The 3rd meeting of the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee was held on Wednesday, March 7, 2007, upon adjournment of the House and Senate Chambers, in Room 129 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Mike Denham, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Carroll Gibson, Co-Chair; Representative Mike Denham, Co-Chair; Senator David E. Boswell; Representatives Royce W. Adams, James R. Comer Jr, Charlie Hoffman, Tom McKee, and Tommy Turner.
Guests: Keith Rogers, Governor's Office of Agricultural Policy; Tonya Chang, American Heart Association; and Shannon Pratt, American Cancer Society.
LRC Staff:
Co-chairman Denham opened the meeting, but deferred roll call and approval of the minutes until a quorum was established later in the meeting.
The chairman asked Mr. Keith Rogers, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy (GOAP), to report on agricultural diversification project applications that the Agricultural Development Board (ADB) considered during its February meeting.
In addition to the model programs, state board-approved projects included: Mimi’s Kitchen Inc., Kentucky Goat Producers Association Inc., University of Kentucky Research Foundation, Burgin Independent FFA Chapter, Rowan County Fiscal Court, Shelby County Farm Bureau, and Shelby County Cattleman’s Association.
Beginning with the Mimi’s Kitchen project, Mr. Rogers informed the committee that the applicants had withdrawn their request and would not be accepting the $41,000 in Owen County funds approved initially for the project.
Regarding the Kentucky Goat Producers Association application, Chairman Denham asked Mr. Rogers about the matching funds process for the project, which involved conducting a goat forage applied research and demonstration project. According to Mr. Rogers, the association would be contracting with the University of Kentucky. Matching funds totaling $106,000 would be involved, but the match would not be 50-50 since a total of $154,748 in funds was approved by the ADB.
He also explained the UK Research Foundation program to establish a pilot risk management program for Kentucky farm women. The effort, called “Annie’s Project,” had been active in several states. According to Mr. Rogers, the $6,500 in ADB moneys would pay for the pilot project, but that probably would be the extent of ADB’s monetary participation.
As the meeting ended, Representative McKee shared with the committee a conversation he had with a representative of the Kentucky Cattleman’s Association, which had administered some $6 million in tobacco settlement funds in recent years. Representative McKee lauded the association and mentioned the growth of the beef cattle industry in the state.
Documents distributed during the committee session are available with meeting materials in the LRC Library.
The meeting ended at approximately 6:45 p.m.