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Floral Bill Passes Committee
After addressing concerns of the Internet Alliance and their member Bloomnet, the CSFA sponsored legislation was voted out of Assembly Business and Professions Committee this week. AB 1581 (Wieckowsky) was amended to mirror a previous bill authored by Assembly member Salas but vetoed by the Governor. The association has been working with the Department of Consumer Affairs to address any concerns they may have to help position the bill for signature.
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Supreme Court Issues Decision on Meal/Rest Periods
(April 13, 2012) The California Supreme Court yesterday released its long-awaited decision in a case involving employers' obligations relating to meal and rest breaks. The most critical part of the unanimous ruling in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court is that employers do not have to ensure that employees take their meal breaks, but must merely make them available. The court also provided flexibility to employers with regard to the timing of meal and rest breaks. Erika Frank, California Chamber of Commerce general counsel and vice president of legal affairs, commented on the ruling: "Employers have finally received some much-needed clarity in a common-sense decision from the California Supreme Court that will provide certainty and flexibility to employers and employees, allowing them to effectively manage their workload and serve their customers and clients. "One of the most significant benefits of this ruling is that it will reduce employers' exposure to costly and frivolous litigation."
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Ecke Sells Ranch Property
In 2005, Paul Ecke III was told by a vote by the citizens of Encinitas that he couldn't develop a residential subdivision on a portion of his 67-acre nursery to raise funds to update the Ecke Ranch. So instead, he's found a potential buyer for the entire property and, if the deal goes through, will eventually move to a new location and construct a new Ecke Ranch.
That's the news that came out of southern California last Friday-just a week after Spring Trials ended, so obviously Paul has been busy with more than just flower displays.
We called him to get the details.
First, why sell the land? Paul says it's about efficiency and raising capital for a new Ecke Ranch.
"We are not super-efficient for what we do here anymore," he said of the sloped property. His family moved to Encinitas from Hollywood in 1923 to raise outdoor poinsettias, which was feasible on the sloped land. As they converted to greenhouse production in the 1960s, the topography became more of an issue, which only got worse as efficiency needs became greater. Today, with Ecke having moved all of its young plant production offshore, Paul says they only use 15% of the 850,000 sq. ft. facility, for breeding and R&D. So it only makes sense to "right-size" to a more efficient facility. But they needed to fund that facility, and since the city voted down a zoning change and subsequent development, the only other recourse was to sell the land to fund a new location.
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Allied Floral Associations - Grassroots on H.R. 4293, the Restore Main Street's Credit Act
Dear Floral industry associations and allies, First, I wanted to thank the organizations that were able to sign-on to our letter to Capitol Hill just before the Easter recess (the final letter is attached to this message). For those of you who may be unaware, SAF has been working at the national level with other "Main Street" industries on challenges that our members face with accessing affordable capital and with the ever-growing cost of tax compliance. You can learn more about this "National Main Street Business Coalition" by visiting the website: www.sustainmainstreet.com. One result of the work of the SAF-led NMSBC was the introduction of legislation that would restore a path to affordable capital and lines of credit for brick-and-mortar microbusinesses like our local retail florists. Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon introduced H.R. 4293, the "Restore Main Street's Credit Act of 2012," on March 28, 2012. There is a lot more information about the bill and some other background documents on the sustainmainstreet website if you're interested. Obviously, if you have any further questions about the legislation, you can contact me directly and I'm happy to discuss this effort in greater detail. The reason I'm writing you today: we need to make some serious grassroots noise in order to get something done this year. The legislation itself is pretty simple and straightforward. It would exempt loans made to brick-and-mortar businesses with 20 or fewer full-time employees from counting against the business-lending cap placed on credit unions. Unfortunately, the Wall Street banking community stands opposed to any increased lending capacity for credit unions. What's worse...they repeatedly tell Congress that there is no need for capital along Main Street. We know better. We know that millions of lines of credit, the types that had been established for many years at our local banks allowing our members to meet payroll and keep the lights on in lean summer months, were often reduced, converted to fixed loans or pulled completely under increased federal regulatory scrutiny. The Restore Main Street's Credit Act isn't about sticking it to local banks at all...it's about reestablishing our members' safety net in case they need access to affordable capital. It's about getting off of high interest credit cards and hitting up family and friends for infusions of cash. It's about, quite frankly, survival by any means necessary. That's our story to tell. SAF has published a grassroots alert, urging members of the House of Representatives to co-sponsor H.R. 4293, the Restore Main Street's Credit Act of 2012. If you believe your members might be interested in trying to find a path to affordable capital at no cost to the American taxpayer, we would encourage you to share this link with them and to have them encourage their families, neighbors and local community business groups to send a message as well: http://capwiz.com/saf/issues/alert/?alertid=61151281 The time for Main Street to take back its voice in Washington is now. To make life a little easier for our members and to help them sustain their businesses, we need to speak up for ourselves and not allow large corporate interests and Wall Street to speak on our behalf. We see this as the first of many steps that we can take to do just that. Thank you for your consideration of this request. Again, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Best regards, Corey Connors Click here for Final Sign-on Letter
