PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — You could call them the watchdogs for potato growers. Tim Hobbs and Don Flannery wear a lot of hats in the potato industry, but one they consider to be the most important is the work they do in the state legislature, submitting bills of their own and monitoring bills from others to try to improve and protect Aroostook's agriculture.
“They trust us a lot too look out for them. I mean, that’s what we’re paid to do, and that’s what we love to do,” said Hobbs.
Hobbs says he and Flannery put a lot of time into this work. For instance, it’s a long process for them to submit a bill. The process involves finding sponsors, writing the bill, hearings and work sessions. He says where they spend most of their time, though, is reading and assessing other people’s bills and figuring out whether the specifics would affect growers in northern Maine.
“You’ve got the Agriculture Committee to keep an eye on, you’ve got the Natural Resources Committee to keep an eye on, you’ve got the Taxation Committee to keep an eye on, Transportation…” Hobbs trails off as if to emphasize just how many politicians he and Flannery have to “keep an eye on.”
Hobbs says if they’re going to oppose something, they’ve got to have some good reasons as to why. He says last year 3,000 bills were brought before the Legislature; of those, he and Flannery monitored about 150. One bill proposed taxing the extraction of water at one penny per gallon. They fought that because Hobbs says it’s a property rights issue.
“If the state could come in and take through a legislative process, [if they] could take ownership of a private property right without reimbursement, that has implications down the road, opens the door,” said Hobbs.
On a national level, U.S. Senator Susan Collins stands up big time for the potato. Senator Collins says she battled the Obama Administration when they wanted to limit the use of potatoes in school lunches and to ban them altogether from school breakfasts. She was successful in protecting potatoes. She also helped changed the law to allow potatoes on the federal Women, Infants and Children supplemental food assistance program.
“Federal policies essentially were sending an erroneous message that potatoes are unhealthy and not good for you when exactly the opposite is the case,” said Collins.
Though growers might not always know about the work Hobbs and Collins do to help keep the ag industry thriving, both say they’ll continue this work. They’re passionate about it.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress, but I’m going to remain vigilant in order to ensure that there isn’t backsliding in this regard,” said Collins.
“It's more than just a paycheck here. I’m working for a way of life that we’d like to continue,” said Hobbs.
Source: WAGM News