Pennsylvania Extension Faces Mayday [Opinion]

David Eddy

David Eddy

Editor’s Note: Since I wrote this editorial a few weeks ago, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf decided not to veto the bill mentioned below that included funding for Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences research and Extension programs. But while the battle may have been won in Pennsylvania – for now, as the state budget that looms in July will have a deficit of more than $2 billion – Extension programs across the U.S. need your support. Even if you don’t do it for yourself, or for the fruit and nut industry, do it because Extension is critical in supporting specialty agriculture, which is vital to improving the health of this great country.

Virtually everyone has heard someone — preferably in a movie theater or on TV and not the real world — call out “Mayday! Mayday!” It’s the international radio distress signal used by ships and aircraft. In other words, it often means disaster.

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But, if used in another setting, and in a different form, its meaning changes drastically. May Day is a May 1 holiday celebrating spring. To be honest, I know about it primarily because my Mom, who had a real green thumb, would prepare baskets of flowers called “May baskets.” When I was little, she would give them to the me early on the morning of May 1, and I would drop them on our neighbors’ doorsteps.

According to Wikipedia, that tradition has been fading in popularity since the late 20th Century. I don’t know which makes me feel older: The fact that I participated in a nearly forgotten rite of spring, or that the writer of the entry makes it sound like the late “20th century” might be ancient times.

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But May 1 is a big deal again this year in Pennsylvania, a curious blend of “Mayday” and “May Day,” a combination of a serious emergency and a festival of flora. It may, according to Penn State University Provost Nick Jones, be the date marking the end of Extension in Pennsylvania.

Sure, it sounds crazy. Agriculture has long been featured at Penn State, which started as an ag school in 1855. Although other majors, such as engineering, have become more esteemed, agriculture is still the one branch of science with a guaranteed constituency on the board of trustees.

Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences research and Extension programs are funded through the state general funds budget — through the Land Scrip Fund — located in the state Department of Agriculture’s budget. Although, according to Extension proponents, there is strong support for the college’s agricultural research and Extension programs, the Land Scrip Fund was part of Governor Tom Wolf’s line-item veto and is currently “zeroed out.”

According to those supporting a petition to oppose the cuts, if zero funding stands, it will have devastating impact on the entire college — including the elimination of Penn State Extension and the college’s agricultural research stations — and the loss to Pennsylvania of approximately $80 million of federal money leveraged by these state funds.

In mid-March, both the state House and Senate passed bills approving ag funding. But Gov. Wolf has threatened veto, saying “I fully support funding for Extension’s appropriation line, but because the legislature has not yet acted on the so called ‘non-preferred’ bills, which direct funding to our state-related institutions of higher education, this line must be treated similarly.”

Once again, by lumping together funds for different purposes, government has mucked things up. But whatever the cause, this is obviously a problem that needs solving. On May 1, unless the governor declines to veto the legislation, 60-day layoff notices will go out to the 1,100 people employed in Extension and ag research, Jones said.

What can you do? If you’re a Pennsylvanian, you can of course contact your state government officials. If not, you can go on-line and sign a petition that will go to the governor and legislative leadership in support of Pennsylvania Extension. As of mid-March, 14,345 supporters have signed the petition, which is located here. Please go online and sign it to show your support now. When it comes to “May Day,” it’s “Mayday!” ●

 

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