Full Text of HR0005 102nd General Assembly
HR0005 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Illinois is a rich agricultural state, home to | 3 | | over 1 million farmers and over 72,000 farms that grow fruits | 4 | | and vegetables and raise livestock; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Almost 50% of all land in the United States is set | 6 | | aside for farming, including 75% of all land in Illinois; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Farming is a vital part of the Illinois economy | 8 | | as it generates over $19 billion each year; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Farmers generally do not turn a profit from their | 10 | | work until they have been in the sector for several years, | 11 | | which makes this necessary profession a risky endeavor; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Student loan debt is on the rise, totaling over | 13 | | $1.5 trillion and creating an additional barrier for young | 14 | | farmers to make a living, leading many young people to steer | 15 | | away from farming as a profession; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The number of beginning farmers fell 20% between | 17 | | 2007 and 2012; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, The average age of farmers in the United States | 19 | | is continually rising, climbing to over 58 in 2012 from 49 in |
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| 1 | | 1945, which means young farmers are disappearing from the | 2 | | economy; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, The United States will see 66% of its | 4 | | farmer-owned land needing a transfer in ownership within the | 5 | | next 25 years; the United States also only added 1,220 young | 6 | | operators to its farming economy, which means there are not | 7 | | enough new farmers to handle the transfer of land that will | 8 | | need to take place; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Adding farmers to the Public Service Loan | 10 | | Forgiveness Program will create a pathway for young people | 11 | | with student debt to succeed in agriculture; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Farmers are critical to our nation's well-being | 13 | | as they produce the food we eat, steward nearly half the | 14 | | country's land, and support rural economies; therefore, be it
| 15 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 16 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 17 | | we believe farming is an integral public service and that | 18 | | farmers constitute public service professionals; and be it | 19 | | further
| 20 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the U.S. Congress to expand the | 21 | | Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program so that it includes |
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| 1 | | farming as an applicable career for loan forgiveness; and be | 2 | | it further | 3 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 4 | | delivered to the President of the United States, the U.S. | 5 | | Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. Senate Minority Leader, the | 6 | | U.S. Speaker of the House, the U.S. House of Representatives | 7 | | Minority Leader, and all members of the Illinois Congressional | 8 | | Delegation.
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