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Committee backs reserve of crop-damage funds for lowest-population counties
Summary
Substitute Senate Bill 5,165 was reported out of committee with a due pass recommendation after members said the bill would reserve 20% of crop damage program funds for Frontier 1 counties (12 counties) and return unused funds to other counties at year-end.
The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee reported substitute Senate Bill 5,165 out of committee with a due-pass recommendation on March 21.
Lily Smith, staff to the committee, summarized SB 5,165 as a measure to reserve a portion of crop damage program funding for Frontier 1 counties, described as the state’s lowest-population counties. Representative Engel explained the policy intent: to prevent more populous counties from exhausting funds early in the year and to ensure rural producers in 12 Frontier 1 counties have access to a reserved share. Engel said the bill "would allow those extra rural frontier 1 counties... reserve 20% of the money to be available to those producers. And if they don't use it at the end of the year, it goes back to the other counties." Representative Springer asked colleagues to support the bill as an equitable distribution of resources.
The committee held a voice vote and staff announced the result as 11 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 excused or absent. SB 5,165 was therefore reported out of committee with a due-pass recommendation.
The bill, as described in committee, earmarks 20% of crop damage program funds for Frontier 1 counties and returns unused reserved funds to the general allocation at year-end.
