 Good afternoon Colorado Welcome to working together on state and federal food policy webinar. This is Wendy Peters, Muscete I'm director of food systems here at LiveWheel, Colorado And I'm gonna be kicking off this webinar before we Introduce our other speakers and dive into content just a couple of quick logistics for those of you who are zooming in today Those of you who are familiar with zoom You know that there is a chat function Also a Q&A function. There's two different ways to type in questions We're asking that if you have questions for others on the line or for any of the presenters Please use the chat box. It's a little bit challenging to try to monitor two different boxes So we do welcome you however to make comments submit comments or questions Throughout the webinar as we speak We've we've we've given ourselves over an hour for today So we want to have ample time to get through content and address all of your questions We will have time for open Q&A at the end, but please do submit any kind of comments or questions in the chat box as we go So as I said, I'm Wendy director of food systems. I'm joined by two other presenters today. We have Terry Hi, I'm Terry Livermore and I'm the director of food policy here at LiveWheel, Colorado I work with Wendy and Gabby and the rest of our policy communications teams on developing and implementing Food systems policy in Colorado and at the federal and local levels Yay, and we also are going to be joined by Megan Lovelace all the way from Washington, DC She's doing a policy internship with the National Farmers Union there And I will do a little bit more of an intro on Megan. I'm a little bit later in the webinar So moving on to our objectives for our time here together today So we have a few objectives In our next 75 minutes or so together We would want to share information about the state political process and the state policy environment So how does this all get done in the color at a level? We also then want to talk about what we have been up to have been up to and are planning on being up to at the state level around state food policy priorities here at LiveWheel We then want to move into the federal environment and talk about sort of the federal political process And how legislation works at the federal level and current Things that we know about the federal policy environment today Then we'll share some of what we are up to LiveWheel's platform around federal food policy And then want to leave a chunk of time towards the end to really talk about how all of us together You and us and others can engage Around specific actions and next steps of both the state and federal policy level Now I'm going to pass that to Terry to kind of walk us through how this all works in colorado As I'm sure many of you already know us We're just going to do a quick overview of the state policy process Because they're they're generally similar to the federal policy process But there are some significant differences. So we're just going to run through the state policy process right now And in colorado, we are constitutionally mandated that we have our legislative session, which just ended yesterday 120 days into it Runs from january to may every year Some states do it every other every other year. Some states don't have deadlines colorado used to run year round But they stopped that when a constitutional amendment was passed limiting the colorado to 120 days So every january to may is when our legislature is in session We have a 65 member house and a 35 member senate for a 100 member Total legislature, which as you'll see in a bit is vastly different from the obviously size of the federal congress How bill becomes a law? This is the I'm just a bill on capitol hill Bills get introduced. They have to go through Several hearings in the house And or senate wherever they're introduced then they have to repeat the process in the other chamber And then depending on if if if it's the same and then goes to the governor for a signature if there are differences They go to a conference committee Bottom line is there's a lot of there's a lot of steps in the process where bills can die Getting a bill through this process is not the easiest thing on the planet And I take colorado introduces anywhere from 600 to a thousand bills a session and probably passes I don't know four or 500 depending on how many were introduced each year I don't have the numbers yet for this year since the session just ended last night around 10 o'clock actually So then and it says right there it goes to the president for signature. That is not true. It goes to the governor And then the difference that is that occurs here Um in the state that is different from the federal government is that every bill It's introduced at the in the beginning of the legislative session or at any time in the legislative session If it doesn't get passed that session it dies So every bill that didn't get passed that was left on the calendar or died at some point the process is dead And they have to start over again next year If they if someone wants to bring a bill back, we'll be talking more about that later Um, so that's just a quick overview of the state policy process What's important to know is that that's a process piece of it. What's also what's next is the um Policy and the politics part of it This is a picture of the state capital and it looks like the lipo crowd in front of the state capital um Currently in colorado. We have a democratic governor john hick and looper. He's been the governor for six years He will be the governor until 20 20 2018 he's up for reelection or not reelection. He's termed out actually so in 2018 We'll have a it's an open seat and actually there are a number of people who have lined up for that seat already Um, both democrats and republicans Um, currently and this will be true next year as well. We have a democratic house With a nine seat majority, which is substantially greater than it was last year The last election actually gave more seats to the democrats in the house And we currently have a republican senate with a one seat majority Again, all of that will be true again next year Which makes the politics in the senate fairly interesting Also, there's a um, there's a fairly Deep divide within the republican party Um, that's more noticeable in the senate I think because they have a majority than in the house between a very conservative coalition and then A more moderate group of of republicans and the reason that we're talking about this is what it has done is created a There's a little bit of a power struggle going on in the republican senate Um And that creates an interesting political environment for a number of of bills Some big ones that happen this year having nothing to do with food policy But having to do with transportation or budget issues, which are all related to everything um That that schism played out In a in a pretty dramatic way that was ultimately resolved One the transportation bill died and the bill to save the hot to deal with the hospital provider fee having to do at the Budget um, actually ended up passing, but it was it was quite the power struggle to get them there um The good news is having a and I think this is generally true everywhere you go But if you have a split Legislature or you have a republican governor and democratic house and senate or some kind of split between the parties Among the three different categories You're going to have better legislation because you have to work together. You can't then no one party controls everything um Which actually interestingly makes it harder for the parties that are Trying to control things If if one party's in control it actually makes it harder for them people don't believe that But you can ask any governor that has served in that condition and I think they would tell you that's true But I generally think that split majority. So if you've got in our case a democratic house or republican senate You end up with better legislation typically Um, the reason I want to mention the budget uh briefly just because colorado's budget is a factor in every single thing that we do here Because of there are three different constitutional amendments. That's its own presentation in its own right um Tabor gallagher and the amendment 23 which funds k-12 education Those don't play together very nicely and it puts severe restrictions on our budget Uh, which which is significant for trying to fund any other thing we want to try to do in this state It's an issue just about every year and it was a pretty significant issue this year Leading in fact to the hospital provider fee bill If anyone has questions about the hospital provider fee bill or anything along that line Feel free to contact me at the after the presentation and I'll go into we don't have time to talk about that today Um, and our contact information is at the end of the presentation Um, also important to note 2018 is an election year. It is a gubernatorial election year, which means you generally get more people coming out Um, also it really changes the dynamic at the legislature because now you've got legislators doing everything They can that will help them get reelected So there's less of a focus on what might be good policy and more of a focus on what's going to get me elected in my district Um, which makes the politics even more entertaining if that's the word you want to use while you're at the While you're at the legislature. So that's a little bit of the state policy environment what it kind of looks like Um, it was interesting this year. The election will make it even more interesting next year. So stay tuned Thanks, terry. So with that context, we would just want us to talk a little bit about What specifically live wall has been and will be perhaps working on Um at the state level. So many of you have probably heard about our bill Um, so we refer to this bill hb 1192 sort of generally as the um cough sack or color artificial systems advisory council bill um And but the basics Basics to this bill and many of you actually