From the President:
The Illinois Agriculture Legislative Roundtable held a highly successful Candidate Forum at the Schuler Farms in McLean County. Senate candidates Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D) and Kathy Salvi (R) participated as well as gubernatorial candidates Governor JB Pritzker (D) and Sen. Darren Bailey (R).
Coverage including video highlights are here on FarmWeekNow.
Click on this link to watch a replay of the candidate forum.
Governor Pritzker referred to the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) and stated that changes to eminent domain powers for utility companies were not included.
You will recall that the Illinois Farm Bureau’s official and public position was to oppose SB 18 because the bill created concerns regarding the affordability and reliability of our electricity supply and granted access to eminent domain powers for the Grain Belt Express transmission line. The membership also engaged through two action requests opposing the legislation based on these concerns. The provisions included in the bill that deemed Grain Belt Express to be for public use and necessity allowing the project to access eminent domain were not removed and became law.
The following statement was provided to media outlets that contacted IFB for clarification:
“The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) that became law in 2021 included a provision allowing the Grain Belt Express electric transmission line to be deemed for the public use and necessity, giving the project the ability to access eminent domain to take private property. This was one of the reasons IFB opposed CEJA. Our organization will continue to advocate on behalf of our members to protect private property rights from being taken by a project that should not be considered a public utility.”
