Minnesota House passes Ag Finance Bill (H.F. 2446) funding food programs, avian-flu response and PFAS research

The Minnesota House on a final floor vote approved House File 2446, the agriculture finance bill, by a roll call of 130 yeas and 3 nays. Supporters said the measure directs state appropriations to farm-to-school and local food purchases, avian influenza response and testing, research into PFAS in sewage sludge and crop diversification, and other agriculture priorities.

Representative Paul Anderson, co-chair of the House Agriculture Finance Committee, said the package "is a pro farming, a pro agriculture bill," and credited bipartisan committee work and staff support for producing what he described as a bill members on both sides of the aisle could support. "Each of us on each side of the aisle have provisions in this bill that we feel are very important," Anderson said on the House floor.

Supporters framed the bill as a targeted, relatively small-budget investment intended to shore up state programs as federal funding has been reduced. Representative Rick Hansen, co-chair of the committee, said the bill "provides investments" that both protect existing programs and look to future opportunities for Minnesota agriculture. "These investments are not just…