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Governor Brown Makes Appointments Important to Agriculture
Carl Torgersen, 58, of Manteca, has been appointed deputy director of the State Water Project at the California Department of Water Resources. Torgersen has served as acting deputy director of the Department of Water Resources since 2011. He has served in various positions with the Department of Water Resources since 1981, including chief of the division of operations and maintenance from 2006 to 2011, chief of the State Water Project operations control office from 2000 to 2006, and chief of the San Luis field division from 1999 to 2000. Andrew McAllister, 46, of San Diego, has been appointed to the California Energy Commission. He has held multiple positions at the California Center for Sustainable Energy since 2005, including director of policy and strategy, director of programs and binational program specialist. McAllister was an energy efficiency and renewable energy consultant for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association International Ltd. from 2004 to 2005, 2002 and from 1992 to 2000. He was a project manager for Energy Solutions from 2000 to 2003 and a research assistant for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Energy Analysis Program from 1991 to 1992. James Kellogg, 68, of Discovery Bay, has been appointed to the California Fish and Game Commission, where he has served since 2002. Kellogg has been an international representative for the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry since 1992. He also served as commissioner for the California Transportation Commission from 1999 to 2002. Ashley Conrad-Saydah, 34, of Sacramento, has been appointed assistant secretary for climate policy for the California Environmental Protection Agency. Conrad-Saydah has been a renewable energy program manager for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management since 2008. She was a research assistant at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara, while a graduate student at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management from 2006 to 2008. She was a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow at the California Academy of Sciences from 2001 to 2006. David Olsen, 66, of Ventura, has been appointed to the California Independent System Operator Board of Governors. Olsen has been managing director for the Western Grid Group since 2003 and served as coordinator for the California Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative for the California Energy Commission from 2007 to 2010. He also served as coordinator for the Tehachapi Collaborative Study Group from 2005 to 2007, president of Clipper Windpower from 2001 to 2003, president of Patagonia Inc. from 1996 to 1999, vice president of Magma Power Company from 1988 to 1995 and president of Northern Power Systems from 1984 to 1988. Gina Solomon, 47, of San Francisco, has been appointed deputy secretary for science and health at the California Environmental Protection Agency. She has been a senior scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council since 1996 and a clinical professor of health sciences at the University of California, San Francisco since 2011. She served as an associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco since 2006 and as an assistant clinical professor of medicine from 1998 to 2006. Dr. Solomon has served on the Scientific Guidance Panel for the California Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Program since 2007 and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board since 2011. Soloman earned a doctor of medicine degree from the Yale School of Medicine.
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Farm Bill Update
August Farm Bill Deadline Says Grassley - Congress must pass a Farm Bill by August 5 or all bets are off until 2013, said Sen. Charles Grassley (R, IA) this week. Grassley pointed at the need of farmers and ranchers to make planting/land use decisions and if a new omnibus farm law isn't in place, then an extension of the 2008 Farm Bill is necessary. Grassley joins the growing number of ag committee members in both the House and Senate who have either said there will be no Farm Bill this year or at best, the chances of getting a bill to the President's desk are 50-50. Grassley said the key will be freshmen House members who are fighting for deeper cuts in federal spending, and given the dollars the Senate is working with compared to House budget figures, it may be difficult if not impossible to reconcile the two bills in time for the August deadline.
'Regulatory Certainty' to be Part of Farm Bill? - Reports increased this week that some commodity groups are quietly pushing the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to include in the next Farm Bill a new title that will provide to farmers and ranchers "regulatory certainty," a euphemism for legislation to block EPA from promulgating new rules or enforcement actions on crop pesticide and chemical application and to speed up USDA approval of biotech plants. However, every ag committee chair's nightmare is including in strictly agriculture legislation sections that cross the jurisdiction of other House and Senate committees. Unless those committees sign off on the "regulatory certainty" language, the Farm Bill or at least that title of the Farm Bill, can be pulled into other committees of jurisdiction, slowing or killing the process.