were involved in this and did advocacy for us around this bill And we thank you very much The basic concept of this bill was to integrate Um, two state of boys two governor appointed states basically advisory bodies, right and task force So the farm to school task force and the colorado food systems advisory council And integrate those two under a shared work plan and actually give them a permanent home inside the department of agriculture The colorado department of agriculture And then along with that which we thought was the most important piece Was to provide full-time staffing for those entities With three primary focus areas One staffing area would be clearly on farm to school to have a state agency position with a, you know, mandated written scope of work To work across the state and with national and federal partners to support farm to school in colorado The second key tenant there was to really support all federal food assistance programs and connecting them to colorado agriculture So working with programs like snap or formerly food stamps or wick The commodity supplemental food program other federal funded food assistance programs That are administered through three different state agencies outside of the department of agriculture and to be a liaison with those three to say Really how we build better bridges to to make sure we're leveraging these programs and they're supporting colorado agriculture and then the third key tenant was to Work with state agencies and other partners to implement recommendations that will be coming out of the blueprint Of colorado food and agriculture Which is a statewide food and ag planning process being undertaken and led by csu and in collaboration with the food systems advisory council Right now and this should be wrapping up at the end of the summer That was the bill and terry is going to give you a little bit of an update now about What happened with that bill last week and where we go next with that? Okay As this the our bill died It made it through the house of representatives and it Died in the first committee hearing in the senate, although it died with a week to go in the senate So it got held up over in the house Having to do with appropriations just making sure the appropriations clause was on there properly and done properly also They're just have we wait until the budget is done Then you decide whether or not you're going to fund other bills We did get funding from the house what they call set aside money So typically at that point if you've got your funding in the first house and it's from their set aside money The other chamber doesn't really mess with it Because it doesn't It doesn't cost them anything Plus this bill as wendy has described it really is a win win win situation for everybody It had no one opposing it. It had a number of different organizations and entities supporting it But as can happen late in a legislative session It gets our bill got totally caught up in politics. It really had nothing to do with our bill Um, it happens. It's unfortunate when it happens Um, I'm going to try to keep my bitterness from you know coming through the through the webinar at you today, but We got we ended up in the The transportation bill and the hospital provider fee bill that I talked about earlier There were some pretty big politics going on between the house and the senate around that Um, and then also there were some issues around With our sponsor who was a republican sponsor. He did fine Um, but he's in a swing swing district And so he was carrying a lot of more liberal legislation what republicans would have considered liberal legislation And I think some of the republicans got tired of voting for that and we got caught our timing just was monumentally bad um To that end So and if we'd been a week earlier, I think we would have been fine Probably if we'd been two days later, I think we would have been fine It just came down to really bad timing and getting caught up in politics It really that absolutely had nothing to do with our bill There is some consternation because we were putting a staff person with this at the department of agriculture There was a fiscal loan on our bill would have cost the state a hundred thousand dollars Again, the house said you can have a hundred thousand dollars of our one two and a half million dollar set aside to fund this And then the senate was they were just not in the right mood the day our bill came up So we ended up losing that one. We are For next steps, I were I think we're still fairly committed Well, we're committed to the notion that good policy out of trump politics for starters So we're we'll be looking at this issue again We'll be meeting with all the stakeholders the farm to school task force folks the cough sack folks the department of agriculture Having some internal conversations here at live well I'd be interested to know what any of you on the webinar and our other local partners think But we'll probably be looking to run either a similar bill or the same bill Next year and then as we'll get into later in the webinar talking about how we can ramp up Relationships with legislators throughout the summer with our local partners to help promote the the bill and it's in its It's positive impact that we'll have at the local level I don't think I think particularly in the senate the senate republicans Struggled to understand why this funding this one position the state could make a big difference for people out in the Farmers in particular around the state So I think we need to do a better job of explaining that and I think we can use the summer and Our local partners to do that and we're going to talk about that a little bit later Um for now Moving on to the next block there the summer tour and the surveys what we're What we're hoping and planning to do in a survey went out earlier I think last week last friday Asking some questions about policy and us coming around the policy team would like to travel around the state And we'd like to talk to local people In their in your towns and communities about what's going on in your world. What are you seeing? What's bothering you? We'll do a little overview about what happened with the legislature in general Um, and then ask about what's going on in your world and what barriers you've got Um, we'll probably also be doing some surveys later in the summer once we've completed the tour And we've got some kind of idea about what issues are out there and what's important to people So we'd like to do some follow-up surveys to find out what's going on So if any of you did not get the survey that we sent out friday and you want Want it? Please let us know through the chat box or email me at the end of the Webinar and we'll send that to you or if you would like us to come to your community and talk about What happened at the legislature and then find out what's going on, you know, have a little bit of a listening session Um, also let us know that Um, the last little piece here is the other known issues that we know are out there right now This list is obviously going to grow throughout the summer and particularly in the fall is when things really ramp up for the state legislature But Padre Sinidos is currently conducting breakfast after the bell research So we're going to take a look at that where they Convened a lot of partners on that and we're part of that partnership So we'll be taking a look at what the research says and if there are ways, you know Ways that make sense to go to improve breakfast after the bell Um lunch shaming for those of you that have been reading the papers at all. This is a big thing It's when um kids can't they've run out of money in their food account and they're And they don't get lunch that day. There's some schools that don't handle as well. It's a national issue We are aware that there are some schools in colorado who don't handle this as well as they might And it they do things that make these kids stand out And so we might take a look at doing something like that with some of our partners There has been a bill introduced at the federal level to address this issue But federal legislation tends to take a long time Where state legislation can happen much faster And then the last thing is and our issues that routinely we talk about and that keep coming up around healthy food donations and gleaning So those are all issues that we know are out there, but we'd be interested to know your take on that Um, so let us know if you want us to come to your community. Um, let us know if you have any thoughts on this Obviously email and call us at any time I'm just gonna add one thing. Thanks for all of you actually watching us on zoom Thank you for being patient with us as we kind of go back and forth here on camera Um, this is wendy just adding one thing on the healthy food donations piece Um, some of you are probably very familiar with the charitable crop donations act Which was initiated um by our five food banks feeding colorado and hunger free colorado several years ago That does provide an incentive for farmers that donate their product to um, one of our five food banks or their affiliates across the state so Live along with many other partners in the state have been doing trying to examine this issue a little bit more and understand The incentive that we currently have is it motivation and is it motivation enough and who what hyper producers and motivation for And to kind of do some assessment around the charitable crop donation act and are now Talking to several national partners as well to try to understand What are other state models that do incentivize healthy food donations? Not just from farmers, but other retailers as well and and gleaning so more to come on that as we do more research Okay, we're going to move on to the federal policy process now So we've done an overview of the state both process and a little bit of the political environment And now we're going to overview the federal process Um, and then their political environment Um, again, the important thing is the federal process