SAN DIEGO - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed landmark legislation - backed by both Democrats and Republicans - to reduce costs to businesses and protect workers by cutting out hundreds of millions of dollars in waste from California's workers' compensation system.

The bill, SB 863 (De León), reverses a four-year trend of rate increases. Without reform, these costs would continue to escalate, which would mean higher costs for businesses and smaller payments for injured workers.  "These significant reforms save hundreds of millions of dollars for California's employers while preventing an imminent crisis of skyrocketing rates that would have hurt both injured workers and businesses," said Governor Brown. "It's extraordinary to see Republicans and Democrats come together to solve a problem before it becomes a crisis."

"This reform law will create greater efficiencies and accountability in the system, save major employers money that can be used to hire new workers and help our economic recovery and protect workers who have been injured on the job," said Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez. "This is a major victory for the people of California, and I am proud to have worked with the Governor, my colleagues in both parties and both houses of the Legislature and finally the stakeholders who came together in a spirit of good faith and cooperation to make this reform proposal a reality."

"Not only does this compromise provide business with lower rates and injured workers with increased benefits, it also addresses the plight of those workers who suffer the most serious injuries on the job," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. "We can't forget those construction workers and other skilled employees whose injuries will end their careers. By annually setting aside $120 million in other cost savings to provide those workers their lost earning power, this reform ensures that no one is left out in our workers' compensation system."

Last month, Governor Brown led the effort to pass SB 863, which was approved by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Representatives from both business and labor groups hailed the bill's passage as a "win-win" for employers and employees alike.

"California businesses support this important reform led by Governor Brown which represents a balanced approach to issues within California's workers' compensation system," said Allan Zaremberg, CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce. "SB 863 provides employers with cost-saving proposals that will reduce frictional costs while providing injured workers with needed benefit increases. The reforms also have the potential to reduce costs to the underlying system that will benefit employers. We appreciate the Governor's commitment to an expeditious regulatory process that will help achieve the full extent of projected savings."

"We commend the Governor for his leadership in providing a comprehensive solution to the growing workers' compensation crisis," said Art Pulaski, Executive Secretary-Treasurer and Chief Officer of the California Labor Federation. "This landmark reform provides injured workers with an increase of $860 million in benefits, while eliminating waste and inefficiencies in the system. This new law achieves a true rarity in Sacramento. It finds a way to increase benefits to those in need while reducing costs across the board."

Thursday,  September 20, 2012     By Jake Sherman

 

Iowa Rep. Tom Latham says speaker John Boehner wants to bring the farm bill to the floor but is being stifled by his colleagues in leadership.  Latham, a close ally of Boehner's (R-Ohio), said on Simon Conway's radio show in Iowa Tuesday that "Eric Cantor is the one who controls floor activity" and the Virginia Republican "honestly [believes] that they cannot pass it." "John Boehner is not the problem," Latham said.

 

The farm bill has  passed the House Agriculture Committee but has been in limbo ever since.  The Senate passed a bill, and rural farm states have been up in arms at Republican leadership, which refuses to bring it to the floor.  The Wall Street Journal editorial page gave leadership reinforcement Tuesday, when it said leadership shouldn't bring it to the floor because it spends too much money.

 

But Latham's party is in power, and he's in a tight member-on-member race against Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa). He wants the bill brought to the floor and hashed out there.  Latham said on the radio show that leadership is nervous about internal conflict over the bill.

 

"What they tell me they don't want to blow up the alliance with the urban members and the farm-state members that we have always had to pass a farm bill," Latham said.  "They think that would be in jeopardy.  They tried to come out and say it's in the best interest for farmers to keep that coalition together and don't have a bill that fails.  I think, in my mind ,  you bring it - to the floor, and you fix it - and that's how you get the votes to do it."

 

Conway asked Latham whether people should be blaming Cantor fort the bill being stalled.  "Well, he controls the floor schedule, and I will tell you I have had several conversations with the Speaker, and he is all for bringing it to the floor," Latham said.

 

Cantor's office says it's more complicated than that.  "House leadership is in agreement.  Moving a reauthorization or extension before there is consensus - and there is currently none - would not be wise," Cantor Spokesman Doug Heye said.  " In the meantime , the House has acted on important livestock disaster aid.  The  Senate has not."

 

This week FDA formally approved a request by the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture & Land Stewardship to allow blending of corn with more than 20 parts per billion (ppb) of aflatoxin with corn with lower levels or no aflatoxin for animal feeding. Aflatoxin is a fungus that produces a carcinogen that can cause health problems for livestock which eat contaminated corn. Corn containing greater than 500 ppb cannot be blended.  