Senators Move to Protect Specialty Crop Programs in Farm Bill - The Senate Agriculture Committee must commit to protecting specialty crop programs - "a critical and growing component of U.S. agriculture" - in the coming Farm Bill, according to a letter this week sent to committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (R, MI) and ranking member Sen. Pat Roberts (R, KS) signed by 32 Senators. The Senators, led by Sens. Mike Crapo (R, ID) and Patty Murray (D, WA) said, "Specialty crop programs have translated into jobs creation, trade expansion, infrastructure investment, targeted research for new innovation and technology, and increased access for fruits and vegetables in federal nutrition programs."
GAO Says Crop Insurance Changes Can Save $1 Billion - Aggressive action on fraud and abuse in the federal crop insurance program coupled with a cap on how much of the producer premium the government subsidizes could save tax payers $1 billion, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported this week. GAO cited record farm income as one justification for its recommendation, but said, "we believe that crop insurance premium subsidies - the single largest component of farm program costs - is a potential area for federal cost savings," adding premium subsidies have increased from $1.7 billion in 2002 to $7.4 billion in 2011. GAO said in its report crop insurance premium subsidies should be capped at $40,000, in line with other program caps in farm programs. House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R, OK) immediately fired off a committee press release "echoing" the position of farmers and ranchers he's heard from at committee hearings, and told USDA to "leave crop insurance alone." The National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) said "any proposal to limit insurance protection or discourage farmer participation only shifts the risk back to tax payers and consumers," and would be particularly harmful to young farmers and other producers less likely to qualify for loans. USDA cautioned against moving forward with premium subsidy changes without further study, even though the White House and House-passed FY2013 budget resolution call for crop insurance reform. The White House has recommended capping the producer subsidy when it exceeds 50% of an individual's premium; the average subsidy today is about 60% of the farmer's insurance payment. USDA also warned a cap as contemplated by GAO might be unfair to some areas of the country and to some crops. "The report fails to show whether some commodities or regions of the country may be disproportionately impacted by a limit on the subsidy," USDA is quoted in press reports, singling out such crops as potatoes, cotton, sunflowers, canola and specialty crops. GAO also faulted USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) for not following up on complaints or reviews of claims that could be fraudulent. GAO said FSA should notify insurance companies and those companies should focus their agents on cases where losses seem "beyond the norm."
Groups Push for Renewed Energy Title - More than 100 organizations, including farm, ranch, commodity and renewable energy groups, this week told the House and Senate Agriculture Committees they must renew the current Farm Bill energy title and find spending offsets in other areas to pay for 37 programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill. The energy programs, many of which subsidize alternative fuel use, feedstock research, infrastructure and the like, have no mandatory funding and would be shut down without appropriate offsets, the groups said, estimating the amount needed is $9-10 billion.
Farm Runoff Prevention should be Part of Conservation Title: EWG - Further ramping up its assault on the 2012 Farm Bill process, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released a report this week that lays drinking water pollution problems at the feet of farm chemical runoff. EWG wants to see the federal government abandon water treatment in favor of preventing farm runoff from "fields treated with chemicals and manure." A "strong conservation title in the Farm Bill" is the best option, EWG said, to "help farmers protect drinking water." EWG says most farm operations are exempt from federal Clean Water Act (CWA) pollution controls and few states have the authority to compel farmers to reduce runoff.
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Design Workshop
CALIFORNIA STATE FLORAL ASSOCIATION TOGETHER WITH ROP CAMARILLO
Present a Floral Design Workshop
New Date ~ April 28th
Floral Architectonics: the Art of Incorporating Architectural Elements into Dynamic Floral Designs
Instruction by:
Tony Alvarez AIFD, CCF & Debbie Alvarez AIFD, CCF
Place: ROP Camarillo, 465 Horizon Circle, Camarillo, CA 93010
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
In this class we will explore a number of architectural elements developed since man first began building shelters right up to the modern age of towering steel structures and modern conceptual theories in architecture. We will integrate these architectural elements in our design constructions using assorted building materials, plant materials, flowers and branches as well as decorative wire and glassware.
Come spend a day with friends and learn new ways to add interest, value, drama and innovation to everyday designs!
Class fee: $125.00
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