is much bigger. Obviously, it's more It's a little more complicated and complex so things tend to take a little bit longer That's probably the single biggest difference And then so the congressional congressional sessions are two-year sessions. They operate on a two-year cycle Which coincides with the election cycle of every representative in congress and actually at the state level for that matter They're elected for two years So they're kind of constantly running for office, which also exacerbates political the political environment Senators are different in the state senators have four-year terms and at the federal level senators have six-year terms so they actually can Hunker down a little bit more and actually look at policy issues as opposed to Um At the as opposed to representatives who are typically always running for office So they are always kind of keeping an eye on what's going to play well in their district Which can be used certainly to our advantage when we want to work with them on something that's going on in our district um Um Oh Yeah, so the they are They work congress works year-round So again different than the colorado legislature, which has that four and a half month period Congress works year-round And they do have several breaks where they're back in their districts in august is an off break for them So typically every august they're back in their districts What that means for us is if we want to meet with if we want if any of you or people that live well Want to meet with their congressional representatives and senators the the month of august is a good time to do it There are other breaks. For example, the house is on a break this week Um, so actually winnie and I are going to be part of a group meeting with a representative dyana to get tomorrow So you you find the breaks and their calendars are easy to find the the federal calendars are easy to find Um, there's a website that we'll talk about later that has all that information that makes it fairly easy for us But so if you want to try to schedule time with your congressional representative, you would look for the breaks when they're back in the district Otherwise congressional representatives also have congress has a lot more money than the state legislature So they have staff people they have staff people in washington and they have staff people back here in colorado Meeting with a staff person for a congressional representative or senator Is almost as good as meeting with the representative or senator themselves in some cases It might even be better because they're actually going to they've got more time They're going to listen to what you say and they're going to be the ones reading the documents you give them anyway So cultivating a relationship with the staffs of our congressional delegate of our federal congressional delegation Is important and critical for passing or for trying to influence policy at the federal level At the state level we don't have they don't have staff I mean they some of them who have money might pay a part-time person to do it But it's a very different it's a very different environment So if you're trying to meet with your if you're working on a state level issue You want to meet directly with your representative or senator if you're working on a federal level issue then Meeting with the staff person of the of the congress person or the senator is just is just totally fine As you can see you've got a 435 member house and a 100 member senate So we're in colorado. We had a hundred member total House and senate we've got a 535 total member house and senate at the federal level so much bigger The process Is essentially the same but with some differences bills are introduced they have to go through the house They have to go through the senate There are conference committees to resolve differences and then it goes to the president for his or her signature If and when if it passes all that gauntlet, however Bills are introduced and then they're the because it's so much larger There are subcommittees most big most committees then have several subcommittees and the bills get assigned to subcommittees It's also not uncommon to have two similar bills introduced in both houses at the same time So one would be introduced in house one would be introduced in the senate There are also companion bills that get introduced and we're going to talk about that a little bit later as it relates to the Farm bill so And then all of that kind of comes together at the end. So it's just it's a much more complicated System and whereas at the state level you've got pretty easy access during the session and off session to your representatives and senators It's much more challenging at the federal level To set up those kinds of meetings with your representatives and senators so It just requires a little more planning and forethought and a lot more relationship building At the federal level all the relationships are key all the way around also at the federal level It's typically a multi-year process. It's not hugely common unless they're Unless they're large Big huge political issues that a bill is going to pass on that's first go around and for a bill at the federal level Again, that's two years. You could have a bill introduced three or four times before it starts to gain traction and move somewhere So this is something we pay attention to like how many times has the bill been introduced If we're tracking or following bills if it's just introduced and it's the first time You're kind of wait to see what happens and if it's going to get any traction But it could take several cycles for that to happen Um, and I see someone has asked a question about the slides and absolutely will send the power point out to everyone Who is on the on the webinar today and then anyone else who might want it So we've talked about the two-year cycle and the same thing is true at the federal level That is true at the state level only is a two-year cycle instead of a one-year cycle Once you hit the end of that two-year cycle all bills die If they haven't I don't if you're one step away from being finished and you haven't made it by the time the The session ends the two-year cycle ends your bill dies and you have to start all over again Also an interesting thing at the federal level that isn't It's true at the state level, but I think it's a much bigger player at the federal level are federal agency rules and regulations I think there's a lot more that gets done through rule and regulation at the federal level than at the state level It happens in both places don't get me wrong And we spend a lot of time looking at rules and regulations at the state level But I think the federal agencies have a lot more latitude again. That's just they're a lot bigger Congress doesn't have time to work out details on things and so they leave a lot of the details to the agencies Whereas in colorado, you might have more details work out in a piece of legislation rather than relying on an agency um So a lot of politics happens around rules and regulations at the agency level So that is the federal policy process Okay There we go, um, so the federal policy environment For anybody who's living in this country right now probably knows the politics are stratospherically weird um, we have a new administration president trump is an unconventional president I think it's safe to say and So that has created a very different environment in Washington Um, we're not going to get into that because that in and of itself would be in its own presentation But we did recently get the agriculture secretary confirmed He was one of the last cabinet appointees to be confirmed is sonny purdue. He's out of georgia On the relative scale of appointments. I think while Sonny purdue makes some people nervous because it comes from a very commodities-based background Um less fruits and vegetables. He's um, he at least comes from a background with some agriculture He's also politically savvy having been the governor of georgia So and he hasn't done He's doing He's moving things forward in a direction that you know, it's tend to make sense for agriculture. I mean, let's it's a With a conservative bent. I mean, it's the republicans won the they won the election. So they get to populate the The cabinet and so there's going to be more of a conservative bent just as if when um, president obama was president He populated with more liberal Bent that's the way politics works, but he is moving quickly to Fill out his his staff at the department and they just issued a list of people who you know, who are going to help him with this and so and he's talking about He's put he is actually Putting in an undersecretary for trade, which is something that people have wanted at ag for a long time to work for farmers in particular and how that relates to nafta, which is Certainly an issue right now trade is an issue with president trump's stated positions on trade create problems for farmers And so that ought to be an interesting political dynamic. So there's just there's a whole lot up in the air politically going on right now in dc So everyone's just kind of moving through In the in the way they know meeting new people and moving forward so And I think me and it can talk a little bit more about that kind of environment Since she's actually in washington dc um the republican senate much like uh Now to my previous comments in washington it is controlled by one party right now We have a republican president We have a republican majority senate and we have a house republican majority But the senate majority is a slim margin. It's a four seat majority And typically because the way their rules work, they have to have 60 votes to pass anything so Um unless they decide to undo that as well But right now they have to have 60 votes to get certainly anything contentious through Um, so they don't have there. It has to be a bipartisan compromise to do that. So right now the senate is Kind of holding the line of the stuff that happens in the house Which is true in any kind of