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A publication of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture HOUSE INTERSTATE SALES BILL INTRODUCED HOUSE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES 2007 FARM BILL PLANS State News--NEW PROGRAM ENHANCES MAPPING OF NOXIOUS WEEDS State News--SPITZER SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER CREATING COUNCIL ON FOOD POLICY _________________________________________________________Past Issues What's New on the NASDA Website
NASDA's 2007 Farm Bill Recommendations NASDA's Midyear Meeting Documents NASDA's Trade Shows: USFES; AFF; IFE
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_____________________________________________________________________ INFORMATION ABOUT REGIONAL MEETINGS AVAILABLE Meeting and hotel information is available for the NEASDA, SASDA, WASDA, and MASDA meetings. The hotel group deadlines are coming up soon, so check out the websites at http://www.nasda.org/neasda2007, http://www.nasda.org/sasda/, _____________________________________________________________________ HOUSE INTERSTATE SALES BILL INTRODUCED On May 15, Reps. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) introduced legislation (H.R. 2315) in the House to allow interstate sales of state-inspected meat and poultry. The bill is the same legislation they introduced last year (H.R. 6130). Interest and support for interstate meat sales legislation is growing in Congress. NASDA is leading a coalition of more than 70 organizations to push for passage of a bill this year. Both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees have indicated interest in including interstate meat sales in the 2007 farm bill. There are 15 lawmakers who have already cosponsored H.R. 2315: Reps. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.), Michael Conaway (R-Texas), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Tom Petri (R-Wisc.), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), Shelly Moore Capito (D-W.V.), Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.), Steve King (R-Iowa), Jim Marshall (D-Ga.), Steven Pearce (R-N.M.), John Salazar (D-Colo.), and Mark Souder (R-Ind.). On March 29, Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) introduced H.R. 1760 which takes a different approach to allow interstate meat sales. The Kind bill now has nine cosponsors: Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), Jim Marshall (D-Ga.), Dave Obey (D-Wisc.), Tim Walz (D-Minn.), Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.), Steve Kagen (D-Wisc.), Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.), and Tom Petri (R-Wisc.). NASDA has created a special webpage with information about interstate meat sales legislation. It is located at http://www.nasda.org/interstatemeatshipment/. (Contact: Charlie Ingram) SENATORS FEINSTEIN AND CRAIG UNVEIL DETAILS OF AGJOBS; PROGRAM INCLUDED IN COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION BILL After senators announced an historic agreement last week on comprehensive immigration reform, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho) unveiled details of the agricultural workers program included in the package. The agricultural workers program mirrors legislation that Feinstein and Craig introduced earlier this year. "Immigration is one of the most difficult areas in which to legislate, because feelings run deep on both sides of the issue," Feinstein said. "It also must be remembered that we need 60 votes to move anything in the United States Senate. Therefore, compromise is the only way we are going to get a bill." The bill would: * Strengthen U.S. borders through additional border patrol agents, building border fences, and enhancing surveillance technology. * Provide a path to earn legal status for undocumented workers in this country, which is estimated to be 10 to 12 million, including two to three million in California. * Enhance the ability of the government to fight against document fraud by including a provision to increase penalties for passport fraud. * Create a strong employment verification system to crack down on illegal employment. * Give young people an opportunity for an education through the American Dream Act. * Provide a stable and consistent workforce for agriculture, through the AgJOBS program, which is included in the bill. The agricultural workers program in the bill is fundamentally the same program that the growers and workers negotiated over ten years and which Craig and Feinstein have been advocating. This legislation would create a separate agricultural workers program. It provides a consistent, stable workforce for the one industry that depends almost exclusively on undocumented labor. "The American people have rightly demanded that Congress solve the national problem of immigration, and the bill announced is a serious effort to do just that," Craig said. "The legislation contains provisions that will promote our economy, improve our national security, and deal fairly with both citizens and non-citizens alike." Last week, NASDA President and Washington State Agriculture Director Valoria Loveland sent letters to all members of the U.S. Senate regarding farm labor issues. In the letter Loveland said, "NASDA has carefully considered the farm labor issue, and has concluded that we need Congress to enact immigration reform legislation that provides workable and fair legal channels for farmworkers to enter the country, work, and return home when the season is over." The full text of the letter can be located on NASDA's website. The Senate is expected to take up the immigration reform legislation this week. (Contact: Jennifer Yezak) HOUSE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES 2007 FARM BILL PLANS House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) announced May 17 the process for drafting the 2007 farm bill. The panel's subcommittees will begin marking up sections of the farm bill legislation this week. Unexpectedly, the chairman has decided not to release a full "chairman's mark" in advance of the subcommittee action as everyone had expected, saying instead that he will release his version on a section-by-section basis before the relevant subcommittee begins its markup. The first sections expected to be released are on conservation, energy, and research. Peterson also said he expects full committee work on the farm bill to begin the week before the fourth of July recess. The Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research will hold a markup on Tuesday, May 22. The subcommittee has released a preliminary discussion draft for the conservation title of the farm bill. A copy is available online at http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/legislation.html. On Thursday, May 24, the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry will hold a markup on farm bill issues under their jurisdiction. The indications from congressional staff is that some form of interstate meat sales provision may be included in the livestock subcommittee draft. On the money side, Peterson said