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RESULTS AND NEXT STEPS
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The vote on CREATE-21 by the Board on
Agriculture Assembly (BAA) has been completed, and I wanted to share
with you the results of the vote and report on what the Policy Board
of Directors have identified as the next steps to the enactment of
our proposal. |
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Results |
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Some 398 ballots were distributed to
all voting members of the BAA in August with a September 11, 2006
deadline for response. Balloting has closed and the votes tallied.
The question before the BAA was as follows: |
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"The CREATE-21 efforts as currently
designed and as reflected in the CREATE-21 Power Point dated July
24-26, 2006 and its associated documents on the CREATE-21 website
should be adopted as the basis for new legislative language for the
next Farm Bill and the committee should initiate and/or continue
those activities to effect support for the same. No new assessment
will be levied for this activity." |
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In response to the question, there were
232 voting "yes" and 36 voting "no." On
behalf of the Policy Board of Directors, I am pleased to report that
this positive vote (86.6%) represents a clear mandate to move
forward. |
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Therefore, I am requesting that you
distribute this memorandum and the attached document to all
members of your organization. It is not our intention to
communicate with stakeholders or others beyond NASULGC at this
time. As noted below, Cornerstone Government Affairs and the
CREATE-21/Farm Bill Committees will develop a communication and
advocacy plan. However, for now, it is important that all
members of our system be aware of the positive vote and our
implementation plan.
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Next Steps |
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The BAA has voted overwhelmingly to
proceed with the CREATE-21 proposal. Accordingly, the CREATE-21
Committee, the Farm Bill Committee, NASULGC staff, and our advocacy
team at Cornerstone Government Affairs will proceed to prepare a
legislative product (bill language, explanatory materials, etc.) and
an advocacy/communications plan for presentation to and approval by
the BAA's Policy Board of Directors at our meeting on November 10,
2006 in Houston, Texas: |
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Cornerstone will take the lead in
preparing a draft bill to incorporate the provisions in the
legislative outline as approved by the BAA. Cornerstone will also
prepare a "red-line" document showing how CREATE-21 would change
existing law and a section-by-section analysis of the legislative
draft. There will, of course, be opportunity for the BAA's
constituent sections to recommend changes to improve the final
product. |
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The Farm Bill Committee and the
CREATE-21 Committee will jointly supervise the legislative drafting
effort. These two committees met together in Washington last week to
review proposed farm bill changes beyond the scope of CREATE-21 and
to discuss the BAA's approach to the upcoming farm bill debate. The
two committees will continue to work jointly. |
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Leaders of the Farm Bill and CREATE-21
Committees, Cornerstone, and NASULGC staff will meet in the next few
weeks with top officials at USDA, the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), and with House and Senate Agriculture Committee staff.
These meetings will inform these key individuals as to the depth of
support from inside the land-grant university system for the
CREATE-21 proposal. We will also discuss the administrative review
of REE functions recently initiated by Gale Buchanan, USDA Under
Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics. (Click
Here for the Under Secretary's Directive) |
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Cornerstone also will prepare and the
Farm Bill and CREATE-21 Committees will approve a detailed
communications and advocacy plan. This plan will guide our effort in
the next few months as we seek to secure support for the CREATE-21
proposal within Congress and the Administration and those outside
interests which influence these federal decision-makers. |
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Our overarching objective is to
have a complete legislative package ready for introduction when
Congress returns for its post-election "lame-duck" session. To
achieve that objective, I urge each of you to work with your
sections and through your Farm Bill and CREATE-21
representatives to help us make this the best possible product.
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On behalf of the members of the Policy
Board of Directors and the membership of the Board on Agriculture
Assembly, we extend our sincere appreciation to those who served on
the original "Think Tank" Task Force and those serving on CREATE-21
for their hard work and dedication resulting in the current
proposals for positive change on behalf of us all. We look forward
to working with CREATE-21/Farm Bill Committee members to take the
next steps that hopefully will result in beneficial changes for all
concerned through the next farm bill. |
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Kirklyn M. Kerr,
Chair, Policy Board of Directors, NASULGC's Board on Agriculture
Assembly, 09-15-06 |
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For Additional Information, Contact the
CREATE-21 Co-Chairs |
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Jeffrey Armstrong, Michigan State
University* |
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Fred Cholick, Kansas State University* |
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L. Washington Lyons, 1890 Extension,
North Carolina A&T* |
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