Legislative issues discussed during Farm Bureau tour

August 20, 2012

Photo by Amy Cherry - Elk County Farm Bureau Vice President and Governmental Director Ernie Mattiuz reviewed legislative issues faced by farmers on a state and national level during the Elk County Farm Bureau Tour held at the Woodbed Corp./DeLullo Trucking on Friday.

During Friday's Elk County Farm Bureau tour, numerous legislative issues were discussed ranging from state to national matters.
State Representative Matt Gabler (R-Elk/Clearfield) emphasized the importance of organizations like the Farm Bureau, which provides subject matter experts in each industry, in order to keep legislators informed of different developments taking place.
He said as a direct result of last year's tour, held at Dave's Saw Shop in St. Marys, he was informed about the logging industry being excluded from the sales tax exemption status which is accorded to the agriculture and manufacturing industries. He then drafted a bill to add timber and logging into the tax code exemption-- when the tax law was written, the exclusion applied only to limited sawmills, but not those actually collecting the timber and bringing it to market.