A legislative committee examining funding levels at the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) will hold a hearing Tuesday at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. The Joint Committee on Review of the Plant Industries Division meets Tuesday afternoon at 1.
Chillicothe State Representative Rusty Black, who serves on the committee, tells Missourinet the department needs additional funding.
Black, who’s a member of the Joint Committee on Review of the Plant Industries Division, notes that division operates Missouri’s pesticide control and produce safety programs.
Black tells Missourinet he hopes lawmakers make a good decision, so they don’t have to review this again in two or three years.
Missouri’s state operating budget is more than 28-billion dollars. Despite agriculture being Missouri’s top industry, MDA’s budget is about 39-point-five million dollars, and the Plant Industries Division budget is about four million dollars. Black says the department needs more funding.