situation like that anytime you have one party controlling something You can get some pretty crazy legislation and then you have to look to look to where your choke points are And in this case the senate looks like the congressional choke point for legislation Um, the budget there was a huge human cry about the budget when the president released his he called it a skinny budget It was basically an outline It was looking to cut pretty much everything on the planet. I think Except for military spending There was a lot of angst and agony over that Then ended up being at this point much to do about nothing as Congress congress was close to a bipartisan compromise on the budget And then they started talking about building the wall and wanting to do that the president backed off of that and so essentially we have More or less a continuing budget for 2017. It didn't change anything too drastically That is good through the end of 2017 although our partners at the national sustainable agricultural Coalition are telling us that the 2018 budget will be a much different It'll it's going to be a much different fight So we need to be keeping our eyes on that because there are several provisions within the Within the federal budget that greatly will impact the work that we do here in the state level So that's something we're going to be definitely paying attention to also again the upcoming 2018 election is going to be Certainly getting more and more and more momentous by the day I think Typically in off-year elections right after so two years after a president is elected the the other party the minority party Will gain seats in this case that'd be the democrat the demographics in the senate aren't good The democrats are defending a lot of seats the republicans aren't defending many seats But if things keep going the way they are politically I don't I would think the senate majority could be in trouble The house republican majority is I think people are thinking it is in trouble right now We're a long way out from the election, but um Things keep going the way they are it's not out of the realm of possibility that that would flip to democratic control Because there's usually a pretty big gain and I the cook the cook political report just put up 20 seats as toss-ups right now and you need 24 They need the democrats need 24 seats to take control of the house And cook political report currently has which is a nice. They're actually a good site to look at. It's very neutral Good information They have put 20 seats in the toss-up column. So to move on quickly I we've listed here our house and senate delegations The one note in the house is uh Senator pro-mutter is actually going to be stepping down. He'll be running for the governor of the state of colorado in 2018 So he will not be there and his seat is open and people are lining up for that seat as well It's the most competitive district in colorado Which is congressional district seven So that'll be interesting to keep an eye on and then in the senate of note senator bennett is on the agriculture committee Which is going to matter greatly to us as we move forward on the farm bill when he's going to talk about that in a little bit and then senator cori gardener is It's a national republican senatorial committee basically what that is is he's heading up the effort to At least hold the line and keep a republican majority in the senate if not increase it Um, it's a leadership role So he's actually moving pretty far pretty fast in the realm of washington politics into leadership roles He's also on the committee that's going to draft the senate version of the affordable health care act So he's being tapped for a lot of leadership things which is Um good for colorado as long as we can educate him on issues that are important to us. So That is the story there Thanks terry. This is wendy again So now we want to move into a little bit more specificity around issues that we here at live well Are either actively engaging in or tracking to some degree or working on collaborating with other partners Um, of course, this is all to say we are one of many partners here in the state of colorado There are many other issues that you all and others are working on that are of equal importance Many other issues that we actually probably even support Um, but we're just going to share a few things that that we at live well have been prioritizing um currently so Terry just mentioned too or that we work with the national sustainable agriculture coalition This is an important partnership for us to mention We live will colorado is um a member it is being member of the national sustainable agriculture coalition at this point We're the only actual member from the state of colorado Although they do partner with other organizations across the country um They are and have been for a very long time very active at the federal level In working on the farm bill. I think if we think a lot of sort of the know your farmer know your food suite of programs A lot of those really came out of advocacy from the national sustainable agriculture coalition um, and it's been incredibly beneficial for us at live well to have a federal partner based in dc Really leading some of these efforts with which we can provide some feedback and some information And we really gain from their platform as they develop it as well So the bulk of our work with ensac right now has been on developing what they call a marker bill Sort of an intro bill. It's basically conceptual. It's very detailed Um, but it is not expected to be written into the farm bill as it is. It's a way for Um sponsors of sort of this marker bill and ensac members to put forward. What are our primary? Areas of focus and concern and interest and priority Being full well aware that this won't be written as is in the eventual farm bill that gets adopted But it's our work kind of put in our stake in the ground around certain issues So it's a local foods It's the local food marker bill as it's been talking about that ensac has been working on and that we've been providing feedback to There's three core Priority areas for that marker bill and these three are exactly why we're very supportive of it And that is one to expand opportunities for family farmers and food entrepreneurs Two to increase access to fresh healthy local foods to rural and urban communities And three to develop new and strengthen existing infrastructure that connects producers to consumers And again, this bill has not gone public in any way yet We expect that to happen in the next couple of months, but we will continue to work with them And we will work with them on sort of overall engagement We'll talk more at the end of the webinar about What we're doing around engagement how we want to work with you all around engagement, but just so you know given our Status I think of having an ag committee member and senator Bennett. It will be really Helpful for us. We bring a lot of value I think to the table And then we can work with you all and other partners across the state To be that voice to senator Bennett on the ag committee about why these concepts They're in the local food systems bill are so important to colorado So we'll continue to work with you all and with ensac to document the impact that Local food systems regional food systems healthy food access programs have had in colorado And specifically document grants that we've received programs that have happened in colorado Um the benefits we've all received because of those and really helped tell that story Um To help move that specific marker bill forward other issues that these are just examples of the types of issues that we have been And we'll continue to track and there will be many others Just as an example, there has been some conversation with partners across the country about How we really kind of expand the definition basically of farmers markets So some of you are probably aware that right now EBT technology so it's that's the technology needed to swipe Uh your ebt card which you use for snap formally food stamps and now for wick um And there's been conversation and that technology right now Through some federal funds and state funds has been available for free Um, no no cost technology to farmers markets or direct market farming operations or farms So that's an example of we have been a part of conversations saying how can we expand that definition a little bit So that if you are a retailer of many different types, right? You can look a lot of different ways and still be selling Colorado grown produce and we think you should be available to have this technology for free There's just a lot more new um flexibility and innovation and how um Retail settings direct market operations are are serving communities and specifically low-income communities We want to see them all have this technology The other issue that terry just mentioned is um, there's two urban agriculture bills They've not been introduced yet. They've been drafted led by senator stavanaugh Out of michigan and representative captor out of ohio. They're two different bills yet related Generally, we're very supportive of these bills as terry mentioned will be with other partners tomorrow morning Just doing a round table with congresswoman degets out of denver With her office tomorrow. She's looking to co-sponsor senator stavanaugh's urban ag bill And we'll continue again to track this progress once it gets introduced That bill specifically has a lot of Vision to it to create an actual urban agriculture position in the usda and really leverage usda's, you know, what is lending research finance Cooperative development really how do you Leverage all of those existing federal resources and to support more urban agriculture production and production To markets in urban areas and the last one is the farm to school act Um, just as an example, this is something that sits in the child nutrition reauthorization act There have been some talk back and forth since cnr is not moving forward Hey, is that something we could also address or promote