CORN GROWER S ASSOCIATION Political Papers

AUGUST 2012

CONGRESSIONAL CALENDAR

Aug 6—Sept 7—District Work Period FARMERS ON

Sept 10-21—Session The Illinois Corn Growers As- top of attending Corn Congress and woman asked for updates on September 24-28—District sociation spent four days in and electing the new Corn Board the current drought conditions Work Period Washington DC lobbying for Members, Illinois Corn met with back here in the state and wanted your issues on July 16-19. On Congressmen and women and to understand what if any effects October—1-5 Session their staff to this would have for Illinois farm- Oct 8—Nov 9—District encourage ers and the state as a whole. Work Period movement on Board members informed our the House’s Nov 6—Election Day elected officials of the current version of the effects of the drought yet remind- Farm Bill, gain ed them that the overall effects more support- will not be known until harvest.

ers for locks They stressed the importance of (WAVE4), as a farm safety net and crop insur- well as defend- ance in times like these. Crop ing ethanol Insurance will help farmers and (RFS). their families make it through this Illinois corn leadership with Congresswoman Judy Big- In every meeting drought. GENERAL ASSE M- gert who represents the 13th Congressional District. Congressman B L Y CALENDAR

Nov 27-29—VETO session Dec 4-6—VETO session FARM BILL NOW! Illinois Corn Growers Farm Bill negotiations in Washing- Association ton, DC continue. For those of PO Box 1623 you that haven’t been following Bloomington, IL the debate, we now have a Senate version of the Farm Bill that Illi- 61702-1623 nois Corn supports and a version

that has passed the House Ag P: 309-557-3257 Committee that we like signifi- F: 309-827-0916 cantly less. However, our main focus for Farm Bill 2012 negotia- www.ilcorn.org tions is simply to get something [email protected] passed through the House and conferenced with the Senate bill for the President to sign prior to the end of 2012. Senator Debbie Stabenow addressed the delegates of the National Corn Our focus on a “Farm Bill Now” Growers Association Corn Congress proudly wearing our “Farm Bill Now” pin on her lapel. (Continued on page 3) P A G E 2 CONNECT WITH YOUR LEGISLATORS

The Illinois Corn PAC district. The events would take In addition, Illinois Corn plans evaluation recommended place on the farm of an Illinois to hold member only fundrais- some new ways to gain Corn member. This is a good ers for candidates. Putting our recognition with key chance for the candidates to members in small private group members of congress. see a farm and connect with meetings with candidates is the We are introducing their constituents. best way for them to discuss “Shop Talks” which are The goals of Shop Talks are to the issues in more depth. designed to be a town have members become more If you are interested in attend- hall style meeting be- active in their districts and ing a Shop Talk or fundraiser tween members of Con- have them meet face to face for your member of Congress gress and fellow farmers and with their elected representa- please contact Lindsay at Illinois Corn members in the tives. [email protected]. CORN FARMERS COALITION: EDUCATING WASHINGTON, DC The Corn Farmers Coalition, a coalition of fourteen state corn grower associations and the National Corn Growers Association, is back again this summer delivering key educa- tional messages to your elect- ed officials in Washington, DC. The campaign this year ran from June 1 through July 31 and featured many of the farm Learn more about families and educational mes- sages we have seen in previous the exciting Corn years with new families from Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Farmers Coalition Michigan added. employees from USDA to EPA, the CFC brand and recogni- campaign in CFC has pioneered a new Environmental groups and think tion of our ads is tremendous marketing technique in Wash- tanks. The campaign also relies and very uncommon for mar- Washington, DC at ington, DC called "station heavily on digital media with ads keting campaigns. We are www.cornfarmers domination." Essentially, the running on the web sites of definitely doing something campaign buys every ad space popular Hill publications and right," said Mark Lambert, coalition.org. in metro stations heavily traf- media powerhouses from the NCGA. ficked by Congressional staff- Washington Post to the New The numbers show that the ers and other members of our York Times. The strategy has campaign is making noticeable target audience for the dura- worked really well. progress with the important tion of the campaign, guaran- "During our focus group ses- people in Washington, DC and teeing that everyone passing sions earlier this year, partici- that the image of farmers and through that station sees the pants clearly remembered see- the trust your elected officials information. This includes ing our ads even though they have in farmers is not losing Congressmen and Senators, had not been in the market for ground. their staffs, lobbyists, Agency months. This Strong recall of

