After more than four years of inaction save for killing off the DREAM Act twice - legislation to give the children of illegal immigrants deferred deportation status if they're in school or the military - Congress may send immigration reform legislation to the President, possibly this year. Four immigration reform plans are out for public scrutiny, most released in the last 10 days. "Frameworks" or policy points have been released by President Obama, a group of eight bipartisan Senators, with four other Senators touting their own specific issue bill, and it's reported a House coalition is "secretly" drafting its own immigration reform package. These four overarching reform plans do not include several bills already introduced to fix specific parts of federal immigration law. However, the political battles have yet to begin in earnest and the biggest sticking point - as it's been in all previous congressional debates over immigration reform - is how to provide a means by which undocumented workers can achieve citizenship without granting "amnesty" for entering the country illegally.

Plans Offered So Far:

White House: The President's plan has four major components: Strengthen border security through the hiring of more agents, as well as through the use of technology and infrastructure advances to "remove criminals and other national security threats; "crack down on employers" who hire illegal aliens, but give responsible companies a way to accurately assess worker citizenship status; create a path to "earned citizenship" by providing a way for illegal workers to pay back taxes, "play by the rules," pass national security and criminal background checks, go to the "back of the line" on entrance applications and learn English before they can become citizens, and lastly, rework the system so it is "simple and efficient." Obama's White House fact sheet specifically mentions "Agricultural workers and those who entered the U.S. as children would be eligible for the same programs."

"Gang of Eight" Senators: As in the President's plan, the eight bipartisan Senators lead off with enhanced border security using best available technology and infrastructure, including the use of unmanned drones and other surveillance equipment. The group specifically talks about the importance of ag workers and how they'll be treated "differently" than other illegal immigrants on the path to citizenship. One recommendation in the framework is an uncapped "agricultural worker visa program," under which two options would be provided. First, so-called "at-will" workers move from job to job without contracts, and would enjoy an 11-month visa term with a USDA-registered employer. They'd have to return home for 30 days when the visa expired, but there would no limit on how many repeat visas a worker could get. The second option would allow contract employees to work a fixed term with an employer and enjoy a 12-month visa - renewable indefinitely - but they'd have to return to their home country at least once for a 30-day period every three years.  

The "Eight" would also require the government to establish an effective "entry-exit" system to track temporary visa holders who are expected to report their departures when their visas run out, but the government has not actively enforced the visa requirement. The "path to citizenship" proposed by the Senators would require undocumented aliens to pass background checks, pay fines and back taxes and earn a "probationary" legal status allowing them to work in the U.S. These probationary workers would "go to the back of the line" when seeking green cards. These workers would also pass a second background check, pay taxes, learn to speak English, take civics courses and prove they've worked in the U.S. before getting a green card. No probationary worker could receive entitlement program or other benefits. The plan also includes the DREAM Act as a path to citizenship for the children of illegals, and would create a separate green card path for ag workers. Immigrants who earn doctorates or masters degrees in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) would also earn green cards. As to employer verification, the Senators would set up "stiff fines and criminal penalties" for employers who knowingly hire illegals, but would allow companies to hire immigrants if they show an American won't do the job. The eight Senators are Sens. John McCain (R, AZ), Jeff Flake (R, AZ), Marco Rubio (R, FL), Lindsey Graham (R, SC), Charles Schumer (D, NY), Dick Durbin (D, IL), Robert Menendez (D, NJ), and Michael Bennet (D, CO).

"High Tech" Immigration Plan: A bipartisan quartet of Senators waded into the immigration reform flurry of options, saying their plan - a bill introduced just before the President publicly disclosed his framework - would allow the U.S. to retain and attract highly skilled technical workers. The biggest part of the narrowly focused bill would automatically grant green cards to foreign graduates of U.S. universities with similar degrees in science, technology, engineering and math, or so-called STEM jobs. The approach is similar to the Gang of Eight proposal. Green cards would also be granted to the families of qualified immigrants so as not to draw down the pool of available H-1B worker visas too quickly, and to mollify supporters in both chambers who demand families be equally considered when an individual is up for his/her green card. This is aimed at responding to business complaints that workers with temporary H-1B visas are encouraged to seek overseas employment since the U.S. system grinds so slowly. The bill would lift the cap on the number of such visas from 65,000 annually to 115,000 or more, depending on demand. Senators involved in this plan are Sens. Orrin Hatch (R, UT), Marco Rubio (R, FL) Amy Klobuchar (D, MN) and Chris Coons (D, DE).

