Sen. Mike Brubaker

Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster), chair of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, announced he will be holding a series of listening sessions across the state to help identify priorities for his Committee during the 2007-2008 session.

This would be a great time for farmers, watershed groups and conservation organizations to tell the Committee about the needs for farm conservation and watershed restoration.

“The goal of ‘Building a Vision for Rural Pennsylvania’ is to gather input from agriculture communities, rural communities and anyone affected directly or indirectly by our Committee’s actions,” Sen. Brubaker said. “I want to hear from a broad spectrum of individuals so that we can craft an agenda that will truly meet the needs of our Commonwealth.”

Sen. Brubaker said that he expects committee members will hear discussion on a wide variety of topics throughout the listening sessions, such as farmland preservation, health care accessibility and affordability, property taxes and sprawl issues. Additional sessions are being scheduled in the coming months throughout the state, including Philadelphia.

“While locations such as Philadelphia are obviously not rural in nature, every citizen in this state is impacted by the agriculture industry and what it produces,” Sen. Brubaker said. “We want our agenda to embrace the perspectives of all Pennsylvanians in order to build a comprehensive vision for the future.”

The public is invited to attend the first session at Four Seasons Produce, 400 Wabash Road, Ephrata, on February 14 from 10 a.m. to noon. The second listening session is set for February 21 at the North Philadelphia Healt System (16th and Girard Ave.) in Philadelphia.

Anyone who is interested in coming should contact Senator Brubaker’s Ephrata office at 717-738-1600 to register, as space is limited. Participants should also indicate if they have an interest in speaking at the session.

2/9/2007