State Representative Norine Hammond has been elected to serve as President of the Board for State Agriculture and Rural Leaders (SARL), where state leaders find the answers they need on agriculture and rural policy issues.
Hammond was elected President at SARL’s June 17th board meeting. She previously served as 1st Vice President of State Ag and Rural Leaders and has been a member of SARL since 2011.
“Last week, I was honored to be elected President of the Board for State Ag and Rural Leaders,” Rep. Hammond said. “Joining me is 1st VP Sen. Carolyn McGinn (Kansas), 2nd VP Sen. Annette Sweeney (Iowa) and Sec. Devon Mathis (CA). I look forward to serving with these legislative leaders to promote our shared passion for agriculture and rural communities across America.”
In the Illinois General Assembly, Representative Hammond has been a leader on agriculture policy and rural economic development. Earlier this year, Rep. Hammond passed legislation creating Future Farmers of America (FFA) license plate decals.
House Bill 5400 provides for the issuance of Future Farmers of America license plate decals by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. It creates the Future Farmers of America Fund and provides that all money in the Future Farmers of America Fund shall be paid as grants to the Illinois Association of Future Farmers of America.
Representative Hammond’s legislation was an initiative of Macomb FFA alumni and supporters, and was backed by the Illinois Farm Bureau.
“I want to thank the Macomb FFA for bringing this idea to me and working with me to see it passed into law,” Rep. Hammond said. “Illinois has many specialty plates and decals to support a broad array of causes and I’m thrilled that our FFA students will soon be able to benefit from this new license plate decal. As legislators, we need to do everything we can to support our future farmers and Illinois agriculture in general. These decals are one step we can take to help fund important FFA programs.”
Illinois will be joining nine other states that already have FFA license plates or decals.