"Secret" House Draft: Politico, a newspaper covering Capitol Hill, reports this week an eight-person bipartisan group in the House is working up a framework on immigration reform. The group had hoped to release the principles it's pursuing this week, but said it will likely be mid-February before details are released to the public. The group is expected to be talking principles and talking points rather than policy recommendations, and acknowledged to Politico their biggest hurdle is the path to citizenship. The eight members of the group are Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D, CA), Xavier Becerra (D, CA), Luis Gutierrez (D, IL), John Yarmuth (D, KY), Mario Diaz-Balart (R, FL), Sam Johnson (R, TX), John Carter (R, TX) and Raul Labrador (R, ID).

• http://www.cgfa.org/events.html 

• 2013 Sponsors 

The committee made an effort to invite and include quite a few students this year.   Our student program was well received.  We believe that the students and the companies who participated benefited from the student involvement.  We look forward to expanding the student program in the future.

Mark your calendars for next year -- January  15-16, 2014 at the Embassy Suites in Monterey. 

FDA announced this week it will hold a public meeting - the first in a series of three - to explain proposed rules required under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The rules on produce safety and preventative controls for human foods will be discussed at a meeting to be held Feb. 28-March 1, in Washington, DC, at the USDA Jefferson Auditorium, 14th & Independence Ave. SW. "The purpose of the meeting...is to discuss the proposed rules to establish standards for growing, harvesting, packing and holding of produce for human consumption...and for current good manufacturing practices and hazard analysis and risk-based preventative controls for human food," FDA said. Attendees can register online at www.fda.gov, or by contacting Courtney Treece at ctreece@fda.hhs.gov. Details on the remaining meetings will be released shortly, FDA said.

Legislation to overturn duplicative EPA pesticide permit registrations was introduced this week by Sen. Pat Roberts (R, KS) and Sen. Mike Johanns (R, NE) after similar legislation failed to see action in the last Congress. The Roberts-Johanns bill amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to change Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting so that new CWA registrations for use near water are not necessary if the product is already registered with EPA. The House approved a similar bill in the last Congress and the Senate Agriculture Committee also approved Roberts-Johann legislation, but the full Senate did not take action due to opposition from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, CA), chair of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works.

FDA this week announced creation of its "commissioner-level Office of Foods and Veterinary Medicine." While many of the functions of the newly formed office have been in place for months, many see the move as part of FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg's desire to "realign" operations in the agency. The Office of Foods was created in 2009 "to elevate leadership of food and feed safety" and the latest moves are part of the Food/Veterinary Medicine Strategic Plan 2012-2016, reflecting implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FMSA), the most sweeping changes in FDA authority in 70 years. While realigning reporting responsibilities, the move also creates several new levels of operation with the office of Deputy Commissioner for Foods, Michael Taylor. In addition to giving Taylor a new associate commissioner, it creates an Office of Resource Planning and Strategic Management; a communications and public engagement staff; a chief science officer/research director, and a new "Executive Secretariat" staff. The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), which regulates the feed industry, and the Office of Food Safety & Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) operations are not affected by the "consolidation" in the new office.

Sixteen Senators this week sent a letter to President Obama urging him to waste no time in naming a replacement for EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson who's announced she's leaving her job. "We believe it is critical you appoint an (EPA) administrator who has both a vision and demonstrated record of working to safeguard our children and families," the Senators wrote. "The EPA nominee must also build on (Jackson's) critical work to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink." The letter was signed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, CA), chair of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, and senior Sens. Dick Durbin (D, IL), Debbie Stabenow (D, MI), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Dianne Feinstein (D, CA), among others.