Faced with a committee deadline, the Minnesota House Agriculture Committee passed its omnibus finance and policy bill Thursday. Nitrate contamination in southeastern Minnesota has dominated the committee’s work this session. The Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council is up for renewal this year. “I decided to look at how can we look at repurposing AFREC funds to make sure we can adjust the short-term immediate need for families who don’t have access to clean drinking water,” Chair Samantha Vang told RRFN before the committee vote. Vang also said she is open to further discussion on this language when the bill goes to the conference committee. “ I think there’s going to be another opportunity for us to look at how we can best utilize these AFREC funds to adjust the needs we have today.” Despite a smaller supplemental appropriation, Vang said she was able to fully fund the AGRI grant program.
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