Governor Signs Minimum Wage Increase

 

Surrounded by a host of legislators including the bills author Luis Alejo and Speaker John Perez, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. Wednesday signed AB 10, which will raise the minimum wage in California from $8.00 per hour to $10.00 per hour. AB 10 will raise California's minimum wage in two one-dollar increments, from $8 per hour today to $9 per hour, effective July 1, 2014 and from $9 per hour to $10 per hour, effective January 1, 2016.

 

Governor Brown was quoted saying, "It's a special day to stand with workers who are laboring for all of us and laboring at a very low wage. Turning that wage into a $10 an hour wage is a wonderful thing.  It's my goal and it's my moral responsibility to do what I can to make our society more harmonious, to make our social fabric tighter and closer and to work toward a solidarity that every day appears to become more distant."

 

The Governor held 2 signing ceremonies, one in Los Angeles and the other in Oakland.  The minimum wage has been static since 2008. 

 

Gov Appoints Laura King Moon Chief Deputy Director of Water Resources

 

Gov. Jerry Brown's office announced the appointment of Laura King Moon, former assistant general manager at the State Water Contractors, as chief deputy director at the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).

 

Moon, of Woodland, has been a project manager at DWR for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan since 2011. From 2000 to 2011 she served as assistant general manager at the State Water Contractors and from 1997 to 1999 she was director of strategic planning at the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority.

 

Moon was special assistant to the regional director at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from 1996 to 1997 and an environmental affairs officer at the East Bay Municipal Water District from 1994 to 1995. Moon was senior staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council from 1977 to 1994. She holds a Master of Science degree in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley.  The position does not require Senate confirmation.  The association has a strong relationship with Ms. Moon and will continue to build on this as the water issues percolate.  

 

2014 Setting Up to Be "Year of Water"

 

In his annual "end of the year" press conference Speaker John Perez made the statement that water infrastructure and water quality will be priority issues in the final year of the legislative session.  Specifically he discussed replacing the $11.19 billion water bond currently slated for the November ballot with a smaller more targeted water bond in the $7-8 billion range. 

 

Two bills have been introduced to reduce and restructure the water bond.  The first, introduced by Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Chair Anthony Rendon, is AB 1331 (Rendon) that creates a $6.5 billion water bond.  Senator Lois Wolk also amended her water bond legislation SB 42 (Wolk) creating a $6.45 billion bond.   An analysis with a comparison and contrast of the two measures is located at  http://sntr.senate.ca.gov/sites/sntr.senate.ca.gov/files/9-24%20Background%20%282%29.pdf 

 

Further into his press conference the Speaker discussed water quality and the need for infrastructure improvements and addressing contaminated groundwater basins.  Several bills have been introduced on water quality and will be priorities in the coming year including:

 

AB 69 (Perea) - Nitrate Risk Fund - This bill is intended to serve as a vehicle for a consensus plan to implement a funding source for groundwater mitigation.  The author has circulated potential mill assessments on fertilizer to raise approximately $60 million annually. 

 

AB 145 (Perea) - Drinking Water Program - This legislation moves the Safe Drinking water program from the Department of Public Health to the State Water Resources Control Board.

 

In another water action, Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird sent a letter to Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor establishing November 15th as the target date for release of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan final draft.  He also announced there will be an extended 120 day comment period.  A copy of the letter can be found here:

http://baydeltaconservationplan.com/Libraries/Dynamic_Document_Library/BDCP_letter_to_Commissioner_Connor_9_20_13.sflb.ashx 

 

All of these actions signal 2014 to be a year where water will take center stage.  We will continue to engage to secure water supply and address water quality issues in a responsible manner. 

 

 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) announced that the Senate will start voting early this afternoon on a series of measures - cloture on the bill, waiving budget points of order, adopting the Democratic substitute - before voting on final passage of the House continuing resolution.  Reid had attempted to hold the votes on Thursday evening, but his request for unanimous consent was blocked by Senator Mike Lee (R, UT). 

 

But sending the Senate back an amended stopgap plan is risky because it would bring Congress closer to the brink of a shutdown. Aides said the House may also present the Senate with a one-week spending extension to buy time to continue the negotiations. Senate aides said senators would leave town for the weekend but remain on alert to return to Washington on short notice in case the House acts quickly. 

 

Last night, the House Rules committee moved a resolution that included the Farm and Nutrition Bills.  The provisions are small part of a larger "martial law" rule, H. Res. 361, approved 9-3 on a party line vote by the Rules panel.  The rule will allow House Republican leadership to move quickly over the weekend on debt and funding bills prior to the fiscal year ending Monday night.  

 

Having passed the Rules committee hurdle, House leaders can call the measure to the floor for debate and votes at any time.  At the moment, today's House floor schedule calls for a final vote at 10:30 this morning, and the weekend schedule has not been released - though reports speculate that it will be voting on both Saturday and Sunday, leaving little time for the Senate to consider any legislation before Monday's deadline..

 

The House Farm Bill and the nutrition bill must be formally combined through action by the House Rules Committee - and approved again by the full House - before the House can send its bill to the Senate.  Because this package will differ from the earlier-approved Farm Bill without a nutrition title, the process of Senate receipt, Senate request for a conference, the naming of Senate conferees and then the naming of House conferees starts anew.

 

USDA says the effect on its programs of reverting to 1949 law will be "staggered."  Because crop support price programs operate on crop years and not federal fiscal years, they will generally not be affected immediately.  Under 1949 law - a collection of ag legislation enacted in the 1930s and 1940s - January 1, 2014, brings the "dairy cliff."  USDA would be required to shift milk price supports to 75% of parity, or roughly $39 per hundredweight, a level translating to a doubling of current retail milk prices or about $8 a gallon.  Theoretically, if the 1949 authority continued, corn would be supported at $6.80 per bushel and wheat at $16 per bushel.  Soybeans would receive no supports as that support program didn't exist in 1949.  

 

One of the first programs to shut down would be the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program.  These programs provide U.S. industry organizations with funding to run overseas export development and promotion programs. USDA told one publication this week those programs would shut down and all staff work on FY2014 MAP grants would cease until authority and funding are restored.

 

Oakland - The California Department of Industrial Relation's (DIR) Division of Occupational Safety and Health (commonly referred to as Cal/OSHA) joined Federal OSHA in reminding agricultural employers of the hazards of confined spaces including grain handling operations at farms. The hazard alert comes as part of President Obama's proclamation of National Farm Safety and Health Week, which goes from September 15 through 21, 2013.

"Agriculture is one of the largest industries in California," said Christine Baker, Director of DIR. "The state is a leader in workplace safety and health. This is another area where we are leading the way in raising awareness of a critical safety hazard."

Cal/OSHA initiated an ongoing Special Emphasis Program on Confined Spaces in January 2012, featuring educational outreach to employers and increased enforcement in general industry, construction and agriculture.

"Although California has not seen as many grain bin injuries as other states, it is still a huge concern. California, like the nation, supports all efforts to reduce injuries and fatalities at grain handling facilities," added Acting Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum.

For more resources on creating safe working conditions in confined spaces, or to learn more about California workplace health and safety standards please visit Cal/OSHA's website. Cal/OSHA's Consultation Program provides free and voluntary assistance to employers and employee organizations to improve their health and safety programs. Employers should call (800) 963-9424 for assistance from the Cal/OSHA Consultation Program.

Employers with work-related questions or complaints may call the toll-free California Worker's Information Line at (866) 924-9757 for recorded information, in English and Spanish, on a variety of work-related topics. Complaints can also be filed confidentially with Cal/OSHA District Offices.

 

 

A New Orleans federal judge last week told EPA it has six months to formally propose federal numeric standards for nitrogen and phosphorous levels in regulated waterways or justify why it has chosen not to set standards.  Environmental groups hailed the order as necessary to get the agency to move more quickly to regulate farm runoff they contend contributes to downstream pollution of the Mississippi River and the so-called "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

The order was issued in a lawsuit brought by a group called the Mississippi River Collaboratives, which filed a 2008 petition with EPA to set "quantifiable standards and clean up plans" for nitrogen and phosphorous runoff.  When the agency did not act on the petition, the group sued.

 

Farm and ranch groups say the order gives EPA the option of standing firm on its current position.  They say setting a one-size-fits-all numeric standard isn't necessary, nor does it do anything to fix the problems in the Gulf.

 

 

FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) sent this week to the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for review its draft proposed rule on how the current Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) program will be expanded and refined to be used in connection with antibiotics in feed and water.

 

CVM's overall plan for future oversight of the use of antibiotics is based on a cooperative program with industry rather than new heavy-handed regulations or elimination of products. This program involves two major departures from traditional practice.  The first is the elimination of all approved single label claims for "feed efficiency" and/or "growth promotion" for feeds containing antibiotics.  Under a compliance policy guide, most drug company sponsors with approved antibiotic products are in the process of giving up those singular claims in favor of a rewritten and contemporary definition of "prevention" as an approved use and label claim for antibiotics in feed.

 

The second major shift is expansion and refinement of the VFD program. Currently used with only a handful of approved animal drugs, all antibiotics used in feed and water will require VFDs issued by attending veterinarians.  A VFD stops just short of prescription status, and FDA has worked with industry to ensure the VFD process is efficient for the vet, producer and the feed company, and provides adequate veterinary oversight of the use of antibiotics on farm.

 

In a related development, FDA announced it will reinvent the manner in which it reports antibiotics-in-agriculture data mandated by law. Rather than a simple summary report, the agency will include more data on antibiotics used in both human and veterinary medicine, broken down by drug class, route of administration, dispensing status and indication. The new format will not list producers, veterinarians, animal diseases, etc.

 

In the wake of massive futures commission merchant bankruptcies (FCM) and billions of dollars in lost customer investment, 21 national agriculture groups, including producers, feed makers and lenders, called on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to modify its proposed rules on customer protection.

 

In a related development, the chairs and ranking members of both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, wrote to the full CFTC in support of agriculture's concerns, warning the commission, "...as you work to finalize the rule on customer protections, we ask that you weigh the benefits of these regulations against both the cost to America's farmers and ranchers and the potential impact on the consolidation of the FCM industry."

 

The House Agriculture Committee's subcommittee on general farm commodities and risk management also announced it will hold a hearing at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, October 2, to review "The Future of the CFTC: Perspectives on Customer Protections." The hearing can be watched live by going to www.agriculture.house.gov and following the hearing links.

 

While both the groups and the lawmakers praised CFTC efforts to strengthen customer protections in the wake of the MF Global and Peregrine Financial Group failures, the ag groups and lenders said the capital charge and residual interest requirements of the proposed rule will have the opposite of their intended effect, namely customer risk and FCM costs will increase not diminish.

 

Among the groups signing the letter are the American Feed Industry Assn. (AFIA), the National Grain & Feed Assn. (NGFA), the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC), CoBank and several national crop production and processing groups.