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California Association of Wheat Growers (CAWG)

November 1, 2007

FARM BILL.  SENATE AG COMMITTEE MOVES THEIR VERSION TO THE SENATE FLOOR.   The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry unanimously reported its long-delayed version of the 2007 Farm Bill last week.  Multiple press reports indicate floor action is scheduled to begin Nov. 5.  The package included an adjustment of target prices and loan rates for growers of wheat, barley and oilseeds, as well as the addition of an optional counter cyclical revenue program.  The package did not cut the wheat direct payment.  However, the bill does tighten payment limits by eliminating the three-entity rule and lowers the payment caps for eligible producers.   The package also includes important conservation provisions and acknowledge the need to incentivize growers to produce dedicated energy crops in the form of a biomass transition program.   Some key aspect of the Committee-passed bill: 

Commodity Title

• a wheat target price increase to $4.20 from $3.92.
• a wheat loan rate increase to $2.94 from $2.75.
• a wheat direct payment rate of $0.52, unchanged from current law.
• eliminates the three-entity rule.
• phases the adjusted gross income cap down to $750,000 with a 67 percent income from farming trigger. 

A new revenue program called Average Crop Revenue (ACR) was included in the bill as an optional program. The program contains a fixed payment and a counter cyclical revenue program based on state revenue triggers.

Trade Title
The bill provides an increase in Market Access Program funds of $10 million annually until 2011 when funding will return to current levels and provides an increase in Foreign Market Development funds - $5 million for fiscal 2008 & 2009, $10 million in fiscal 2010 and a return to current funding in 2011.

Conservation Title
The bill creates a new Comprehensive Stewardship Incentive Program to administer and coordinate EQIP and CSP under the same program.  The bill also: 

• extends CRP until 2012 at the current cap of 39.2 million acres.
• re-authorizes EQIP through 2012 and maintains the baseline funding level at just over $1 billion per year.
• re-names CSP as the Conservation Stewardship Program, eliminates the priority watershed concept and requires 13.2 million acres be enrolled at a national average cost of $19 per acre, an addition of more than $250 million.
• re-authorizes and extends WHIP and WRP through 2012.

2007 LEGISLATIVE REPORT.  The 2007 California state legislative session came to a close on October 14^th.  Our elected representatives introduced 2,802 bills during the session; 964 (34% of those introduced) passed both houses and were sent Governor for action.  The governor signed 750 bills into law and vetoed 214. 

The Governor took decisive action on the bills on hot-button issues, for example he vetoed the legalization of hemp production and same-sex marriages.  However, the governor also kept interest groups on their toes.  The "green" Governor signed numerous bills supported by the environmental community, but he also vetoed a significant number supported by those same groups.

The Legislature is scheduled to return on Monday, January 7, 2009.  The month of January is likely to be very busy as Governor Schwarzenegger gives his State of the State address, unveils the 2007/08 budget with a projected $8.6 billion deficit, and the Legislature gets back to work.  Not to mention that 2008 is an election year.  Hold on to your hats…..

 ·        The  most significant bills signed into law by the Governor are as follows:

AB 118 (Nunez; D-Los Angeles).  Chaptered.  Approves collection of approximately $210 million annually in fees from vehicle registration, smog check abatement, boats, and trailers to fund air quality and clean technology grant programs.  $85 million will fund air quality programs like scrapping old high polluting fleet vehicles or Carl Moyer diesel retrofits.  $125 million will fund programs to address clean technology and biofuels research and means to accelerate their deployment. 

AB 1347 (Caballero; D-Salinas).  Chaptered.  Called the Pet Store Animal Care Act, as of January 1, 2009 establishes procedures for the care and maintenance of animals in the custody of a pet store and places limitations on their sale or transfer. 

SB 319 (Wiggins; D-Eureka).  Chaptered.  Makes changes to existing law that limits the amount of hours per day and week that 16- and 17-year olds may work in agricultural packing plants.

SB 719 (Machado; D-Stockton.  Chaptered.  Increases membership of the San Joaquin Valley Pollution Control District board from 8 to 15 members.  The existing board is made up of county representatives.  Joining the board will be 5 members from city councils within the territory of the district, based on region and population.  In addition, 2 public members will be appointed to the board by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

·        The most significant bills VETOED by the Governor are as follows:

AB 8 (Nunez; D-Los Angeles).  VETOED.  This bill would have created several new programs including the California Cooperative Health Insurance Purchasing Program and the California Health Care Cost and Quality Transparency Commission.  The goal of the bill was to provide a statewide purchasing pool for health care coverage for employers.  Employers would have been required to make employee health expenditures equivalent to 7.5% of their total employee social security wages – or - to pay an employer fee of that amount.  The bill would have expanded the number of children eligible for coverage under the Healthy Families Program and the number of persons eligible for the Medi-Cal program by deleted federal citizenship requirements. 

AB 377 (Arambula; D-Fresno).  VETOED.  This bill would have required farm labor contractors to disclose up to 5 names and addresses of the legal entities that secured their services and would make the farmer who hired the contractor strictly liable for specific workplace violations.

SB 70 (Florez; D-Bakersfield).   VETOED.  This bill would have specified fuel standards and signage requirements for biodiesel and biodiesel blends, and for renewable diesel and renewable diesel blends.  

SB 180 (Migden; D-San Francisco).   VETOED.  This bill would have created "card check" union elections for agricultural employees as opposed to current secret ballot votes.  The bill also would have required very tight time constraints to the ALRB for their investigation and certification of the election and would require the board to make a binding non-appealable administrative decision to certify the election and the exclusive bargaining representative (union).

SB 622 (Padilla; D-Van Nuys.   VETOED.  This bill would have altered the definitions and classifications of independent contractors and would have prohibited the willful misclassification of employees as independent contractors.  The bill authorized specified civil penalties for persons or employers violating the bill.

SB 650 (Migden; D-San Francisco).  VETOED.  Same legislation as SB 180 above, creating the "card check" union elections for agricultural employees with a five year sunset provision.