Minnesota Schools, Businesses to Close for Farmers’ Protest
ST. PAUL — Businesses and schools in farm towns throughout Minnesota plan to close today so workers and students can attend a rally at the state Capitol to draw attention to the financial plight of farmers.
At least 34 school districts have confirmed that they will close for the day.
Groundswell, the group sponsoring the rally, predicted that 10,000 persons, including farmers from Iowa, Wisconsin and South Dakota, will brave sub-freezing temperatures to attend the rally.
Demonstrators planned to give state officials a list of demands called the “Minnesota Farm Emergency Act of 1985,” Bobbi Polzine, a Groundswell organizer, said.
The demands included a moratorium on farm foreclosures, guaranteed farm operating loans and a fair price for commodities.
The protesters also planned to ask that 50% of the state’s budget surplus be reserved for a state-guaranteed farm operating loan program to help finance spring planting, and that Midwestern governors lobby in Washington for increased price supports.
Sen. Rudy Boschwitz (R-Minn.) and Rep. Timothy J. Penny (D-Minn.) have said that they were pessimistic about achieving any quick changes in federal policies.
A bill goes to the Minnesota Senate floor this week that would give farmers a 120-day moratorium on farm foreclosures.
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