MISSISSIPPI FARM BUREAU® FEDERATION
CAPITOL
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The Voice of Agriculture®
March 31, 2017
THIS WEEK AT THE CAPITOL
This Wednesday, the Mississippi Legislature adjourned the 2017 regular
session Sine Die. Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation had a successful session, and
there are too many issues that were worked on to fit in this two-page periodical. We
will send out a publication reviewing the entire session soon. Until then, feel free to
look back at the “Capitol Comments” from each week on our website at http://
www.msfb.org/capitol-comments/.
Even though this was a short week, there were many happenings at your
State Capitol. This past weekend was conference weekend, as I noted in last week’s
“Capitol Comments.” Members of the House and Senate met together to work out
differences in their respective versions of bills. After they are approved by the conference committees, they head back to the full House and Senate for a vote.
The appropriations portion of the session was complete Monday. Farm Bureau was monitoring the appropriations for several state-funded departments, universities, and boards that support agriculture and rural Mississippi. The budget was flat
this year, meaning that agencies took yet another cut. The Mississippi Department of
Agriculture and Commerce took about a 12% cut, while the ag units at Mississippi
State took an 8% cut. Universities, as a whole, took a 9% cut. The Board of Animal
Health took a 7.3% cut. Farm Bureau met with all of these groups, and they have
noted that even though this will be a lean year, they will do the best they can for Mississippi with the funds that are available.
Sine Die
Meet your
Legislator President.
MIKE MCCORMICK
President McCormick
was just re-elected to a
two-year term with MFBF
this past December. He is
a cattle farmer from Union
Church, Mississippi, and
has been involved with
Farm Bureau most of his
life.
Serving as a past state
resolutions chair, and with
his many years of service
to Farm Bureau on the
county and state levels,
President McCormick understands the importance
of the legislative process to
agriculture in Mississippi.
This past year, he was recognized as one of Mississippi’s top 50 most influential people.
He works tirelessly for
Farm Bureau’s policies,
constantly tracking what
is going on under the
dome in Jackson. Farm
Bureau has a friend in
Mike McCormick.
CAPITOL
March 31, 2017
Sine Die
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House Bill 1340 is headed to the governor. President Mike McCormick and the MFBF Public Policy staff have
worked hard to navigate this bill through the legislative process. A group of farmers approached Farm Bureau about the
problem of spiking property taxes on agricultural land in the fall. After joint meetings with other agricultural groups and
the Department of Revenue, Robert Foster (DeSoto) filed HB 1340, which reduced the cap on agricultural use value from
10% to 2%. Agricultural land, unlike residential property, is valued using a formula from Mississippi State that takes into
account soil type and commodity prices. County tax assessors take this value to determine what the property taxes should
be on agricultural land. The conference committee met on this bill, and the report changed the cap to 4%. The thought
was that a jump from 10% to 2% is a large jump. The House and Senate voted unanimously in support of HB 1340.
Though this is not a salve to all property tax issues in the state, we believe that this should give some relief to agricultural
landowners throughout Mississippi.
Tuesday was a full day for Farm Bureau at the Capitol as we hosted Dr. Laura Greenhaw’s Contemporary Issues in
Agriculture class from Mississippi State University. President Mike McCormick addressed future leaders in agriculture
about the importance of staying involved in the political process and answered questions about policy issues relevant today, such as trade, education, and labor. The students also heard from the chair and vice chair of the Senate Agriculture
Committee, Sen. Billy Hudson and Sen. Russell Jolly, and the chair and vice chair of the House Agriculture Committee
Rep. Bill Pigott and Rep. Vince Mangold. Commissioner of Agriculture Cindy Hyde-Smith and Rep. Chris Johnson
stopped by to talk with the group as well.
Though this was the last week of the regular session, there will be at least two special sessions this year. The Mississippi Legislature did not pass a budget for MDOT, state aid roads, or the attorney general’s office. Leadership is divided at
the Capitol about how to fix Mississippi’s infrastructure and could not come to an agreement. Therefore, all will be called
back to the Capitol before July 1 by Governor Byrant for a special session to address these issues. As always, Mississippi
Farm Bureau will be there.
Mississippi Farm Bureau® Federation
Post Office Box 1972
Jackson, Mississippi 39215-1972
www.msfb.org
D. Lee Thorne
Deputy General Counsel
Public Policy
Coordinator
[email protected]
601.977.4228