Possible cuts anger commodity boards

By Art Hovey Lee Enterprises

Wednesday, Nov 04, 2009 - 10:07:51 am CST

LINCOLN -- Gov. Dave Heineman and the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation are often on the same page in their policy preferences.

Right now, as the governor turns to corn and other commodity boards to solve a budget crisis, they’re not.

“We recognize there is a financial crisis,” Farm Bureau President Keith Olsen said Tuesday. “We have no question about that. But this issue is a matter of principle. And, in our opinion, it’s wrong to take farmers’ money that was checked off for a certain use and to try to put that into a completely different use.”

Confronted with a budget shortfall of some $334 million, Heineman is trying to squeeze cash resources from a multitude of sources.

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Just Thinkin

Nov 4, 2009 11:12 PM

As long as the governor is robbing Peter to pay Paul, I'd like to know how much he intends to take from UNL's athletic fund.

Really

Nov 5, 2009 11:11 AM

So they are nailing the coffin shut on this one and declaring the checkoffs actually are taxes.....

That will cause a big stink...and may have some very expensive implications for governments.