on budgets and programs. The ARPA Commissions have also been meeting to allocate federal funding in a wide variety of grant programs. Montana Farmers Union has been following the Economic Transformation and Stabilization and Workforce Development Commission (EWAC) for grant opportunities in agriculture, commodity processing, and the work of other commissions on rural broadband funding. Furthermore, MFU has tracked the Board of Livestock meetings, Wheat and Barley Committee meetings, and Pulse Crop Committee meetings. A few brief updates about what some of these boards and committees are working on:

Revenue Interim Committee: Working on the following study bills: HJ 6 “Coal Severance Tax Trust Fund” and HJ 36 “Residential Property Taxes.”The Revenue committee also has administrative rule review, draft legislation review, program evaluation, and monitoring responsibilities for the Montana Department of Revenue and the Montana Tax Appeal Board. The committee last met Nov. 8-9, 2021, and will meet again Jan. 2021, 2022.

Interim Budget Committee Section C

(Natural Resources and Transportation): The subcommittee receives Fiscal Summary Reports, Budget updates, and agency program updates from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Livestock, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Transportation. Their work includes joint meetings with other Interim Budget Committee sections for reports and updates on ARPA Commissions and projects and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The committee last met on December 15, 2021, and is slated to meet again on March 16, 2022.

Water Policy Interim Committee (WPIC): The committee is working on the following study bills: HJ 37, “Study of selenium standard for Lake Koocanusa,” and SJ 28, “Study of Flathead River erosion” (MFU supported SJ 28 during the 67th legislature). Drought is an issue the committee is also focused on, water projects, storage, nutrients, and management. The committee last met Oct. 12-13, 2021, and will meet again Jan. 18-19, 2022.

Environmental Quality Council (EQC):

The committee is working on the following study bill: HJ 27 “Study of funding for conservation districts.” The EQC has agency oversight of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks, and Department of Environmental Quality. The EQC received

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