By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News
The Livingston County Farm Bureau held its annual Legislative Breakfast Friday morning, and several legislators and other elected officials took time to address agricultural issues in the area and throughout the state.
Livingston County Board Chairman Bob Young had a laundry list of things he and the other board members are keeping their eyes on.
“I think this water act, WOTUS, is one of the big things we have to get repealed so we can farm the ground that needs to be farmed. Trucking industry is huge – we have to move this grain to market. And we need something done with the Illinois River, because our locks and dams are deteriorating so bad. Hopefully, infrastructure will help us more than anything,” Young said.
State Senator Jason Barickman said the people in this part of the state are looking for “common sense” legislation.
“I think downstaters have that no nonsense, commonsense attitude. They want to see our state function and function well. They want us to pass balanced budgets. They want to see our economy grow. They want our schools to be adequately funded, so their kids can get a good education and hopefully get a job that actually exists here in Illinois. I think that’s the predominant message of downstaters, but also of a lot of people around the state that the job sits on our shoulders as legislators to get that done,” Barickman said.
State Representative Tom Bennett told of his experience with FFA members visiting Springfield and how he admires the things those students are doing.
“What I tell people in Springfield and everywhere I go in the State of Illinois, if we had more FFA programs, more students involved in FFA programs, more support, more families and more schools involved with this, I truly believe we would not have some of the problems in Illinois that we have today, because at this very early age, high school student learn about accountability. They learn about responsibility and they realize it’s up to them to get it. You see a maturity in the students that you don’t typically see in a lot of cases in high school students. It’s part of learning and growing up. But FFA really has gone a long ways in helping these students take that next step in maturity and becoming an adult. It’s just a wonderful program,” Bennett said.
