Raucous
debate on immigration to get under way [Associated Press]
Senators
writing a comprehensive immigration bill hope to finish their work this week,
opening what's sure to be a raucous public debate over measures to secure the
border, allow tens of thousands of foreign workers into the country and grant
eventual citizenship to the estimated 11 million people living here illegally.
Already negotiators are cautioning of struggles ahead for an issue that's
defied resolution for years. An immigration deal came close on the Senate floor
in 2007 but collapsed amid interest-group bickering and an angry public
backlash. "There will be a great deal of unhappiness about this proposal
because everybody didn't get what they wanted," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
a leader of the eight senators negotiating the legislation, said Sunday.
"There are entrenched positions on both sides of this
issue."…Schumer, McCain and their "Gang of Eight" already missed
a self-imposed deadline to have their bill ready in March, but Schumer said he
hoped that this week, it will happen….The negotiators also have pledged to move
the bill through the Judiciary Committee and onto the floor for debate by the
full Senate according to what's known in chamber jargon as "regular
order," trying to head off complaints from conservatives that the
legislation is being rammed through.
State
water tunnel plans call for rerouting of 3 Delta highways for years [Sacramento
Bee]
The
state of California's proposal to build two massive water diversion tunnels
beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a major undertaking by itself. But
the current plans also call for rerouting and reconfiguring three state
highways to handle a decade of heavy construction traffic. Conceptual
engineering documents obtained by The Bee illustrate detours on Highway 160 in
Sacramento County around each of three huge water intakes proposed for the
project, called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. Other documents discuss the
need for new interchanges on highways 4 and 12 along the tunnel alignment. This
might entail widening each highway to add a middle turn lane so heavy
construction traffic could safely access work areas along the tunnel
route….Highway 160, a state-designated scenic highway, is crucial to
agriculture in Sacramento County. Residents depend on the movement of farm
products for their livelihood, and on a steady flow of tourists who come for
the river views and farm stands along the highway. Doug Hemly, the patriarch of
a farming family that has grown pears and apples in the Courtland area since
1850, said periodic problems on the existing road system already cut into farm
revenues. New detours and a decade of construction delays pose "real
concerns," he said. "The ripple effects on the economy could be
catastrophic, because everything is so time sensitive in an agricultural economy,"
Hemly said.
Taping
of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the Crime [New York Times]
On
one covert video, farm workers illegally burn the ankles of Tennessee walking
horses with chemicals. Another captures workers in Wyoming punching and kicking
pigs and flinging piglets into the air…. Each video — all shot in the last two
years by undercover animal rights activists — drew a swift response: Federal
prosecutors in Tennessee charged the horse trainer and other workers, who have
pleaded guilty, with violating the Horse Protection Act. Local authorities in
Wyoming charged nine farm employees with cruelty to animals…. But a dozen or so
state legislatures have had a different reaction: They proposed or enacted
bills that would make it illegal to covertly videotape livestock farms, or
apply for a job at one without disclosing ties to animal rights groups. They
have also drafted measures to require such videos to be given to the
authorities almost immediately, which activists say would thwart any meaningful
undercover investigation of large factory farms….Nationally, animal rights
advocates fear that they will lose a valuable tool that fills the void of what
they say is weak or nonexistent regulation. Livestock companies say that their
businesses have suffered financially from unfair videos that are less about
protecting animals than persuading consumers to stop eating meat….As for
whistle-blowers, advocates for the meat industry say that they are protected
from prosecution by provisions in some bills that give them 24 to 48 hours to
turn over videos to legal authorities. “If an abuse has occurred and they have
evidence of it, why are they holding on to it?” said Dale Moore, executive
director of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation.
..Calif.
governor looks to China for investments [Associated Press]
The
governor of the most populous U.S. state heads to China next week to begin a
weeklong trade mission that he hopes will produce investments on both sides of
the Pacific. Brown will lead a delegation of business leaders in search of what
he calls "plenty of billions." "They've got $400 billion or $500
billion they're going to invest abroad, so California's got to get a piece of
that," Brown said in an interview last week ahead of his seven-day trip to
China. The governor and business leaders accompanying him are trying to rebuild
the state's official relationship with China after the state closed its two
trade offices and others around the world a decade ago in a cost-cutting move.
California finds itself playing catch-up to other states that have had a
vigorous presence in China for years….Technology, life sciences, real estate,
banking, health care and agriculture are among the industries state business
leaders and officials hope to target….State and local tourism officials are
among those joining Brown on the trip, along with winemakers, cheese
proprietors and almond growers. In all, about 75 business and policy leaders
from a cross-section of California industries are joining the mission, which
will include stops in the capital city, Beijing, as well as Shanghai and
Guangzhou.
Op
Ed:
Should AB 31 become law? No: California dairy products will be 'whey' too
expensive [Modesto Bee]
Other
than a cheese maker, why should anyone in California care about the cost of
whey, a component of milk and a byproduct of cheese making?
Because
if legislation succeeds in raising the price of milk used to make cheese in
California, it's going to take another big slice out of our economy, kicking
the legs out from one of California's few remaining manufacturing success
stories — an industry that makes enough cheese each year for about 35 billion
grilled cheese sandwiches. And whey will be the reason why. The Wisconsin State
Journal reports that Wisconsin cheese makers are "salivating" over
the prospects of AB 31 becoming law, predicting it will increase their market
share by about $200 million a year at California's expense.
At
a time when we should be encouraging investment to grow the industry, AB 31
will shrink it by driving up production costs to levels that will make it
impossible for cheese makers to profit or compete in California. This isn't
fear-mongering. When milk prices spiked for California cheese makers in 2007,
three cheese-making facilities closed, costing jobs and local tax revenue. AB
31 would make high milk prices permanent, forcing more cheese makers out of
business or driving them to relocate or expand in other states. We've seen it happen
with aerospace and other industries that have left.
Op
Ed:
Should AB 31 become law? Yes: This plan to help California dairy farms will
cost you nothing [Modesto Bee]
Three
hundred eighty-seven family businesses have shut their doors in the past five
years. The employees were laid off, the equipment sold and what once were hubs
of frenetic commerce are now overgrown with weeds. These closed family
businesses were California dairy farms. A solution ensuring the survival of the
remaining 1,500 California family dairies will cost consumers nothing. Milk
prices in California and outside our state are regulated. The reasons for these
regulated prices are similar. Government intervention was requested by farmers
to stem abusive business practices employed against them by milk processors.
Ag
Today is distributed to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for
information purposes, by the CFBF Communications/News Division, 916-561-5550; news@cfbf.com.
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