State of the States

It’s the start of a new year, which means it’s time to pull out the crystal ball and make a few informed guesses to determine where the eyes of the state legislators are focused. It doesn’t appear that agriculture in general-or seed specifically-is at the top of the list of concerns for the 2017 legislative sessions. However, several issues, including state-government program funding and energy, could have impacts on our industry.

We’re likely to see an overall reduction in regulatory programs as the result of tight budgets, with seed programs being told to “try to do more with less.” With the Republican Party gaining strength in many of the state legislatures in the last election, it’s expected that tight budgets will be addressed through decreased spending rather than increased taxes. As always, ASTA staff will keep you up-to-date as these issues progress.

NOTE:  Mark your calendar for the next monthly State Governmental Affairs Working Group conference call on Wednesday, January 18 at 2:00 p.m. Central Time (*this is a date change from previous notices).