POLITICAL PAPERS AUGUST 2012 P A G E 3 FARM BILL NOW (cont) (Continued from page 1) and regions of the U.S., and elimi- Still, your needs are best served by is a priority because if the current nate payments made to producers a Farm Bill passed in 2012. Illinois Corn continues to advocate for a Farm Bill is allowed to expire and who have not experienced a loss. bill sooner rather than later, even if Congress simply issues an exten- The program would also be sion to get us into the 2013 crop based on 100 percent planted Farm Bill Now is a year, we risk losing more baseline acres and establish crop re- on some programs with virtually no porting districts as the trigger priority because if hope to regain it later. for revenue loss. the current farm bill For the 2012 Farm Bill, we are The Agriculture Risk Coverage expires and advocating for updates and simplifi- (ARC) program passed through cation to the current ACRE pro- the Senate contains a majority Congress passes an gram. We still hope for a revenue- of these modifications to the extension, we lose based safety net and a robust crop 2008 bill. The program passed insurance program that will enable in the House Ag Committee our baseline budget you to better manage your risk. favors southern U.S. crops like cot- we have to compromise on some of and face painful and Our ideal program would eliminate ton, rice and peanuts and potentially our priorities. Farmers, environ- overlapping coverage with individu- distorts soybean and wheat planting. mentalists, and humanitarians all severe cuts in 2013. al crop insurance, provide a new Your elected officials will have much understand the need to preserve tool for the event of multi-year to debate in conference committee the baseline budget we are currently working with by passing a “Farm Bill revenue decline, make farm policy if the House proceeds with their Now.” fair and equitable across all crops current version. ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPDATE The Illinois Spring legislative Ses- Medicaid Reform: This became USE/OCC TX-GASOHOL - sion came to an end in a typical the hot button issue in Springfield HB 4700 (REP. BRADLEY) & SB way, with screaming, papers flying in the final weeks in the session as 3616 (SEN. SULLIVAN/REP. through the air and long drawn out they came down to the wire. BRADLEY) floor debates. With major issues of Through a lot of negotiations and IL Corn has been working to the State Budget, Medicaid, and long floor debate a bi-partisan bill increase the awareness and Pensions on the docket one could emerged. It set to save millions in use of E15 within the only expect a tough session. Even the states expenditures along with state. Negotiations on these with these hot button issues the attempting to increase revenues. bills have been occurring be- legislature made progress and got a The final compilation of reform bills tween the Corn Growers and lot of work done. included an increase on the taxes the Petroleum groups to allow State Budget: The legislature had levied on cigarettes. In the end this to happen while providing been working for weeks on bi- both the House and Senate passed an economic benefit to the partisan efforts to reform the state the 4 bills that brought changes to state. SB 3616 turned into a shell pension system as well as pass a the current system. bill by removing its substantive budget. Yet in the final days the Pension Reform: There seemed language to allow the bill to contin- negotiations fell apart over the to be head way in the negotiations ue to move through the process. issue of pensions. Thus to pass the that could have lead to a bi-partisan Unfortunately this shell bill was budget it came down to votes strait bill but each side had their sticking used in the last days of the session down party line. The Democrats points that they would not com- to allow the enterprise zones reau- voted in support of the budget and promise on. The result of all of this thorization to pass. So now Illinois Republicans voted against it. Even- activity is that no pension reform corn along with other organizations tually, they did pass a budget that package passed both Chambers. are gearing up for a veto session reduces spending. push to find another vehicle to pass the E15 legislation. Illinois Corn Growers Association

PO Box 1623 Bloomington, IL 61702-1623

www.ilcorn.org ELECTIONS TO WATCH Help candidates who help you ... Election day is November 6 and Illinois tion against who has con- DONATE faces more contentious federal races nections with Colleen Callahan and Donating to the ICGA PAC is easy! than we have seen in a long time. Now Senator Durbin. Simply complete your personal check that we are through the primary, here who has served the 13th and fill out the form below. are a few races to keep your eyes on. District since 1999, was redistricted District 8 shows Con- into the 11th District where she will Name: ______gressman Joe Walsh, an have to face Democrat who incumbent, running served the 14th District from 2008- Address: ______against Tammy Duck- 2010. This race is almost incumbent worth, Democrat, who is against incumbent and promises to be ______backed by Senator Dick close. Durbin. Walsh won the Republican is seeking reelec- ______seat from Democrat tion in the 10th District against Brad in 2010. Schneider. Dold only narrowly won Amount: ______The open seat left by this election in 2010. Congressman after his Congressman Tim Johnson’s retirement PAC contributions are not tax de- retirement will be filled by either Re- leaves an open race between David Gill, ductible and cannot be treated as a publican Jason Plumer or Democrat Bill Democrat, and Rodney Davis, Republi- Enyart. This district has been Demo- can for the 13th District. This is a new business expense. For ICGA’s PAC crat for the past 18 years. district built during the recent redis- Policies and Guidelines, contact the Incumbent Republican tricting process so which way this elec- ICGA office at 309-557-3257. will work to win the District 17 elec- tion will swing is anyone’s guess!