Contact: Valerie Connelly or Kurt Fuchs
(410) 269-0656        (410) 269-0081 – fax

No. 1  1/18/07
 

Welcome to the first Hotline of the 2007 Maryland General Assembly session. The Hotline will be sent to you each week during the session to make you aware of upcoming hearings for bills that will impact Maryland’s agricultural community. In some cases we will ask you to take action on proposed legislation to help further the Maryland Farm Bureau agenda. Hotline is distributed to more than 800 farmers across the state and to all 188 members of the Maryland General Assembly.

Valerie Connelly and Kurt Fuchs will staff Maryland Farm Bureau’s Annapolis office. The office is located at 68 State Circle, above Johnson’s Men’s Store on the corner of Maryland Avenue. Our telephone number is (410) 269-0656. The best time to reach us is during the morning hours. If we are out at a hearing or attending another meeting you may leave a message on the answering machine and we will return your call as soon as possible. You can also reach Valerie on her cell phone at (443) 690-2411 or by email at valeriec.mdfb@erols.com. You may reach Kurt on his cell phone at (443)786-0855 or by email at kurtf.mdfb@erols.com .

The information in the Hotline will be presented to you in a standard format that indicates the date of the hearing, bill number and title, sponsor, committee, room number and time of the hearing. Below that information will be a brief explanation of the bill and the position of Maryland Farm Bureau. Please keep in mind that the positions taken in each Hotline by the Maryland Farm Bureau are based on the information available on the bill at the time of publication. Our position may change if the bill is amended after publication.

The Hotline will be posted on the MFB website at the end of each week. Our website address is www.mdfarmbureau.com. The Maryland General Assembly’s website can also serve as a valuable tool for legislative information. The site offers the proceedings and agendas of the House and Senate, hearing schedules, bill information and status, and other data. You may also obtain contact information (phone & email) for your legislators at this site. The website is updated nightly, and may be accessed at www.mlis.state.md.us .
 

Hearings and briefings next week include:

S.B. 42 – Northern Chesapeake Bay Crossing with Terminus in Kent County – Prohibition on Planning, Financing and Construction – Senator Pipkin
FINANCE, 2 East Miller Senate Office Building at 2:00pm
This bill prohibits any plan, study, analysis, report, proposal, conceptualization, or other document, or fundraising by the State Roads Commission, the Maryland Transportation Authority or Kent County for any Chesapeake Bay crossing that has a terminus in Kent County.
FOR INFORMATION ONLY

Overview of Planning, Zoning & Growth Issues
ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS, 250 Taylor House Office Building at 1:00pm
This briefing will be presented by the MD Assoc. of Counties, MD Municipal League and the MD Department of Planning.

Overview of Environmental Issues
ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS, 250 Taylor House Office Building at 1:00pm
This briefing will be presented by 1000 Friends of MD, Waterkeeper Alliance & Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Briefing on Horse Racing
FINANCE, 3 East Miller Senator Office Building at 1:00pm
The Committee will hold a briefing on Horse Racing in MD. The participants have not been announced.

S.B. 51 - Maryland Clean Cars Act of 2007 – Senator Frosh
JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS, 2 East Miller Senator Office Building at 2:00pm
This bill was not printed at the time of the Hotline publication. According to the MLIS summary the bill requires the Department of the Environment and the Motor Vehicle Administration to adopt regulations by December 31, 2007, to establish a low emissions vehicle program applicable to vehicles of the model year 2011 and thereafter under specified circumstances. MARYLAND FARM BUREAU HAS NOT TAKEN A POSITION AS OF 1/18/07. WE ARE WAITING TO READ THE PRINTED BILL.
 

The AFBF Board of Directors has adopted the following national priority issues for 2007: Animal ID Implementation (on a voluntary basis for producers), Animal Care, Expanding Domestic Energy Supplies, Water Resources Development Act, CERCLA/EPCRA Regulation of Manure, Clean Water Act Implementation, 2007 Farm Bill, Ensure a Legal Workforce for Agriculture, Trade Promotion Authority, Expand Export Markets, Strengthen Rural Communities, Death Taxes & Repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax. For more information on AFBF issues log onto www.fb.org.