About
The ESCOP Budget and Legislative Committee (BLC) is charged with developing annual justifications for the federal budget process and legislative priorities, including the Farm Bill, in consultation with other sections of the APLU Board on Agricultural Assembly (BAA) and other stakeholders. The ESCOP BLC is aligned with two standing committees of the BAA Policy Board of Directors: Budget and Advocacy Committee (BAC) and Committee on Legislation and Policy (CLP).
Members
| Name | Committee Positions | Affiliation | Appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Lommel | Chair and Member | agInnovation South | slommel@ncsu.edu | 2025 |
| Anton Bekkerman | Past Chair | agInnovation Northeast | anton.bekkerman@unh.edu | |
| Gary Pierzynski | Incoming Chair, Member, CLP Rep | agInnovation North Central | pierzynski.3@osu.edu | 2024-Current |
| Alton Thompson | Member | ARD | athompson1@ncat.edu | |
| Ulises Toledo | Member | ARD | jtoledo@centralstate.edu | 2025-Current |
| Derek McLean | Member | agInnovation North Central | derek.mclean@unl.edu | 2023-Current |
| Wendie Cohick | Member | NERA | cohick@njaes.rutgers.edu | 2024- Current |
| Scott Senseman | Member | agInnovation South | scott.senseman@okstate.edu | 2023-Current |
| Sreekala Bajwa | Member | agInnovation- West | Sreekala.bajwa@montana.edu | |
| Shawn Donkin | Member | agInnovation- West | donkins@oregonstate.edu | |
| Lisa Townson | Liaison | ECOP | ltownson@uri.edu | 2024- Current |
| Bill Hoffman | Liaison support | ECOP | whoffman@aplu.org | 2023- Current |
| Bob Mattive | Liaison | CARET | bgmattive@gmail.com | 2024- Current |
| Doug Steele | Liaison | APLU | dsteele@aplu.org | |
| Elizabeth Stulberg | Liaison | Lewis-Burke, Advocacy | elizabeth@lewis-burke.com | |
| Matt Peterson | Liaison | CGA | mapeters@ncsu.edu | 2025-Current |
| Gary Mayo | Liaison | NIFA | gary.mayo@usda.gov | 2024- Current |
| Kevin Cain | Liaison | BVM | kcain@aavmc.org | 2025- Current |
| Laura Jolly | Liaison | BHS | ljolly@iastate.edu | |
| Jeanette Thurston | Executive Vice-Chair | agInnovation North Central | jthurston@ksu.edu | 2025-Current |
| Chris Hamilton | Assistant Executive Vice-Chair | agInnovation North Central | chamilton@wisc.edu | 2025-Current |