that some provisions in each title of the farm bill would be funded by money already in the agriculture budget baseline and some would be funded from the $20 billion reserve set aside for agriculture in the budget resolution. However, he did not offer any suggestions on offsets for the $20 billion. The only specific he mentioned was to cut $1.1 billion from the Conservation Security Program. (Contact: Charlie Ingram) CONGRESS APPROVES BUDGET The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted last week to approve a budget of which Senator Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), chair of the Senate Budget Committee, is the main author. "This budget takes us in a new direction. It gets our nation's finances back in order and provides a surplus in five years," Conrad said. "This budget also upholds our responsibilities as a nation. It bolsters our national defense, restores funding for children's health care and supports our veterans, including those soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan." After years of deficit spending, the budget blueprint for fiscal year 2008 returns the budget to a $41 billion surplus by 2012. The Conrad budget plan does not include any tax increase. Instead, it supports tax relief that would benefit middle class families--including extension of the child tax credit, 10 percent bracket, and marriage penalty relief--and provides for estate tax reform. The plan also provides for immediate Alternative Minimum Tax relief, preventing about 20 million middle class taxpayers from being hit by the tax. Included in the $2.9 trillion budget is a $20 billion reserve fund to supplement the farm bill. In order to use those funds, offsets from other areas of the budget will need to be found before passage of the 2007 farm bill. Approval of a congressional budget was a notable accomplishment. Congress had failed to adopt a budget in three of the last five years. The budget passed the Senate 52 to 40 and the House of Representatives 214 to 209. (Contact: Jennifer Yezak) STATE NEWS NEW PROGRAM ENHANCES MAPPING OF NOXIOUS WEEDS North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson and the North Dakota Weed Control Association (NDWCA) have announced a new grant program to help counties record and distribute mapping information about noxious weed infestations. "Accurate mapping of treated and non-treated weed infestations is crucial to controlling noxious weeds," Johnson said. "This grant program will provide city and county weed authorities with new equipment that will help them gather detailed mapping information and quickly transmit it with a minimum of technical expertise." Under the terms of the grant, each weed board can receive up to $6,300 to buy a laptop personal computer and a multi-event datalogger. In exchange, the weed board must supply its mapping data to the North Dakota Department of Agriculture (NDDA) at the end of the 2007, 2008, and 2009 weed control seasons. The datalogger is a device that automatically transfers information from a global positioning device to the computer. The NDWCA has arranged for the weed boards to purchase the computers and receive desktop support through the North Dakota Association of Counties. The NDWCA has also arranged for a group discount price for the dataloggers and for distribution of the programs and equipment at training sites around the state. (Contact: Ted Quanrud, 701/328-2233) SPITZER SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER CREATING COUNCIL ON FOOD POLICY --Council Will Coordinate Policies to Promote Agriculture, Health and Nutrition Governor Eliot Spitzer announced that he has signed an executive order establishing a New York State Council on Food Policy. The council will coordinate state agriculture policy and make recommendations on developing food policy that will help ensure the availability of safe, fresh, nutritious and affordable food for all New Yorkers, especially low income residents, senior citizens and children. The Council will look at ways to increase sales of New York agricultural products to New York consumers, with a special emphasis on expanding the consumer market for organic food. "Ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to safe, fresh and nutritious food is a top priority that the Council on Food Policy will be addressing head-on," said Spitzer. "The Council will bring the public, producers and government together to explore ways in which we can improve our existing food production and delivery systems, expand capacity, and in particular, address the critical needs of children and low-income New Yorkers. Additionally, by expanding the sale of locally grown products, we can help struggling farmers, and expand the local agriculture and state economy." The New York State Council on Food Policy will include 21 representatives from all areas of the food system, including six agency heads. The State Agriculture Commissioner, Patrick Hooker, will serve as the Chairperson. He will be joined by the commissioners of health, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, aging, economic development, and the Consumer Protection Board. The other members will be appointed by the governor and will include the dean of the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; one farm organization representative; one school food administrator; one consumer representative; two food assistance organization representatives; one nutritionist; one anti-hunger advocate; and three representatives from the food industry at large, which could include producers, distributors, processors or retailers with at least one involved in organic production. There will also be four appointed positions for members with experience and expertise related to agriculture, nutrition or food policy that will be recommended by the temporary president of the Senate, the speaker of the Assembly, the minority leader of the Senate, and the minority leader of the Assembly. In addition to coordinating food policy, the council will develop a strategic plan to ensure access to affordable, fresh, healthy, nutritious food and expand agricultural production, especially locally-grown and organically-grown food. The sale of organic food is an emerging market, with more than $13 billion spent on organic food in 2005 The council will make recommendations to the governor on state regulations, legislation and budget proposals in the area of food policy to ensure a coordinated and comprehensive inter-agency approach to state food policy issues. The Council will deliver a written annual report to the Governor. New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said, "New York has 36,000 family farms that work day in and day out to produce an abundance of fresh, healthy and wholesome food for our 19 million consumers. I am honored to chair the Council on Food Policy and believe it will serve as a valuable forum in discussing the State's complex, yet critical food system for the benefit of consumers, farmers, processors, distributors and retailers." (Contact: Christine Anderson, 212/681-4640) |