ACTION ALERT: Act Today to Fix Green Acres

Call Your State Senator by 10 a.m. Thurs., March 12

3/10/09
The Green Acres program allows the taxable value of farmland to be lowered when it is being driven up due to development pressures. Changes were made in the 2008 legislative session that are harmful as far as preserving farmland and promoting and maintaining conservation are concerned (see below for more details). One of LSP’s legislative priorities is to repeal these changes.

Last Thursday, with no public notice that the Green Acres issue would be taken up, a bill to “reform the 2008 Green Acres reforms” was inserted into the Federal Tax Conformity bill in the Senate Tax Committee. This bill will now be on the Senate floor this Thursday. This latest “reform” bill was created by Sen. Rod Skoe, who was the driver behind much of last year’s disastrous “reform” package. There has been no time or opportunity for the public to scrutinize and weigh in on this new language. This behind-the-scenes legislating was exactly how last year’s harmful changes were created. The Legislature needs to repeal last year’s changes to restore trust with farmers and landowners. Following the legislative session, this summer there can begin a more inclusive and deliberative process.

Call Your Senator Today:
This Thurs., March 12, the Green Acres issue will be on the Senate floor when the Federal Tax Conformity Bill is taken up. Call your Senator and urge them to support repeal of the changes made to the Green Acres program last year. The name and telephone number of your state Senator is available by calling Senate information at 888-234-1112 or 651-296-0504.

Here is a suggested message:
“I am concerned about the changes made to the Green Acres program last legislative session. These changes punish good conservation farming practices and need to be repealed. The issue will be on the Senate floor on Thursday and I want you to support an amendment to repeal last year’s changes. I plan to call back on Friday to find out how you voted on the issue.”  If you have a particular story to tell about how these changes negatively affect you, share it.

The first attempt at repeal lost by only three votes. On Jan. 29, an amendment on the Senate floor to repeal the changes lost on a 28 to 31 vote! At the end of this e-mail is information on how all Senators voted. If your Senator voted for repeal, be sure to thank them and tell them to stick to that vote. If they voted against it, let them know that this is their chance to get it right.

Details on how changes made to the Green Acres program during the 2008 legislative session harm stewardship farming and the preservation of farmland:

• A distinction is created between “productive” and “non-productive” land, and so-called “non-productive” land is ineligible for Green Acres. This makes wooded acreage, wetlands and other parts of a working farm that are not tillable, but a necessary part of good stewardship, potentially ineligible. The distinction between “productive” and “non-productive” is antiquated thinking and is reminiscent of a “fencerow-to-fencerow” mentality. A well-run farm is more than the tillable acres. It includes the buffer strips, wetlands and wooded acres that make the farm environmentally sustainable.
• As a result of last year’s changes, farmland that is in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) or Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is ineligible for Green Acres. This will discourage participation in these important conservation programs.
• A transfer – not a sale – of land triggers a payback of back taxes on so-called “non-productive” land. That means a parent transferring a farm to a son or daughter may have to pay taxes even though they have no money coming in from the land transfer.

 More information is available on the LSP website:

• Action Alert:  www.landstewardshipproject.org/alerts/09/newsr_090205.htm
• Fact Sheet: www.landstewardshipproject.org/pdf/factsheets/16_green_acres_2009.pdf
• Blog: www.looncommons.org/2008/11/14/gutting-green-acres  
• Podcast (episode 61): www.landstewardshipproject.org/podcast.html

For more information on LSP's work on this issue call Bobby King at 612-722-6377

Take further Action and call Governor Tim Pawlenty:
Representatives of Gov. Pawlenty’s Minnesota Department of Revenue have been at the Capitol working to oppose a repeal. The Governor needs to actively support a repeal and send a message to the Legislature that he expects a tax bill that repeals the 2008 Green Acres program changes. Call Gov. Pawlenty at (651) 296-3391 or (800) 657-3717. 

Here is a suggested message:
“I am upset with the changes made to the Green Acres program last session. I am very disappointed that representatives of your administration from the Minnesota Department of Revenue are working against repeal. I want you to support repeal of these changes and as Governor exercise leadership on the issue. You should send a message to the Legislature that the first tax bill they send you will not be signed unless it contains a repeal of the changes made to the Green Acres program last legislative session.

A Key Hearing:
On Tuesday, March 17, at 6 p.m. in Room 200 of the State Office Building, the House Tax Committee will take up the Green Acres issue. We need people to testify and be a presence in the room in support of repeal. For more information, call LSP’s Bobby King at 612-722-6377.

Vote on Jan. 29 amendment to repeal the 2008 changes made to the Green Acres program offered by Sen. Amy Koch (R-Buffalo) on the Senate floor  (the vote failed 28-31):

Those who voted for the amendment (for repeal):

1. Chaudray
2. Clark
3. Dahle
4. Day
5. Dille
6. Erickson Ropes
7. Fischbach
8. Fobbe
9. Frederickson
10. Gerlach
11. Gimse
12. Hann
13. Ingebrigtsen
14. Jungbauer
15. Koch
16. Koering
17. Limmer
18. Lourey
19. Michel
20. Olseen
21. Ortman
22. Pariseau
23. Robling
24. Rosen
25. Senjem
26. Sheran
27. Sparks
28. Vandeveer

Those who voted against repeal:

1. Anderson
2. Bakk
3. Berglin
4. Betzold
5. Cohen
6. Dibble
7. Doll
8. Foley
9. Higgins
10. Kelash
11. Kubly
12. Langseth
13. Latz
14. Lynch
15. Marty
16. Metzen
17. Moua
18. Olson, M.
19. Pappas
20. Pogemiller
21. Prettner Solon
22. Rest
23. Saxhaug
24. Scheid
25. Skoe
26. Skogen
27. Stumpf
28. Tomassoni
29. Torres Ray
30. Vickerman
31. Wiger