 

This summer's drought followed by the heavy rains of Hurricane Isaac spawned an aflatoxin explosion in parts of several midwestern states, including reported episodes of contract truckers refusing to move corn that didn't test aflatoxin-free. The American Feed Industry Assn. (AFIA) wrote this week to the president of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), which represents state feed regulators, asking AAFCO to urge other ag officials in states with a high presence of aflatoxin in this year's corn crop to also seek FDA permission to blend corn in their states. AFIA wants states where blending is allowed to extend that freedom to feed manufacturers.  

 

At this point, FDA says it's up to the state where FDA allows blending to make that determination. In Iowa's case, before grain dealers do any blending, they must join with the state department and sign a compliance agreement based on FDA's permission and long-standing guidance policy on blending (FDA Guidance Document/Compliance Policy Guide (CPG) - Section 683.100, "Action Levels for Aflatoxin in Animal Feeds"). A copy of the agreement can be found at  www.iowaagriculture.gov under "hot topics." Every batch of blended corn must be analyzed to determine aflatoxin levels, the Iowa department said, and the testing must be done using approved sampling and analysis protocols and testing procedures outlined by USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA). All test results must be provided to the buyer of the corn, and the buyer must provide written assurance the corn will be used only for animal feed and in accordance with FDA guidance. The blended corn must be clearly identified and labeled for animal feed use only.

 

USDA this week announced its National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) will issue several of its major "lock-up" reports at noon Eastern Standard Time (EST) beginning in January, 2013. The move drew immediate praise from the National Grain & Feed Assn. (NGFA) which has pushed the department to shift the release times due to the expansion of electronic and open trading hours begun earlier this year on several major exchanges. The reports affected are USDA's World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates, Acreage, Crop Production, Grain Stocks, Prospective Plantings, and Small Grains Summary. Livestock reports will continue to be released at 3 p.m. EST. "The shift to a noon release allows for the greatest liquidity in the markets, provides the greatest access to the reports during working hours in the U.S., and continues equal access to data among all parties," said USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber. NGFA said USDA's action "should assist market participants by minimizing added market volatility that could result if the reports were issued in more thinly traded times of the day."

$11.8 million in additional drought relief for producers in 22 states was announced this week by USDA, with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack also announcing he will hold four regional meetings on drought recovery over the next several weeks as part of a new National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF). The new money will be sent to producers through the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and will be targeted at planting cover crops to hold nutrients and moisture in the soil; providing feed for animals during the winter, for constructing water holding equipment and for grazing rotation. All drought assistance available to producers by state can be found at www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/?cid=stelprdb1048818. Vilsack said the regional meetings will be held in Omaha on October 9, with subsequent meetings to be held in Colorado, Ohio and Arkansas. The meetings will be coordinated through state agencies, universities and business groups and will be by invitation, and will include representatives of the Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Details of the new NDRF program can be found at  www.fema.gov/recoveryframework/.

A plan by the Army Corps of Engineers to charge access fees for "surplus" Missouri River water drew sharp attacks this week from midwestern senators. The senators - representing North and South Dakota and Montana - are demanding a hearing in the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee on the proposal under which the Corps would set fees for gaining access to Missouri River reservoirs. The Corps manages water releases from the six dams on the river and from the reservoirs created by the dams. The three states have access to the water through an agreement that includes easements and permits. Sen. John Thune (R, SD) called the plan "an unprecedented power grab", and said the new plan would violate the 1944 Flood Control Act. Thune said residents should not have to pay for water that is "legally and historically theirs."

Congress approved reauthorization through 2015 of the E-Verify program, the federal computerized system that permits employers to verify the citizenship status of prospective employees. About 300,000 companies use E-Verify and nine states require the program to be used to identify illegal aliens. The program has been controversial because of alleged inaccuracies in the database, but supporters said they'll use the 113th Congress to push for national mandatory use of the E-Verify program by all employers.

 

Rabobank said this week world food prices will spike to record highs in 2013, the result of "agflation" based on rising ag commodity prices. The spikes will affect feed crops and have "serious repercussions" for livestock, dairy and poultry producers. Price spikes are predicted to "stall the long-term trend towards higher protein diets in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa," the ag lender said. Rabobank said the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index will rise by 15% by the end of June, 2013, and the lender sees prices for grains and oilseeds remaining "at elevated levels for at least the next 12 months."

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