At the time of writing this, just five days remain until the end of the state legislative session on Monday, May 19. Legislative leaders and the governor have yet to agree to a budget framework, a necessary precursor to genuine negotiations between chairs of jurisdictions, including agriculture. While state work has slowed as lawmakers and advocates alike wait on joint targets, there has been a fury of activity on the national level as committees release and advance bills with steep cuts to nutrition and healthcare programs to pay for tax cuts. As always, MFU has maintained a strong presence at the State Capitol, making the case for a strong agriculture budget, investments in affordable healthcare, beginning farmer programs, and more.

Ironically given the mountain of work needed to complete a state budget by the legislature’s adjournment this coming Monday, May 19, legislative work has slowed. On Tuesday, the House passed a bill to replace a statue in Washington and the Senate approved a proposal to rename the state’s Library Construction Grant Program for the late representative, Mary Murphy.

Work has slowed, because lawmakers—and particularly chairs—can’t begin negotiating budget bills in earnest without a global, joint agreement on spending. While others wait and speculate, Gov. Tim Walz, Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-Minneapolis, Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, and Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, have been meeting for long hours—including during the Governor’s fishing opener—working to hammer out the framework of a final deal.

The hopeful news for those speculating about those conversations is that leaders have continued to meet and negotiations haven’t broken down to the point where they are airing grievances in the press or blaming each other for an impasse. And while balancing for a nearly $6 billion projected budget shortfall in 2027-28 isn’t easy, the state got good news earlier this week when April revenues came 11 percent ($391 million) above the February forecast.

Absent joint budget targets, the Agriculture Conference Committee did hold one joint meeting on Friday, May 9. While they couldn’t start negotiating substantial budget items, this did afford committee members the opportunity to introduce themselves. Outside of that, staff walked through the budget and policy provisions in each bill.

MFU wrote lengthy comments to the committee, which you can find with other letters here.

“We are grateful for you and your team’s partnership, and we are confident that what emerges from conference will support family farmers, help fill gaps left by the federal government, and build an agriculture economy that is more resilient, distributed, and fair,” said MFU President Gary Wertish in his letter to members of the conference committee.

“The state’s budget for agriculture is comparatively small, making up less than half of one percent of our total state budget. That said, [agriculture programs] have a big impact, helping lead our state’s agriculture economy through COVID-19, 2021’s historic drought, past zoonotic disease outbreaks, and more,” he continued. “Recognizing this—and the fiscal challenges facing the state—we appreciate your work to advocate for a meaningful increase to the agriculture budget.”

Co-Chair Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, led this first meeting. The next would be led by Chair Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud, followed by Co-Chair Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul.

Hearings happening on ‘big beautiful bill’

While the state lawmakers are engaged in a game of hurry up and wait while targets are negotiated, the federal government is working nearly around the clock. Republicans—who have a governing trifecta in Washington—are holding hearings on the portions of the ‘big beautiful bill’ that would reshape the federal government according to President Trump’s vision.

As expected, the House Agriculture Committee makes steep cuts to food assistance, cutting $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the next decade.

Chairman G.T. Thompson, R-Penn., went beyond the cuts stipulated by the joint budget agreement, cutting an additional $60 some billion in order to increase reference prices and fund other Farm Bill programs through the partisan reconciliation process.

Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minn., forcefully objected to the proposal in her opening statement during this week’s committee mark-up.

“The average SNAP benefit is about $6 per day,” she told committee members. “You don’t build a life on SNAP; you build a bridge to the next paycheck, the next opportunity, the next moment of stability . . . In a nation as rich and resourceful as ours, no one – no one – should go hungry.”

She went on to point out that according to federal budget officials, the proposed new paperwork requirements would result in at least 3 million people losing food assistance.

Beyond the direct impact of the cuts and as it relates to agriculture, this partisan package could endanger the coalition that has allowed regular, comprehensive Farm Bills to pass on a bipartisan basis. That is because the Farm Bill coalition has relied on the support of urban and suburban lawmakers who vote for the farm bill—and needed updates for the farm safety-net—because it includes food assistance.

MFU Vice President Anne Schwagerl talked about the risks and conversations our delegation had in Washington D.C. here. You can access background materials for NFU’s Week of Action—and send a letter to your representatives in Congress—here.

Beyond agriculture, headlines are being made by the massive, proposed cuts to healthcare programs, particularly Medicaid. The House proposal cuts at least $715 billion in healthcare spending over the next decade, largely from Medicaid. House Republicans achieve this by implementing work requirements and biannual eligibility checks, red tape which is expected to result in steep drops in enrollment.

Beyond Medicaid, the bill also allows enhanced premium tax credits to expire, increasing costs for the nearly 90,000 Minnesota farmers, small business owners, and others who don’t receive healthcare coverage from their employer and instead purchase on the individual market.

President Wertish signed MFU onto a coalition letter urging the Minnesota delegation to vote against these cuts.

“Every person needs health care coverage,” reads the letter which will be sent to all 10 members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation. “In total, an estimated 13.7 million Americans are expected to lose access to health insurance under the proposed budget reconciliation bill. The full scope of policy changes will shift more costs to states, raise health insurance premiums, and increase health care costs for low-income Minnesotans.”

As always, this is just a snapshot of MFU’s work—and dynamics could change quickly. On the federal level, only a few Republicans objecting to parts of reconciliation could derail the package. If you have thoughts, questions or concerns, please reach out to Stu at stu@mfu.org or (320) 232-3047.