On May 11th, the House Ag Committee gathered for an Information Only hearing on HF 255. With over 200 supporters in attendance, we packed the room with our white shirts, white hats and white and green People Powered by Raw Milk buttons.
Committee Chair Rod Hamilton ran a tight ship and made sure that there was an equal amount of time for both the proponents (the Food Freedom Project) and the opponents (The Department of Ag, the Department of Health, big ag in the form of Kemps, and others.)
In a hearing with a vote planned, there would have been more testifiers, more opportunity for rebuttal. This was a typical informational hearing. What was atypical about it was the number of legislators and people from the general public in attendance.
It is highly unlikely that there will be any additional movement on this bill before next session. However, the bill is still alive and well. Just because the legislature is moving towards adjournment and/or a special session doesn't mean that we can rest. We will be taking advantage of the down time after adjournment to meet one on one with legislators to garner even more support for this bill.
If you haven't met with your legislators yet, please do so. If you are uncomfortable making those appointments alone, a Food Freedom Project volunteer or MNHLRP Board member will be happy to go along with you to the appointment. Please contact Greg Schmidt to make the arrangements at 612-386-4908 or 651-647-9908. Or you can e-mail us at FoodFreedom@mnhlrp.org.
We look forward to working with you to help make the passage of this bill a reality sooner rather than later.