in the farm bill at least conceptually right now? It sounds like that is not really a good plan, but it is something that we are highly supportive of It's expanding a previous act Um a five million dollar funding for farm to school increasing it to ten million dollars Um and expanding resources around farm to school So just an example of other federal issues that we will continue to track and support and communicate on So then specifically our farm bill platform, which is still we're keeping this at a very high level right now So what I want you to take from this slide Um Is that is is is nothing? No, we don't want you to take anything too seriously as said in stone from this slide And how we're going to approach our farm bill platform is that we need to be clear about what our key sort of tenants are to this But specifically within those things are going to change right? We don't even have a farm bill to react to yet We don't we don't fully grasp the full federal environment And how things are going to change if we get a farm bill in 2018 But what we do know is that there's three things that we want to focus on One is a structural integrity of SNAP. So it's really maintain SNAP supplemental nutrition assistance program formally food stamps Is that we will continue to support any in any possible measure To maintain the structural integrity of that program and that could end up looking a lot of different ways Um, but the the basic there for SNAP is that there's there's been chatter and there will continue to be chatter about Do we block grant this program to make it a block grant two states to administer, right? Or do we completely sever SNAP from the farm bill? It makes it like 80 percent of the farm But right now do we separate that from all the agricultural work? Which we believe and many of our partners believe would actually be very damaging And politically very divisive. We've also heard that those things are probably not very likely Those aren't our biggest concerns right now. We are more concerned about other ways that um the federal government and legislators can really tweak SNAP in ways that we think would restrict eligibility Right restrict making restrictions for example on, you know able-bodied adult workers, right and who is eligible or not So those are the kind of things we want to track. We want to see support for SNAP employment training support for SNAP education We don't want to see anything that would restrict eligibility And we know that we're this conversation about Purchase SNAP purchasing limits like uh snap dollars. Can they be spent on what kind of foods? Can they be spent on there's going to continue to be chatter around these and we want to be in a position to respond to all of those So that's sort of number one just maintaining structural integrity of SNAP Then the second big bucket of our farm bill platform is really around uh healthy food incentives So as many of you probably know Live well along with many many other partners across the state received a finny grant So food insecurity nutrition incentive program grant That was a grant that came with five years of mandatory funding out of the last farm bill the 2014 farm bill But it is not a permanent program It was then at that point written to sort of survive one cycle of the farm bill As a finny grantee and as a huge devoted fan of double up food bucks colorado the program we administer with that grant It is absolutely a priority of ours to work with state and national partners To make sure that that becomes a permanent A sustainable program out of the usda the third big bucket is a very very broad bucket That generally we want to look across every title of the farm bill and we want to see support for Programs and funding for community food systems in low-income communities and communities of color And these type of programs don't just sit in the nutrition title where SNAP sits These are programs that sit across lots of titles in the farm bill So we'll be tracking things like support for what's called the socially disadvantaged farmer and rancher program And seeing increased support for programs like that that really remove barriers For socially disadvantaged farmers or for beginning or returning farmers and ranchers to keep on or enter into farming and production If there's efforts around healthy food financing, which provides federal financing for healthy retail At the local and state level, we would like to support the expansion of that program So there's just some examples of here that wherever it sits at their firms We feel like are directing our resources specifically in low-income communities and communities of color That's exactly where we will lend our support So that's where we sit on the farm bill and i'm going to pass it back to terry to talk about school nutrition Right um and before I just a quick note before I get started on that just a quick note on the politics because Wendy does the policy and I do the politics Thank you. Um, so on the politics around the our Platform there there was a bullet point around Finney with having to do with preventing other industries from taking part of finney um, we have there was the dairy industry had testified in front of um, the senator Agriculture one of the agriculture committees that they wanted to be included in in, um, finney now I don't have saying nothing about dairy finney was specifically designed around fruits and vegetables and the promotion of fruits and vegetables in increasing access to fresh healthy nutritious foods So since there's a finite amount there and it is a discretionary funded program I we think that it ought to stay focused on fruits and vegetables and so we will be working with partners to resist that the incursion of dairy or other Other industries that don't make any sense in finney There may be other places where it makes sense for dairy to get incentive funding or they can create their own incentive funding program Whatever, um, they want to do but we just firmly believe that they don't belong in finney Also the reason the windy snap block block granting is a big deal at the federal level under um, republican control They like to block grant things to the state The reason we don't think that is going to be an issue this time is because Commodity prices are low and farmers are hurting across color across the country And so the chair of house ag has gone to speaker ryan and said we can't mess around the snap It'll we need to pass this thing when it's when it expires in september of 2018 So we can't mess around with this we if we start screwing around the snap. We're going to end up Way past 2018 and our farmers will suffer more So that's the general feeling with our partners in washington And our lobbying team about why they think Block granting and taking snap out of the farm bill aren't really going to be part of the conversation People as wendy said people will bring them up There will be chatter about it, but nobody really thinks it's going to get much traction this year Um for those reasons. So that's why we're you know moving on to other things So again, we'll be paying attention to all of the farm bills that comes through and our platform will Evolve as issues arise that we feel need to be addressed or Or are important or if we hear from you all about what's going on And there are things that we need to be need to be taking a look at So um school nutrition, this is um Part of this we're just now rolling out you get the first preview look Um because it's in draft form and you'll notice the nutrition platform says draft right after that um, but we are working on an official Platform on school nutrition And this is the first preview of that but before you do that wendy touched on this the child nutrition reauthorization That that has expired now at the federal level again This is different than state level at the federal level it'll just keep rolling along anything That's not discretionary anything they agreed to fund before that's not discretionary just keeps rolling along Um, there are a lot of people in this field that think frankly with the political environment as it is in dc right now That leaving child nutrition alone makes the reauthorization just makes sense And it'll keep rolling along the way it has and we can then look to address it when things have calmed down Or evened out in dc Plus which congress doesn't have time for this. They're trying to do the affordable care act They're trying to do tax reform. They're trying to do an infrastructure plan right now. They need a new fbi director So they're in a bit of chaos there in dc right now. So something like child nutrition reauthorization There's no way it'll even come up in the next two years the follow on two years Maybe I mean we'll wait and see what happens We are keeping track of that and there are a coalition of of organizations in colorado that Are very interested and pay attention to that um just To preview our school nutrition platform this Is coming up recently because the department of ag under sonny purdue one of the first things he did was To issue a bit of a rollback to nutritional standards that had been implemented under the obama administration this is part of michelle obamas initiative And we do have a statement opposing the rollback Our focus is mostly on the inclusion of one percent flavored milk And that I think is available on our website If anybody wants if anybody wants to see it We can get it to you. It will be available on our website It is our official statement on on this um action by the usda and out of that we Determined we really need a platform on school nutrition and broadly what it looks like is that We support the national school lunch program and the use of whole fresh ingredients for scratch cooking If you do that that takes care of most of the nutritional needs that kids require We promote minimal minimally or unprocessed foods over highly processed foods And we promote water is the preferred beverage option and we would like to eliminate all sugar sweetened beverages including flavored