(April 2, 2004) The Farm Bureau supported “new age co-op” legislation passed on the Senate floor Thursday by a 33-0 vote.
All 33 members of the Senate signed onto the bill as co-prime sponsors. This strong expression of support by the Senate is a testament to the grassroots efforts of all county Farm Bureaus. The bill also passed out of House Agriculture Committee with a unanimous vote and is scheduled for a House Floor vote Monday evening.
A “new age co-op” is a hybrid between the structure allowed under the current co-op law and the structure allowed for Limited Liability Companies (LLC). The key component of this legislation is that farmer, “patron” members are allowed to accept outside investor dollars.
Pictured, Senator Mark Norris is being thanked and congratulated by Tennessee Farm Bureau President, Flavius Barker. Senator Norris, District 32 (Shelby, Tipton, Lauderdale and Dyer Counties), is the Senate sponsor of the co-op bill. Senator Norris did a masterful job sponsoring and promoting an extremely technical and complicated bill. |
