Illinois Farm Bureau Endorses Congresswoman Lauren Underwood For Reelection

County Farm Bureau Leaders Voted Unanimously to Support Underwood’s Reelection

ST CHARLES, IL – Farmer trustees representing county Farm Bureaus in the 14th Congressional District today announced their support for Congresswoman Lauren Underwood’s reelection.

County Farm Bureau leaders meeting as trustees for the Illinois Agricultural Association ACTIVATOR® PAC – the Illinois Farm Bureau’s political action committee – unanimously endorsed Underwood in recognition of her efforts in the 116th Congress on behalf of farmers in her community.

“In this challenging time, our farmers know that I will deliver for them, whether it’s securing temporary emergency shipments of propane, ensuring the USDA is providing the scientific information farmers depend on, standing up for our biofuels producers, or making certain our farmers receive the federal support they were promised,” Congresswoman Lauren Underwood said. “Farmers throughout the 14th know they have a champion in me, and I’m so grateful to receive the endorsement of the Illinois Agricultural Association’s ACTIVATOR PAC.”

“Farming is tough, but it’s what my family and I love to do,” said Kaylee Heap, manager of Heap’s Giant Pumpkin Farm in Minooka. “Health care costs serve as a one of the main barriers for me to return home to the farm to grow our business. Congresswoman Underwood has not only been a champion for farmers during a really tough time, she is doing the work to lower premium prices for families like mine, who are faced with the choice to purchase healthcare from the exchange or rely on one spouse to work off the farm to carry health care coverage. We’re so proud to have Lauren represent us in Congress, and I’m looking forward to casting my vote for her!”

Underwood’s legislation, the Health Care Affordability Act, would ensure that families who purchase health insurance on the exchange would spend no more than 8.5 percent of their income on premiums. Currently, families in the 14th District spend as much of 25 percent of their income on health care premiums. The Health Care Affordability Act passed the House on a bipartisan vote at the end of June.

Congresswoman Underwood has been a consistent advocate for the farmers in her district. After hearing from members of her advisory committee and the Illinois Farm Bureau, Congresswoman Underwood led a bipartisan Illinois congressional delegation letter – signed by 16 others – questioning a confusing and potentially inaccurate June 2019 crop report which caused an uproar among farmers across the state. Underwood later passed legislation through the House of Representatives to prevent agencies like USDA from removing existing scientific information regarding climate change and extreme weather events from federal agency websites.

She has maintained a continuous dialogue with farmers harmed by retaliatory tariffs and personally intervened to ensure Illinois farmers received market facilitation payments promised by the Trump Administration. She cast a key vote to implement the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a trade agreement that will maintain tariff-free access to two top export markets for northern Illinois farmers. Congresswoman Underwood has strongly supported renewable fuels and voted this spring for assistance that has helped farmers through unprecedented supply chain disruption this year as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A cosponsor of the Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act of 2019, she has fought to protect the northern Illinois biofuels industry by working to stop the Administration’s abuse of Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs).