Sen.
John McCain 'can't guarantee anything' on immigration reform negotiations
[Arizona Republic]
Sen.
John McCain on Monday would not commit himself to a timeline on the release of
the comprehensive immigration-reform legislation he and a bipartisan group of
senators have been working on for months, saying the negotiations are
continuing even during a two-week break for Easter….McCain, R-Ariz., and the
other members of the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” left Capitol Hill last week
without coming to terms on major points of contention such as the future flow
of immigrant workers and border security. The senators had hoped to introduce
the bill when they return the week of April8, but the unresolved issues could
delay that….In his opening remarks, McCain said the Gang of Eight is continuing
to work to balance border security, legal status and “earned citizenship,” but
he emphasized that the issue is “difficult and complex,” touching on the inflow
of foreign workers, agriculture workers and high-tech workers.
Federal
water cutback called ‘crippling blow’ [Fresno Bee]
The
5% cutback — from a 25% water allocation to 20% — has been called a crippling
blow to agriculture….Setting aside the back-and-forth, it is likely to be a
very tough summer for agriculture, rural communities and the Valley as a whole.
A water crisis here usually results in thousands of acres being idled, people
losing jobs, the economy suffering. The Sierra snowpack, a frozen reservoir
providing more than 60% of the state’s water, is at 55% of average. You can
understand the caution from the federal government. But the large Northern
California reservoirs are still slightly above average. It galls farmers
to see the 5% cutback when those reservoirs appear full enough to tap for
shortfalls in the Central Valley.
Lawmakers
pushing for quarantine insurance [Stockton Record]
Farmers
face few obstacles more frustrating than having crops ready for market, only to
be told they can't be shipped because one pest or another has taken up
residence in their fields….Last summer, Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton,
introduced legislation that would offer insurance to growers who wanted to
protect themselves from crop losses due to federal quarantines. The bill never
reached the floor of the House of Representatives. Last week, McNerney
reintroduced the Containing Risk, Offering Protection Act….It would make it
possible for farmers to buy insurance against the risk of losing their crops.
Advocates
report decline in food-borne illnesses [The Hill]
Outbreaks
from food-borne pathogens have markedly decreased in the last decade, possibly
thanks to tighter food safety measures, advocates said Monday. The Center for
Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) reported that the instance of food-borne
illness outbreaks went down more than 40 percent between 2001 and 2010, with
the sharpest declines seen among seafood, poultry and beef products.
The
group warned that food-borne illnesses remain vastly under-reported and under
investigated, however, and that budget cuts will strain an already incomplete
system.
Editorial: Time for Modesto to
turn attention back to farmland, growth [Modesto Bee]
M
odestans, it's time to resume the conversation about how to protect the
farmland that is so critical to our local economy. Growth, which dominated the
political debate from the 1980s through 2007, hasn't been a big issue in city
politics since home values crashed. Tonight, at the request of Mayor Garrad
Marsh, the City Council will start talking about how the city plans to meet the
mandate that every city have an agriculture preservation policy. The edict came
from the Stanislaus County Local Agency Formation Commission, the little-known
body that must approve any city or special district boundary change.
Editorial: Raisins in the Sun
[Wall Street Journal]
Taxpayers
are wary of government programs that confiscate private property—witness
outrage over the 2005 Supreme CourtKelo decision that let government take homes
via eminent domain for private use. Now the High Court is considering another
program that orders citizens to surrender their assets—or else. U.S. raisin
farmers have been required for nearly 80 years to turn over a share of their
crops to the federal government every year, often at below-market prices. Last
week the Supreme Court heard oral argument on whether, in the words of Justice
Elena Kagan, this annual raisin heist is "a taking, or just the world's
most outdated law." Horne v. USDA turns on a Great Depression "price
stabilization" program that established a Raisin Administrative Committee
to control raisin supply. The committee acts as a cartel, setting raisin prices
and recommending through "marketing orders" how many tons of raisins
must be sold to the feds at a steep discount. The Department of Agriculture
enforces the orders.
Ag
Today is distributed to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for
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