Invest in and Expand Kentucky Agriculture: Beshear and Mongiardo pledge to maintain 50 percent of the Master Settlement Agreement to increasing net farm income. In addition, Kentucky needs to refocus its economic development strategies so that they target high-wage, sustainable jobs, rely more on creating sustainable growth from within our own state and less on attracting out-of-state companies that demand money from the state in exchange for creating jobs. That includes supporting and promoting Kentucky’s agriculture industry. Our administration will also work to bring more processing plants to Kentucky, so products grown in Kentucky don’t have to be shipped out-of-state for processing, and that revenue can stay right here.

Help Farmers Market their Products: Beshear and Mongiardo recognize the great need for agricultural development, marketing, and promotion. As Kentucky moves away from dependence on tobacco, we must promote and protect Kentucky farmers and their products. Preserving family farms by facilitating generation transfer and providing incentives for the new generation of farmers is critical. We will support existing marketing initiatives and promote value-added agricultural endeavors, including processing and renewable fuel facilities, as well as supporting the Office of Agricultural Marketing and Product Promotion and entrepreneurship centers in their efforts to assist farmers in marketing needs and initiatives.

Focus on Immediate Deployment of Cost-Effective Clean Energy Technology. Beshear Mongiardo will pursue all viable technologies and industries that are likely to produce the type of Clean Technology jobs and industries we want to locate and expand in Kentucky, including ethanol and other biofuels. These continue to be cost competitive with gasoline, and we will work closely with Kentucky farmers, refiners and distributors to make sure that this home-grown resource continues to make inroads in the Kentucky marketplace. In addition to currently competitive biofuels made from soy, corn and other farm products, new methods of converting cellulose and woody materials into liquid fuels using genetically engineered bacteria and enzymes hold the promise of producing farm-based fuels that are cheaper than gasoline and current forms of ethanol. Kentucky’s researchers and farmers, businesses and universities can play a critical role in developing these new alternative fuel technologies. We will promote research and development of new alternative fuel technologies to spur innovation in this area.

Make Sure that Rural Kentucky is Part of the Clean Energy Solution. Beshear Mongiardo will work with Kentucky farmers and small businesses to establish training programs and provide information on how to obtain financing for ethanol plants at or near farms. For example, our proposed Kentucky Energy Fund will be particularly focused on providing rural Kentucky with economic opportunities associated with new ethanol production technologies.

Push for Landowner Protection Laws. Great opportunity exists in rural Kentucky to develop and expand the Adventure Tourism industry. With its many lakes, rivers and streams, Kentucky has more miles of shoreline than virtually any other state. However, many of these natural resources are on private lands, and many private landowners are understandably concerned about the liability involved in opening their land for public use. One way other states have overcome this obstacle is by passing “hold harmless” laws. Beshear and Mongiardo will work to develop and enhance our recreational trail system and expand access to public hunting lands, while ensuring that the rights of private landowners are protected. Kentucky must address this issue now to open up more lands that can be used to further expand and enhance the offerings of our growing Adventure Tourism industry.

Match Farmers and Hunters. Beshear and Mongiardo will match farmers and landowners that have nuisance wildlife or wildlife damage problems with hunters and trappers. The administration will work with the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and the Kentucky Farm Bureau to put a program in place to satisfy everyone’s needs.

Expand Health Care Coverage and Address Rising Health Care Costs. To promote quality, affordable health coverage for all Kentuckians, we will take two key steps: 1) Promote quality, affordable coverage starting with covering all children and 2) Control runaway health care costs. More information about our health care plan, Keeping Kentuckians Healthy, is available at: www.stevebeshear.com.