milk In school meals. So that's our general platform around school nutrition. There's some Politically contentious issues in there But we feel that this is a good place to For live well to to be so that once we get that drafted that will also be on our website And I'd be happy for anyone to provide us any feedback on any of that As we move forward even once it's drafted on the website. I would be interested to know what you all think So This is just we're going to run through this slide very quickly. Um, we're not even going to go through all the bills This is just to let you know, we are these are bills. We're tracking. Um It's not a it's not the full list But it gives you an idea of the kinds of things that we look to support and the kinds of things we look to oppose Later on in the presentation again There's a website where both you can track these kinds of things or you can look them up and see what they're about If you have questions about any of them or our positions on them Again, I would be happy to talk to anybody about that These just give you an idea of what's out there And the kinds of things that we take a look at and where we land on our positions I will say the 1064 sent bill 1064 in the support column. That is the brand new lunch shaming Bill that just was introduced and right underneath that is the agricultural worker program act that Senator Bennett and five others before others have are introducing so These are all things and it's basically a It's for agricultural workers to be able to come into and out of the country With ease and also provides a path to citizenship. So that is That's this just gives you an overview of what we look at at the federal level Also, if there is these are in our policy update that we send out twice a month Um, if there's a bill that you know about that you want to keep track of let us know We'll add it to our policy update and you can track it through there and again I'm going to talk about a website a little bit later on where you can track these kinds of things Great thanks, terry. So I'm actually going to quickly pass it over to me again here But just one thing to note if we did in the beginning is that Terry and I are pretty smart people, but we're not all knowing we are not coming up with all of this ourselves We're tracking all this ourselves. It is important now that we do have federal lobbyists that we work with We work with squire patent bogs. We have them on retainer. They are based in dc and and here in denver Um, so we have sort of a full team that we can work with and then also, you know, activate as needed around these issues Um, so I'm going to pass it over to me and lovely. She's joining us from dc Um, as I mentioned earlier, she's doing a policy internship with national farmers unit in dc for a few months right now She is as many to probably know Just a strong policy advocate on issues across colorado and the nation She is a western slope producer representative seat on the colorado food systems advisory council She in her work has started a form for acre farm In eagle county that serves their local food bank and nutrition education there Um, and she's now I did not know this just now working on a film Um on the importance of keeping farmers on the land and the farm So we're going to pass it over to me again to hear about her experience and some of her takeaways Hi um, so I wanted to talk to you a little bit today in regards to what the policy environment looks like here in, um, washington dc um having worked, um, extensively in, um In colorado, it's a little different. So, um, I'll start with some of those differences. Um, so you've kind of heard Sessions move differently, um, and how some of the legislative processes work a little bit differently Um, and I think that any of you who worked in policy know that um in colorado. It's pretty quick You meet with your representatives get some ideas together session starts and and you work fast So, um Here in dc. I think that um with the current administration. It's important to Understand that with all the moving pieces. It's great to just do your research. So That's been a big learning experience for me here. Um And uh So the things to know for advocating right away right know your story and what is your 32nd Elevator speech what's your two-minute elevator speech? How are you communicating to that legislator to that representative? What's important about? Why the bill they're carrying or why this issue is important? Know your statistics if you've got two minutes spend half of it on Knowing the statistics and half of it on sharing your story. It's pretty Impactful to hear the stories of the different community members from across The state and even if you're not their constituents If you can plug your story into why that legislation Works or doesn't work for people across the united states Then you have you've touched that legislator and they'll they will take that back with them But also understand that it needs to come with statistics So what I like to do is go in start with a couple statistics Tell my story and then go back to the statistics with an ask And and so tell them what you're going to tell them. Hello. My name is megan lovelace And i'm here to talk to you about why school nutrition programs are so important across the united states And then tell them what you're going to tell them. So One in four children is relying on the free and reduced lunch program for healthy nutritious food And that's every day they go to school without having the nutrition standards They're not getting the nutrition they need leaving to long-term health benefits that they won't have without the nutrition standards And then tell them again. It's important. I'm a mother. I'm a farmer and I believe in these programs We need you to believe in them, too And I terry mentioned the the aides and those are key oftentimes You don't really meet with the legislator. You meet with their aides understand how valuable Those individuals are and while I might be in the district meeting with aides on the hill They have offices In your state So they've got offices in colorado and you can meet with the legislative aides. They're in those offices I feel like going to their office and meeting directly with them if that is Is something you can do bring a parent bring a farmer bring a person that is affected by that issue And bring literature. You can get a lot of that literature from the Directly from live while they're great. In fact oftentimes when I think literature statistics I call wendy and say give me give me what you got And it's something you can leave with them It's something for them to think about so you're not just leaving them with your store You're leaving them with the story that That helps to frame why why this issue is important. Why these two minutes Change the way that you think about that policy Other thing that I would let you know make sure that you're researching these legislatures. So How have they voted in the past? What did they vote on what are the issues that are really important to them while i'm here in dc Going to the committee hearings and there's been several on the farm bill And you can actually just watch those there's a website I think to terry will have the link for you and you can Go online and watch the hearings. It's really insightful as to understanding Which legislators on the agriculture committees are asking the different questions? What do they know what don't they know who is sitting in those hearings who is Who's representing you if you're a parent with children in the school system and free interviews lunch is important to you If you're a farmer looking to get on land and land access is important to you Who is sitting in those hearings? Representing your voice and what did they say to those legislators? Was your voice represented? um And who out of those legislators ask the questions that you thought I have that answer I can I have the story for you I can tell you about the family in kansas that was devastated by the The frost and they lost their winter wheat Or I could tell you about the mother who relies on the summer food service program to feed her children And that mother's me, right? um, so, uh, so Identify those legislators. Those are the ones that They need to hear your story um, and that affects how the movement Um happens here in the district I feel like also alliances and partnerships while many of you may have noticed in colorado Everyone is very very willing to work together towards the common goal Because session is so fast. Uh, we all have our heads down. We're all in the work Um, oftentimes being very strategic about how those alliances are formed at the federal level looks really different I think having the national sustainable ag coalition as a partner is amazing farmers union Is such an incredible resource. So understanding how you make those alliances um, I find that I spend a lot more time listening And uh, seeing the spaces in between the conversations and a lot of times that's where the movement happens. So, um Being mobilized being ready with the research with the story and with the statistics You never know when they're going to press go on something and especially right now So I think knowing that you're ready when they do press go With the story that matters And uh, some legislator is really going to embrace you and so will those staff And some won't some will hand you back your literature and tell you that their boss has already decided that this is a non-issue for them As you would with anybody that you're trying to form an alliance with you will meet them with grace and compassion and be kind and And say thank you And even if they've handed back the literature you have made your impact So know that too that sometimes the no is really a yes in a place like this You just won't ever hear the yes. So don't give up um and keep Plugging away at the story that is important for not just you but for your community and remind that representative that you're speaking on behalf Of if you're a farmer every farmer