Invests in value-added agriculture opportunities for MN farmers, manufactured housing, and home ownership
ST. PAUL – On a broad bipartisan vote, the Minnesota Senate passed legislation championed by Senate Republicans to fund agriculture, rural development, and affordable housing in Minnesota. The comprehensive budget bill places an emphasis on rural broadband expansion, invests in affordable manufactured housing and home ownership, prioritizes value-added agriculture opportunities that directly impact farmers, and increases resources for farmer mental health services.
“This legislation focuses on reprioritizing existing resources to not only directly impact the bottom line of Minnesota farm families, but also improve their well-being,” said Senator Torrey Westrom (R-Elbow Lake), chair of the Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Finance Committee and chief-author of the legislation. “Low commodity prices have severely affected the agriculture community, especially dairy and soybean farmers. This bill invests in farmer mental health services and looks to expand markets to positively impact farmers in the barns and fields, rather than growing bureaucracy in St. Paul.”
Specifically, the bill makes a one-time investment in an innovative soybean processing and research facility near the University of Minnesota – Crookston, invests in the “Dairy Modernization and Innovation” program to help small dairy farms finance the modernization of their farm infrastructure, such as robotic milking equipment, funds the “Dairy Producer Margin Coverage Premium Assistance” program to help dairy farmers with profitability, and increases “dairy development grants” to aid farmers in creating new business plans.
Further, the bill funds the Minnesota Border-to-Border Rural Broadband expansion program at $30 million, a significant increase in the legislature’s appropriation over the last biennium.
“From health care, to education, to small businesses, broadband access is essential to our way of life in the twenty-first century,” added Westrom. “Communities that lack access to broadband cannot flourish. This significant investment addresses this issue head-on.”
Additionally, the budget legislation prioritizes the most affordable forms of housing in Minnesota and places an emphasis on workforce housing and home ownership.
“Historically, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency has not invested in manufactured housing,” concluded Senator Westrom. “By unit, it is the most affordable form of housing. While it is not a one-size-fits-all solution, this bill invests in expanding manufactured housing so that we can get the most affordable housing possible for the best value.”
As a whole, the bill funds the day-to-day operations of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and the Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program. In total, this bill allocates over $258 million in funding, an increase of nearly $4 million over the last two-year budget.