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State needs to act now to help Illinois farmers High gas
prices and increased shipping charges are creating extra stress for
Illinois farmers already facing drought conditions. Quick action is
needed to stabilize the state's economy, which depends heavily on
agriculture.
Since Hurricane Katrina struck, gas prices have spiked and barge
freight rates have also increased. Many agriculture products are
shipped via barge freights. The high shipping charges have slowed
the shipments of agriculture products, creating storage issues at
grain elevators. As a result, many elevators are already out of
storage capacity and are charging upwards of 60 cents a bushel to
store grain.
There are several potential remedies to address the rising fuel,
shipping and storage costs for Illinois farmers. Some of the ideas
can be implemented by the governor, and then lawmakers can take
further action if needed when the Legislature reconvenes next month.
Recommendations include the following:
Immediate gubernatorial action
- Declare an emergency harvest situation to allow overweight
vehicles until Dec. 31 without permits.
- Issue an executive order authorizing the use of dyed diesel
fuel (fuel for off-highway vehicles that is less expensive
because it is not subject to the same taxes as fuel for highway
purposes) in highway vehicles.
- Require state agencies, such as the Illinois Department of
Transportation, to conduct an immediate audit of facilities to
identify any state-owned property suitable for the temporary
storage of grain.
- Petition the federal government to extend the time period
for using dyed diesel fuel in highway vehicles through December;
exempt farmers from tax liability for the use of such fuel; and
allow a reasonable time frame (up to six additional months) for
farmers to clear dyed diesel fuel from vehicles.
Possible legislative action
- Pass legislation to extend the state's already existing
sales tax exemption for construction materials used in an
enterprise zone to include materials used in the construction,
renovation or expansion of grain storage and shipping
facilities, regardless of location.
- Create tax incentives for Illinois livestock producers who
purchase Illinois grain for feed; create additional incentives
to increase storage capacity for on-farm and commercial grain
elevators; create tax incentives for farm enhancements to
improve harvest, storage and land management practices; review
tax incentives and possible waiver of EPA fees and regulations
that serve as disincentives for producers or storage facilities
to expand capacity or replace outdated facilities.
- Review available state low-interest loan programs to
identify ways those programs can be expanded to encourage
improvements in grain storage and increase available shipping
options for Illinois farmers.
- Establish a "shortest route" program to conserve fuel by
allowing grain trucks to have access to interstate highways
without having to meet the minimum 40 mph driving speed when
travel on the interstate offers a shorter route from the field
to a grain storage facility. Trucks would be restricted to the
right lane, and minimum speed and maximum weight restrictions
would be lifted only if the vehicles travel less than 20 miles
on any interstate route.
- Provide emergency assistance to Illinois producers who have
experienced an extraordinary amount of loss due to the drought
or related factors, and provide state assistance to Illinois
producers in order to offset storage costs incurred during the
2005 crop year.
Blagojevich 'unfreezes' funds approved by prior governors
Four 44th District municipalities will receive long-awaited
funding as Gov. Blagojevich finally releases $195 million approved
by prior governors for local capital improvement projects.
It's good to know that this money is finally going to be
released. Some of these municipalities have been left hanging for
years while the governor arbitrarily froze funding for projects that
had already been approved. We know now that it's standard operating
procedure for this governor to use resources that are not really
his, but at least in this case, these projects will receive their
funding at long last.
[to top of second column in this article] |
 According to the governor's office,
local projects that will receive previously "frozen" funds are:
- $462,500 to Bloomington for downtown streetscape
improvements.
- $462,500 to Normal for the development of the downtown
plaza.
- $75,000 to Farmer City for storm sewer relief and drainage
improvement.
- $50,000 to South Wheatland Fire Protection District for the
rehabilitation and renovation of the existing fire station.
Project funding is also being
released for two municipalities that were in my legislative district
at the time funding was first approved -- before boundaries were
redrawn. These municipalities are now in Sen. Dan Rutherford's
legislative district. The projects are:
- $40,000 to Danvers for water treatment project upgrade
project.
- $22,500 to Cropsey Township for the final design of the new
water system.
Democrats propose further state borrowing
Three months after passing what they assured us was a "balanced"
budget, Democratic leaders are proposing to borrow more than $1
billion to pay Medicaid providers. These vendors should receive the
money owed to them, but it is equally as important that this
administration recognize its failure to get a grip on Medicaid
spending.
Medicaid costs to the state are escalating -- at an average rate
of 8 percent since fiscal 1999 -- and are consuming an ever larger
percentage of the General Revenue Fund.
In just two years, spending for Medicaid has increased from $5.1
billion (23 percent of general funds) to $6 billion (26 percent of
general funds). Left unchecked, Medicaid will claim larger
allocations of the budget at the expense of other important
programs, including education.
One way to slow the growth of Medicaid costs is to place more
Medicaid clients in managed care health programs. In 2004, a
bipartisan task force conducted public meetings throughout the state
to investigate ways to have more Medicaid patients use managed care
health programs, with the goal of reining in the skyrocketing costs
paid by taxpayers for Medicaid and improving the quality of care for
Medicaid patients.
An independent study by the Lewin Group also showed that Illinois
could realize hundreds of millions of dollars in savings each year
by using more managed care programs for delivering Medicaid
services. The Lewin Group is a national health care and human
services consulting firm with more than 35 years of experience
finding answers and solving problems for leading organizations in
the public, nonprofit and private sectors.
With all this information at hand, what does our governor do? He
ignores the recommendations of the bipartisan task force and the
Lewin Group report and actually reduces the number of Medicaid
clients who will be enrolled in managed care programs -- thereby
costing the state even more money and disrupting health care for
those patients who were in the managed care programs.
Illinois already ranks 47th in the nation in terms of Medicaid
managed care programs. Blagojevich's decisions move us that much
farther in the wrong direction.
This governor has also expanded eligibility guidelines that will
make an additional 74,000 adults eligible for Medicaid coverage
through the FamilyCare Program, at a cost of an additional $65
million per year.
Programs like FamilyCare are important for people who need it,
but it is hard to justify the continued expansion when the state
cannot pay the rest of its bills or, worse yet, steals from pension
funding. A better solution is to expand the managed care program as
a way to provide better health care for Medicaid patients and lower
the costs of the state's ever-burgeoning Medicaid debt. The study by
the Lewin Group suggests managed care reforms could save taxpayers
approximately $1.5 billion in Medicaid costs over a five-year
period.
Perhaps then there would be no need to borrow $1 billion to pay
our bills.
[From
Sen. Bill Brady]
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