By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Though the Illinois legislature adjourned May 31 without advancing state Senate Bill 2010 to Gov. Pat Quinn for his signature, the Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Assoc. (IFCA) and other state commodity groups and agribusinesses say they will remain vigilant in keeping the bill – which would amend the Illinois Fertilizer Act to wrest control of fertilizer tonnage fees from the state by creating a checkoff – on the minds of lawmakers.

“We are committed to establishing a dedicated source of funding for nutrient research and water quality programs,” said Jean Payne, IFCA president, who accuses the Illinois legislature of “sweeping” funds generated by fertilizer tonnage fees under the auspices of the Illinois Department of Agriculture into the state’s general fund for other uses since 2007.

“We’re going to be working with legislators to try and revive (SB 2010) in the fall veto session, and try to pass it yet this year.”

Because the General Assembly has diverted tonnage fees collected by ag retailers from fertilizer purchasers, the legislation is key to wresting back control of funding for vital fertilizer research programs, proponents of the bill argue.

“We can’t have a state that sells nearly five million tons of fertilizer and have no research programs,” Payne explained. “By amending the Fertilizer Act to create a fertilizer checkoff, a small fee on every ton sold in Illinois would be deposited into a checkoff that is safe from being swept by the state, to be dedicated to nutrient research and water quality programs.”

Though the bill enjoyed unanimous support in the Illinois Senate, it never reached the House floor before the end of the spring session. “It was never even allowed to be heard in committee. It was assigned not to the Ag Committee, but to the Executive Committee, whose leadership tabled the bill,” Payne said. “Sometimes bad things happen to good pieces of legislation.
“We are going to move forward despite this setback, and begin working in five priority watersheds that Illinois EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has assigned to determine what nutrient practices we can adopt to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous losses from agriculture. We will work to raise money to fund this work in a volunteer fashion and continue to demonstrate that we are serious about addressing agriculture’s issues with N and P.”