By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Members of the Illinois Beef Assoc. (IBA) and the Illinois Pork Producers Assoc. (IPPA) were scheduled to converge at the state capitol building today, March 10, to meet with lawmakers as part of their annual Legislative Day.

Though the two groups share their Legislative Day programs, which conclude with a reception for legislators at the Springfield Hilton following the afternoon march on the Capitol, the messages they were expected to take to Springfield differ this year. According to IPPA President Brent Scholl, a pork producer from Ogle County, the rally is an opportunity to become better acquainted with elected officials and educate lawmakers, while representing the pork industry.

IBA Legislative Affairs Committee Chair Jeff Beasley said for that organization, the meetings represent a chance for beef producers to urge elected officials to consider several key pieces of active legislation important to the beef industry in Illinois.

“First and foremost is a bill we have been working on with Senator (Michael) Frerichs (D-Champaign) that amends and reauthorizes the Livestock Care Board that is appointed by the governor,” Beasley said. “We feel this is important to offset some of the animal activist groups coming into the state and trying to put legislation through. With this board in place, that sort of thing would have to go through them, and we feel like it will be a big win if this bill can get passed.”

He said the measure is similar to one approved in Ohio regarding the establishment of an appointed animal care panel, except that Illinois already has a livestock board. “The board has been inactive. This (measure) will basically reestablish it. If we can get the livestock board working again, it could help offset any potential legislation animal activist groups bring,” said Beasley.

Another bill being considered by the Illinois legislature that interests the IBA regards the reauthorization of horse laughter. “Again, this relates to animal activist groups coming in and convincing people of something based on emotion and not common sense,” Beasley said.

“We now have a lot of unwanted horses, and they are shipped to other countries where they meet a fate worse than what they meet here in the U.S. I think people are beginning to wake up to the reality of that.”

Maintaining funding for the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center in southern Illinois is another topic IBA representatives planned to take up with lawmakers.

According to Tim Maiers, director of industry relations for the IPPA, this year’s rally represented more of a chance to maintain relationships with lawmakers than to attempt to sway votes on specific legislation.

“In reality, there are not many bills that IPPA has supporting or opposing positions on, such as the one last year which would have banned gestation stalls. There continue to be many hot issues such as animal welfare, antibiotics, environment, et cetera, but there are currently not any state bills addressing these issues,” said Maiers, a pork and livestock farmer from Adams County.

“We are trying to stress to producers that while there might not be many pieces of specific state legislation this year, this is a great opportunity to talk with legislators about these overall issues and work on building these relationships with lawmakers.”

The opportunity to meet one-on-one with elected officials each year during Legislative Day is important to both groups, said Beasley. “If nothing else, it maintains the relationship we have with the legislators,” he said. “We get to meet face-to-face to discuss issues, and just visit in general. I think building legislative relationships is very important, so this event is important to producers and everyone in animal agriculture.”