How much is too much?
Consumers and farmers rely on each other.
Current legislation is threatening our local farms.
SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS BY BECOMING A FRIEND OF FARM BUREAU FOR $20.00
<<<<———- This graphic will go on the home page and the whole image will be a link to the ‘Save Our Farms” page.
Anyone think of a better title for the page? Let me know.
I didn’t want to put it on the page until we are live.
How much is too much for the consumer?
What are you willing to pay for a loaf of bread? Are you prepared for a decrease in local food availability in Washington, increasing your costs by 30 percent?
The voice of the farmer is getting lost in the crowd. You don’t appreciate the customer that tells you how to do your job: farmers don’t like it when legislators tell them how to farm.
Washington State is losing over two farms per week. Soon, there won’t be anywhere from which to buy local food. Farmers unable to continue with their land management and stewardship plans, will be unable to provide the over 300 commodities grown in our state. Resulting in the Pacific Northwest generating a larger carbon foot print and providing less fresh options when having to bring their food in from elsewhere.
Did you know Washington’s farmworkers are among the highest paid in the country? The average farmworker in our state is paid $17/hr. Supporting Washington farms supports these hardworking individuals and their families that rely on this employment.
Availability, choice, quality, land stewardship, carbon sequestration, and jobs are just a few of the benefits local farmers provide to our community.
How much is too much for the farmer?
Overtime lawsuits are civil cases. Bankruptcy will not save you. Contact your legislator today about fixing SSB 5172.
Farmworker unions represent 1% of workers, let’s make our 99% more powerful than their 1% when it comes to farm survival. Contact a legislator today.
Nine percent of of farmers are under the age of 35. We need new farmers. New and existing farmers need to know they have a viable future and won’t be regulated out of business and unable to compete with neighboring regions who can produce a product for less.
Let’s stop calling it “backpay.” Farmworkers have already been paid in full for their work. It is a violation of the law to ask for more money after the law has been changed in your favor.
Please contact your representative today. Tell them to preserve the agriculture industry. You can make all the difference for the future of farmers and ranchers in Washington.
SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS BY BECOMING A FRIEND OF FARM BUREAU FOR $20.00
HB 1168
HB 1168 creates a long-term forest health program designed to reduce wildfires. This bill is the brainchild of Commissioner of Public Lands Hillary Franz. It comes with a $125 million price tag with no funding source yet identified. It would target wildfire response, forest restoration/forest health and community resilience to improve protection of homes and land from wildfires. While the plan has some redeeming values, the failure to identify how they plan to pay for it remains a concern.
Position: We remain neutral on this bill until a fund source is identified.
Status: HB 1168 was voted out of the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 17, and is now in House Rules.
HB 1285 modifies the existing B&O tax exemption provided to fruit and vegetable processors. This tax exemption is provided to food processors in Washington to enable them to remain competitive with similar food processing companies located in states that do not have a B&O tax.
HB 1285 would “modify” the tax law to make food processors ineligible for this tax exemption in a year where they are found to be in violation of any employment, labor or civil rights laws. In testimony for the bill, union organizers focused their comments on two specific food processors in the state with claims that they mistreat their employees. We testified in opposition to this bill stating it is so broadly written it will grab everyone from the smallest of farms that does some food processing all the way up to the largest of the food processors. And the way it is currently written, any adjudicated labor issue would trigger a loss of this tax exemption for one year. That loss could be triggered for something as trivial as having a hole in a window screen in farmworker housing or failing to keep the soap in an employee bathroom full at all times. One additional point of interest about this bill is it was introduced by Rep. Timm Ormsby (D-Spokane), chair of the House Appropriations Committee. A companion bill was also introduced in the Senate by Sen. Christina Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island), the chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee. It is very unusual for budget chairs to weigh in on issues like this and shows the close working relationship the budget chairs have with the labor activists.
Position: We are opposed to HB 1285
Status: The bill is in the House Finance Committee, had a hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 18 and failed to make it out of committee by today’s cutoff deadline. It is now considered a dead bill.
