Policy Programs
The mission of PFB Governmental Affairs Programs are to facilitate the development by PFB members of local, state and national policy and implement that policy using grassroots committee activities and professional lobbying.
By monitoring proposed legislation and agency regulations affecting agriculture and PFB issues, this department assists county Farm Bureaus with many grassroots programs. These programs include:
Policy development is the most important activity of the county Farm Bureau. It is an organized and on-going program of gathering ideas and opinions from the members. The county Policy Development Committee is responsible for editing, compiling, clarifying and submitting these ideas for discussion and action at the county annual meeting.
Resolutions on state and national issues that are suggested by the majority of voting members at the county annual meeting are submitted to the state Policy Development Committee, and resolutions passed concerning local issues become county policy. The State Policy Development Committee then decides, by majority vote, which ideas are to be submitted as resolutions to the voting delegates at the PFB annual meeting. The voting delegates then decide, by majority vote, which resolutions are to be adopted as PFB policy.
These resolutions are published in an official policy book for the year and policies that are of national interest are then submitted to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Resolution Committee and voted on by voting delegates at the AFBF annual meeting. Adopted resolutions are then published after the annual meeting in the AFBF policy book.
The county legislative program includes state and national governmental relations committees. Respectively, they are responsible for keeping up-to-date on state and national issues and for contacting elected officials about legislation. State legislative committees are expected to attend the annual legislative conference in Harrisburg.
National legislative committees attend the national legislative conference in Washington, D.C.
