2015 -- H 6350

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LC002908

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2015

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING ALFRED R. BETTENCOURT, JR., FOR HIS DEDICATED SERVICE WITH

THE RHODE ISLAND FARM BUREAU

     Introduced By: Representatives Naughton, Handy, Reilly, Shekarchi, and Filippi

     Date Introduced: June 24, 2015

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Al Bettencourt, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Farm Bureau

(RIFB), has spent the past fifteen years as the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Farm

Bureau (RIFB), but he has spent most of his life dedicated to advancing and protecting farming

and farm land in our state; and

     WHEREAS, RIFB is an independent, non-governmental organization of volunteer

farmers and ranchers who have united in order to advance farming for the benefit of all. It is both

local and national in scope and influence, and provides a voice for agricultural producers at all

levels; and

     WHEREAS, As the Executive Director of RIFB, Mr. Bettencourt has successfully

advocated for myriad advances and protections for farming including, changing Rhode Island’s

tax law so that the estate tax on farmland would be based on its actual use, not its potential use,

which resulted in keeping thousands of acres of farmland in production for the benefit of all

Rhode Islanders; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Bettencourt received his Bachelor's degree in Social Science Teacher

Education from Rhode Island College and his Master's degree in Public Administration. Previous

to taking the helm at RIFB, he was a Loan Officer at FEC Mortgage, and had worked as the

State's Executive Director of USDA; and

     WHEREAS, In addition to his work at RIFB, Mr. Bettencourt runs the Bettencourt Farm,

located in Pascoag, Rhode Island. His family has been involved with farming in Rhode Island for

over 100 years, starting in 1905, when his grandfather, Manuel Bettencourt purchased land for a

dairy farm in Warren. Eventually in 2009, Mr. Bettencourt and his wife, Gail, purchased an acre

of farmland in Pascoag and participate in the Burrillville Farmer's Market; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby honors and thanks Al Bettencourt for his dedicated service to

agriculture and the people of this state and our nation; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Alfred R. Bettencourt, Jr.

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LC002908

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