in the united states or every parent in the united states every every mother who who has to find a way to feed her family every day every Every commissioner that has to figure out how planning works with the city growing faster than it knows how to How to structure it so that it works for everyone? We're all in this fight together. So um, just remember that when when something like the health care bill happens um and uh Stick with your story because that's what's really important Thank you so much megan for sharing your story with us And at the end of this by the way, we will share all of our contact information including megan's So you can hound her all you want with all of your questions and for the meantime keep chatting in questions if you have them Um, thanks me and that was great. It's always good to get the firsthand version of what that's like um Now we're gonna building off what megan has just talked about we're going to talk about how We can all work together Live well local partners You locally in your community and your partners that you cultivate to affect political change um The first thing is uh information sharing we're going to start with information sharing I've talked about our summer policy tour again. If you have an interest in that, please email me um Or type it into the chat box if And we'll be we'll be going around this summer meeting with folks in communities to talk about what's going on there Um, we are forming topical policy committees at liberal colorado. We're going to have three topical policy committees One will be community food access one will be school food and one will be active transportation Um transit active living that kind of thing So we're going to try that and see if we uh can't get engagement around those issues We try to broad policy committee that didn't work very well because too many the issues are too disparate So we're breaking it up into smaller policy committees and uh, we're going to give that a try um The color of food policy network and the work groups that they have that's also an excellent place for information sharing There are 16 ish 18 ish food poll local food policy networks if you're working in food policy And you want to find out about a food policy network in your area and you don't know contact wendy She'd be happy to hook you up if you're in an area where there isn't a food policy network contact wendy She'd be happy to help you figure out how to develop one um Live well host the color of food systems digital hub, which is an excellent resource both forget getting the data that megan talked about um finding out You know mapping things in your community and sharing information with other people About what you can find out what they're doing. You can share what you're doing um Heal network meetings. Those are happening twice a year. We do a post legislative Here's what happened and then we'll do a pre legislative. Here's what's going on Um that all that information will be emailed out through all of our various networks And we'll also be on our website when they're scheduled And then in November actually, I think this year will be the heel summit We're combining that with the food policy convening this year. So um, I think that's going to be up here in denver And we look forward to seeing you all at that So that's those are all opportunities for information sharing Also, if there are events going on in your community that you think it would be beneficial for us to be at Let us know We like to travel. We like to see what goes on around the state So if you've got something going on in your community and you think that would be it would be useful for us To be there to hear what's going on. Please let us know um Then we're moving on to to the capacity building. It's this is true for community within your community It's true for with building capacity up upward with your state legislature. It's true for working at the federal level It is all about the relationships. I think megan very eloquently talked about how you have to Go to things you listen to things you talk to people you learn what's happening and then you you know Figure out where you are and make your pitch, but you have to develop the relationships. That's true for anything um Anything in policy I think it's important to develop local networks and coalitions around your specific issues This is true if you want to work at the local level at the state level or at the federal level If you have the more the merrier The more people you have on board what you're trying to do when you start out the the easier it is to do it um The more force you bring when you're talking to elected officials Whether it's your city councilman your state legislator or your federal congressman You can say these 10 organizations in this region support what we're doing That matters and so you want to develop your local networks um You want to invite your legislators or congresspersons to your sites to to show them what you're doing to your events I can I can tell you that I have been to a number of Days at the capital legislative updates attended webinars like this and every single person whether it's at the federal or state level We'll say invite your legislator invite your congressman invite your city council person Out to your site to your events and everybody goes okay, and then nobody does it So recognizing that um, we are going to And it's coming up here and I think on the next slide We're going to work on an engagement strategy where we work with our with our local partners to do just that When when we say that it matters it actually does matter. It's not just something we're saying It actually is the thing that makes the biggest difference If a legislator or congressperson goes to your farm And sees what's happening and sees the fruits and vegetables growing and listens to you talk about how you're Donating them to the local food pantry or you're working with your school on the farm to school or whatever it is That you're doing If you if they see the kitchen that you're cooking your You know your meals for from scratch out for your lunch program for your school Whatever it is it makes an impression on them that no piece of paper will ever make you can hand them a piece of paper You can talk about the things you can tell them and give them statistics. You can talk about this That's all good stuff. Don't get me wrong. That's all good stuff But nothing will make an impression like on them like being out in your farm Or being in your school having school lunch or anything along that But the meaning we're having tomorrow is that with the congresswoman to get is at grow house Because that makes it that that will make a much bigger impression on her than sitting in an office somewhere So I can't stress enough how important this is Again, it can be intimidating and uncomfortable if you're not used to working with people. That's why we're here to help um The other thing you can do is every legislator and congressperson is going to have town halls listening sessions Um coffees meetings, whatever it is. I think right now senator gardener is limiting himself to telephone town halls But I um senator Bennett has been out doing listening sessions last time he was in town He squeezed a bunch of men over over um A couple of weeks go Make the time and go Introduce yourself get to know them get to know their staff that way when you call with an issue or you email with an issue They they can connect it to a face in a and a place. It matters Um, don't be intimidated. They're they're not actually intimidating Um, they're just human people like they're well most of them are human people like the rest of us So I think it's I just I think this is we talk about it a lot. It doesn't happen much Um, but the dividends that it would pay for you and whatever your issues are And then whatever coalitions you're working in would be tremendous if if we did this so To that end i'm going to skip back and forth because I did these in the wrong order um The what we are planning on doing is we are going to try to work with our local partners to engage Their state legislators and their commerce persons For three reasons the farm bill Um our bill the live well colorado bill the one that died um The dead bill and then also for whatever issues that you've got going on in your area I mean, this isn't a one-way thing you if you've got the error of your congressperson or your state legislator Tell them whatever it is you want to talk about Um, this you're you're not limited. There's you're not constrained you do as megan said you want to have your story You need to know what it is you're talking about and you need to have it together Rambling isn't going to help so you need to be very on point with whatever it is your whatever it is you want to say But once you're once you have that and then you're meeting with them that you can meet with them about whatever it is That you want to meet with them about um So to this end we're going to work with our local partners to engage Their state legislators around the live well colorado bill and the con in your congresspersons around the farm bill um Because again as I said they actually want to see you in action That they you're they represent you and actually most of them take that very seriously It doesn't seem like it when they're in dc and all the crap is going on Or maybe even at the state legislature during the session, but they really do they represent you and they want to know What you think that's why they're there. That's why they're doing what they're doing for the most part um So what we're going to do is we'll provide our platforms on these issues platform on the farm bill Platforms on our state bill once we have that crafted again again We have to do some work with our partners to figure out where we're going with that Um, we will help provide data. Um as megan said if you can start with data it matters Um, it really matters if they're standing on your farm while you're talking about it. Um We will do sign-on letters. This is probably more for