House
lawmakers reach tentative deal to revamp immigration [Reuters]
Prospects
for passage of a major immigration bill improved on Thursday when a bipartisan
group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives declared they had reached a
tentative deal, resolving disputes that had threatened to torpedo negotiations.
The breakthrough came at the end of a two-hour private meeting of seven
Republican and Democratic negotiators.…Even with Thursday's breakthrough, the
drive to enact a comprehensive immigration bill, which is President Barack
Obama's top legislative priority, faces a long, difficult road in Congress. The
agreement still must be drafted into legislation for review by the 435 members
of the House. Then it faces a potentially tough battle in the House Judiciary
Committee, where several conservative Republicans have been dead-set against a
comprehensive bill.
Hoe,
hoe, hoe! Christmas trees are back, in new farm bill [McClatchy Washington
Bureau]
A
Christmas tree-promotion program that pumped up conservative mockery and
panicked the Obama administration is back for a second go-around, under a new
farm bill. Tree farmers in California, North Carolina and other states secured
the industry-funded promotion program through one of many amendments to the
farm bill that the House Agriculture Committee approved late Wednesday night.
Many of these farmers had been stunned when the administration quickly withdrew
a similar effort in late 2011 after Fox News and conservative commentators
lampooned it as a “Christmas tree tax.”…Approved by the House of
Representatives panel shortly before midnight Wednesday, after more than nine
hours of debate, the farm bill would change crop subsidies, food stamps, dairy
policy and more. Over 10 years, the bill has an estimated price tag of $940
billion….Continuing a policy initiated in the 2008 farm bill, the House measure
offers funding for fruit and vegetable growers, including $375 million over
five years for a continued Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.
Rising
consumer demands aids organic industry sway [Associated Press]
The
organic food industry is gaining influence on Capitol Hill, prompted by its
entry into traditional farm states and by increasing consumer demand. That's
not going over well with everyone in Congress. Tensions between conventional
and organic agriculture boiled over this week during a late-night House
Agriculture Committee debate on farm legislation that for decades has propped
up traditional crops and largely ignored organics.
California
council adopts delta management plan [Associated Press]
A
California agency on Thursday unanimously adopted a broad, long-range plan to
manage the ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. After several hours of
public comments and protests by opponents, the Delta Stewardship Council voted
7-0 to approve the final version of the Delta Plan, a blueprint for restoring
the delta's ecosystem and improving water supply reliability. The plan does not
call for specific construction projects but contains policies and
recommendations. The $14 billion twin tunnel project, which is being developed
through a separate federal and state initiative, will be incorporated into the
plan if the tunnels are approved and permitted.
Judge
to hear lawsuit over high-speed rail bonds [Associated Press]
State
officials on Thursday agreed to drop a request to consolidate all lawsuits
challenging California's use of voter-approved high-speed rail bonds, allowing
a trial seeking to prevent the state from spending bond money to begin later
this month. Opponents of the $68 billion bullet train project and attorneys for
the California High-Speed Rail Authority submitted their agreement to a
Sacramento County Superior Court judge. That allows Judge Michael P. Kenny to
begin hearing arguments May 31 in a lawsuit filed in 2011 by Kings County. The
county claims the current high-speed rail plans do not comply with the
requirements voters approved in 2008, when they passed Proposition 1A to sell
nearly $10 billion in bonds for the project.
Commentary: Assembly bill will hurt
farms and ranches [Fresno Bee]
…As
we continue to make our way out of the recession, our leaders must be careful
to balance the implementation of the Affordable Care Act with the state's slow
but steady economic recovery. The state's future depends on the physical and
fiscal health of its citizens, and it would be unwise to further one at the
expense of the other. Yet that's just what Assembly Bill 880 by Assemblyman
Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, threatens to do. The bill surpasses the ACA's
provisions and imposes even harsher requirements on larger businesses --
including many of the state's farms and ranches. AB 880 punishes many employers
that provide quality jobs and benefits, including health coverage, to their
workers. This legislation would impose stiff penalties for each "covered
employee," which is defined as anyone who works more than eight hours a
week and is enrolled in Medi-Cal. These penalties have not yet been determined,
but it is estimated that they will run between $6,000 and $15,000 per employee.
The law will hit California's farms and ranches especially hard, as there are
no exceptions for seasonal or temporary workers.
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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