SB 5096 creates a capital gains tax. We testified against this because it is an unconstitutional income tax (as the Washington Policy Center has so effectively argued) and will cause economic harm to farmers who sell their land. The bill was amended in the Senate Ways & Means Committee to reduce the overall tax rate from 9 percent to 7 percent, but we remain opposed to the bill.
Position: We are opposed to SB 5096
Status: SB 5096 was passed out of the Senate Way & Means Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 16, and is now in Senate Rules.
SB 5141 reduces environmental and health disparities and improves health for all state residents and implements the recommendations of the Environmental Justice Task Force.
Our opposition during testimony on this bill focused on the governance structures created in the bill and mechanisms created to carry out its purposes. For instance, we opposed the creation of an Environmental Justice Council consisting of unelected community activists who will run rough shod over state agencies on incorporating environmental justice recommendations into agency activities. We argued that giving this type of power to unelected community members is a stark departure from our democratic basis of society.
Position: We are opposed to SB 5141
Status: SB 5141 passed was heard in the Senate Ways & Means Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 17, voted out of committee on Friday, Feb. 19, and is now in House Rules.
HB 1091 creates a Low Carbon Fuel Standard for the declared purpose of reducing carbon intensity of transportation fuels. This is one of many carbon proposals being considered this legislative session. This bill could increase gasoline prices up to 57 cents per gallon and diesel up to 63 cents per gallon by mandating the sale of blended fuels at the pump.
As we have discussed before, this proposal increases the cost of fuel without generating any tax dollars for road projects. The higher fuel prices result from the cost of producing more expensive, blended fuels, and those added costs are passed along to drivers at the pump. There is an exemption for on-farm dyed diesel, but that would only mitigate a small fraction of the costs this bill would have on agriculture.
Position: We are opposed to HB 1091
Status: HB 1091 had a public hearing in the House Transportation Committee on February 16, passed out of committee on February 19, and is now in House Rules.
The original bill language sought to mitigate the unfair damages that could be assessed on dairies, and possibly other farmers, as a result of the WA Supreme Court decision in the DeRuyter Dairy overtime case.
Under current wage and hour laws, farmers could be assessed damages for up to three years of retroactive compensation for failure to pay overtime to their employees. This bill simply states that if a business was in compliance with the law up until the date the law changed, than a judgement for retroactive compensation of wages cannot be awarded.
After a hearing in the Senate Labor, Commerce & Tribal Affairs Committee, a substitute was passed that radically changed the language in the bill; unfortunately, for the worst. Under the new language, the overtime exemption is removed for all of agriculture, an account is established to pay for reimbursements to workers who they believe are owed overtime, and it creates an affirmative defense for employers to certain claims or causes of action for recovery of wages and related damages, penalties, and fees, based solely upon the employer's failure to pay an employee overtime.
Washington Farm Bureau does not support the language that was passed out of the Senate Labor Committee. Fortunately, Sen. Keiser and Sen. King have both committed to continuing to work on this bill until a resolution can be reached between the parties. We are hopeful that there will be new language within the next two weeks.
Position: We support the original bill language, but not the substitute bill language approved by the Senate Labor Committee.
Status: SB 5172 had a public hearing in the Senate Labor, Committee & Tribal Affairs Committee on January 28, passed out of committee on February 15, and is now in Senate Rules.
SB 5439 encourages new broadband by facilitating coordination with WA State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) on new infrastructure projects.
This policy is often referred to as “dig once” and states that if a new road construction project is planned, then broadband providers can coordinate with WSDOT to install conduit simultaneously. This could lower overall project costs for broadband as well as mitigate disruption in the state’s highway system by reducing the number of times a road needs to be ripped up to install broadband conduit.
Position: WFB supports the underlying concepts in this bill.
Status: SB 5439 had a hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee on February 14, passed out of committee on February 22, and is headed to Senate Rules.
Thank you for taking the time to help farmers and ranchers in Washington!
SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS BY BECOMING A FRIEND OF FARM BUREAU FOR $20.00