the farm bill than anything else But we'll create a sign-on letter that you and your community partners could sign on if you want to Which again, it just says in numbers. Here's what's important to colorado Please pay attention to this and then we will help you in any way you need If you want to if you want to do this, but you're not sure how to do it Call us will help you. We'll join you if you want us to we'll come with you Um to do it if that if that makes it easy or is or is somehow makes it better um Or whatever help you might think you need. We're happy to help you do that We are happy to have anybody do this the more the merrier as I said We will also be recruiting people for specific targets one of the things about Lobbying issues or addressing issues is finding out who your targets are this will be particularly true for our state legislative Effort we know which republicans in the senate. We're going to need to target if we want to get it passed So we might be reaching out to you specifically to do that That doesn't mean that we don't want you to not do it if you're not if we're not individually contacting you Um, we would love to know who is doing it. So if you wanted to let us know we would Appreciate um a phone call on that and again, we're happy to help in any any way This summer for the state legislators is obviously the time to do it They just finished the session. So give them a couple weeks to decompress And then any time after that through I would say september ish Is a good time to try to meet with them in their district Congress again that's year-round and we'll be working with Their staffs their local staff people in addition to trying to find them when they're in town Like august is a good time to get them And for starters for those of you who are interested Just to get your dip your toe in what we heard from ensac Just yesterday. I believe two days ago whenever it was is That um, what would be helpful to them on the farm bill and obviously then helpful to us and helpful to you would be to Mat the assets in your community. What's what's currently happening in your community around food? That's related to the farm bill what federal rural development grants exist what other grants exist from the federal From usda that are already in your community. What's happening in that community? Um, that way ensac will be able to present again senator Bennett is on the agriculture committee We are in colorado. So they will be wanting from us information about what's going on in the state of colorado already What federal money is in the state so we can say to senator Bennett? It's important that you protect this particular program because X number of counties in colorado are utilizing these funds and it's doing this many things So for those of you that are interested in giving it a try See if you can find out what those assets are in your community. If you don't know where to start call us. We'll help you Um, we'll help you figure out how to go about it Um, but that would be helpful for senator Bennett when he's fighting for programs that are important to us here in colorado We need to desert you and add to that before I go back the other side Although one quick thing i'll add is that uh, check your inbox. You all get a lots of emails from me But somewhat level We will be following up with you specifically to document what terry was just talking about is that um There is this thing called the know your farmer know your food compass Which tries to track all these federal programs we have in colorado like who's received the you know value added Producer grand who's received the finny green and you know what the resources have come in. We know it's not Fully comprehensive. So we are going to be surveying a lot of you to say hey What projects are not captured in this compass so we can really document to senator benna primarily but others Look at all the resources and programming that we have had in care of colorado and then look at obviously the benefits there Thanks, and then just lastly as i've been promising throughout these are Here are ways to to learn about what's going on to stay updated and to track things that are important to you We live while we produce as i mentioned the policy updates We we do one standalone issue once a month and then as part of live while colorado's e-newsletter We there's a policy update portion of that e-newsletter That comes out In between the policy updates so and that's updated to be current So that's one way to stay webinars like this one Um, and then social media were much more aggressively in social media than we have been in the past Our facebook and our twitter feeds in particular are carrying a lot more information. I think than they used to So you might want to check in on those And then i've got four websites here One is one thing people don't always know who their legislator is there are a number of ways you can find that out And if you're just looking for your state legislator the colorado general assembly webpage is a good place to do that But i did i was checking this out a couple days ago trying to find a good site man This is common causes site if you type in your address you'll get everyone who represents you from the president on down So it's kind of one-stop shopping is why i landed on this website I thought it was the easiest to use frankly So that's one place where just one stop shopping you can get who your congressperson is you can get who your senators are You can find out who your state reps and state senator is um again As with anything if you have trouble with any of this contact us we're happy to help out The second website there is the general assembly colorado general assembly website This is actually a very good website where you can during the session watch and listen to hearings As megan was talking about the federal level we have that at the state level and it's through this website here You also have um you can look back I think to 1992 or something for bills that are have been enacted You can see what happened this this just this past session If it's during the session, you can see what's going on You can look up specific bills find out what people voted on them all of that information is there at that website Um, the next website is the congressional website congress.gov. That's the one I think megan was talking about you can track just about anything out of there And I that's where you can watch the hearings that are going on. It's vast There's a lot going on there But as I found it I find it fairly easy to use and to find the hearings and I mean they make it fairly user friendly um To find the hearing it is interesting to watch the hearings. They also archive everything and it's right there So if you want to if you missed something like there was a snap hearing about a month ago I missed it. It was very easy to find to find it in their archives. And so I could watch the whole thing Anyway, um, and then I found this other website. It's govtrack.us. This is the site I used to track the federal bills um You can it'll send me email updates when something has been introduced into the agriculture committee You can set it the parameters however you want it. I mean anything you're interested in Um, and then you can also say I want to track these specific bills So if anything that happens on any of the bills we're tracking, I'll get an update About that Um, even if someone just signs on as a cosponsor or whatever it is So I have found that website to be useful and then just that's for tracking things and for just general Political information. I think again, I mentioned the political report. Um, that's a fairly good non-biased Information site. I think political also does a good job Although it can be overwhelming But you can get you can set up email alerts from political on any issue under the sun That you get every morning in your email if you want, um, or you can just check out their website They have they have the free website and then they've got a political pro website Which is which costs money, but the free website. There's plenty of information there Which I think is fairly comprehensive. So those are two good websites where I get a lot of information When I'm looking for kind of just general what's happening at the what's happening, it's all that's all federal information Little less obviously Denver Post And the news channels here in Colorado Is where I get my local news from but Um, I think that about wraps it up. Here is our contact information again. We'll be sending the slides out For the big finish um We'll be sending these slides out so you have our contact information With you, but this is how to get hold of us any one of us and again Megan is in dc right now, but you can get hold of her at these numbers Um, and I don't think we have any questions in the chat Thing shows it was anybody have any questions before we sign off Type them in now if you have any questions And I think some of the big key takeaways are yes, there's slides and the recording of this We'll be sending out both of those. Please share them throughout your networks And I think some of the big big key takeaways are You will be hearing from us right is that you can dabble or you can go big and you can be like terry You must get like 30 emails every morning as soon as she wakes up about what's going on um But bottom line is is you will be hearing from us, right? And we want to hear from you. So sign on letters our farm bill platform Summer tour schedules will be sending all of this out, but please let us know what we can do Um For you as well Whether you're inviting us along or we you actually sort of need our help in terms of reaching out and scheduling meetings And site visits with your delegation. We're there for the whole spectrum of ways we can work together So thank you so much. I see several of you. We've also actually already emailed me personally about activities. You're up to keep it up We love it. Um, thank you guys so much for your time and attention and we will be in touch soon. Thank you