News From CGFA

The GFIC committee have finalized plans for the 2016 Grain & Feed Industry Conference. The GFIC Conference is an annual two-day educational event that is planned and coordinated by the California Grain & Feed Association. The basic purpose of the conference is to provide mill managers and key employees of grain handling and feed manufacturing operations an educational program consisting of both managerial and technical information specific to the industry. The GFIC committee believes the program topics are very timely and encompass subjects which address the concerns of many of our customers. The 2016 GFIC will be held January 13-14 at the Embassy Suites Hotel on Monterey Bay.

Program Highlights include:

Food Safety Modernization Act (FMSA) Final Rule for Animal Feed Session with Mike Taylor, FDA, Dan McChesney, Center for Veterinary Medicine, Rick Jensen, CDFA and Jenna Areias, CDFA
The Food Morality Movement by Kevin Murphy, Food-Chain Communications
Chew on This Part II Video Courtesy of NutraBlend
Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) Overview by Kerry Keffaber, DVM, Elanco Animal Heath and Kaylen Henry, GlobalVetLINK, LC
Nutritionist Perspective on Ingredients by Peter Karnezos, Ph.D., PMI Nutritional Additives
Employee Training Video Series
Cal/OSHA Enforcement Requirements on Safety Devices by Jon Weiss, Cal/OSHA
7 Steps for Successful Hazardous Monitoring by Brian Knapp, 4B Components
Air Compressors by John Certo, Kaiser Air
Maintenance Panel on Bearings & Predictive Maintenance by Manuel Martinez and Martin Newberry, SKF Bearing
California Labor Law Update by Michael Saqui, The Saqui Law Group

Please call the Embassy Suites Hotel (831) 393-1115 ASAP to reserve your room or click here for access to the personalized web page for our event (click here). All program and registration materials are available on the CGFA website - www.cgfa.org/events. Remember "Our Jobs Depend on Agriculture" -- see you in Monterey!

Link to Registration Packet (click here)

CGFA Careers Center in Action

On November 5, CGFA hosted a table at the University of the Pacific Career Resource Center's 2015 Etiquette Dinner & Networking Event. Communications Director, Aimee Darville represented CGFA as an employer host, discussing dining and business etiquette and engaging five students at the CGFA table in professionalconversation. The discussion included information on the CGFA Career Center as a new resource for jobs & internships. The goal of the dinner was to offer students from a variety of majors the opportunity to learn about dining etiquette and professional behavior while enjoying a 5-course meal with fellow students, faculty, staff and employers. CGFA was recognized in the Etiquette Dinner program and presentation and will receive recognition in the University's annual Honor Roll of Donors.

California Legislative Update

by Dennis Albiani, Legislative Advocate

Brown Expands Drought Executive Order

As California prepares for a fifth year of drought, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued an executive order that calls for additional actions to build on the state's ongoing response to record dry conditions and assist recovery efforts from this year's devastating wildfires. The Governor's proclamation strikes a unique balance by stating that the State has a "range of weather events that require preparing simultaneously for a fifth year of drought and the possibility of major winter storms from El Nino...." Specifically, the Declaration does the following:

Retains all authorities and powers provided to State Agencies in earlier Emergency Declaration.
Encourages the state to study demonstration projects that use available high water flows for projects such as groundwater recharge.
States that if Drought conditions persist through January 2016, then all statewide water restrictions shall be continued until at least October 31, 2016. The Water Board is directed to expand the restrictions to potable and non-potable water and the CPUC shall extend them to Investor Owned Water Companies.
Further clarifies funding from the budget for drought response and authorizes the State Water Board to provide direct assistance to entities out of water.
Suspends CEQA and the Administrative Procedures Act for activities directly related to drought response actions authorized under the Emergency Declaration.

Here is a link to the Emergency Declaration.

Governor Brown Announces Appointments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, November 13, 2015

Contact: Governor's Press Office: (916) 445-4571

SACRAMENTO - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:

Jennifer Hernandez, 35, of Covina, has been appointed associate secretary for farmworker and immigrant services at the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Hernandez has been northwestern regional director at the AFL-CIO since 2013, where she was western region campaign coordinator from 2010 to 2013. She was a partner at Cultivo Consulting from 2008 to 2010, civic engagement director at the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation from 2007 to 2008 and deputy director at Communities United to Strengthen America from 2006 to 2007. Hernandez was special assistant to the president at Voices for Working Families from 2004 to 2006 and program manager and driver's license campaign manager at United Farm Workers of America from 2002 to 2004. Hernandez earned a Master of Public Policy degree from George Mason University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,000. Hernandez is a Democrat.

Barbara Owens, 60, of Sacramento, has been appointed enterprise risk and compliance officer at the California Public Utilities Commission. Owens was chief of audits at the California Department of Motor Vehicles from 2012 to 2015 and chief of internal audits at the California Department of Child Support Services from 2007 to 2012. She was an IT auditor at the California Board of Equalization in 2007 and at the California State Teachers' Retirement System from 2004 to 2007. Owens was an associate auditor at the California Public Employees' Retirement System from 2001 to 2004 and an associate program evaluator at the California Department of Finance from 1999 to 2001. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $105,180. Owens is a Democrat.

Marc Los Huertos, 52, of Claremont, has been appointed to the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. Los Huertos has been an associate professor of environmental analysis at Pomona College since 2014. He served in several positions at California State University, Monterey Bay from 2006 to 2014, including co-director of the Watershed Institute, associate professor and assistant professor. Los Huertos served as assistant research faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz from 2001 to 2004. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in environmental studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Los Huertos is a Democrat.

Governor Brown Issues Statement on Departure of Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Caballero, Names Acting Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, November 13, 2015

Contact: Governor's Press Office: (916) 445-4571

SACRAMENTO - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement after the recent departure of Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Anna Caballero:

"From the start of the administration, Secretary Caballero has led the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency with distinction and a real sense of public service," said Governor Brown. "I am grateful for her service to the people of California."

Anna Caballero was appointed Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency by Governor Brown in March 2011 and continued in this role at the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, established as part of the administration's reorganization of state government in 2013. Her final day as Secretary was Wednesday, November 11, 2015.

Governor Brown also announced today that Alexis Podesta has been named Acting Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, where she has served as Undersecretary. Podesta, 35, of Sacramento, served as Director of External Affairs and International Affairs and Chief of Protocol in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. from 2011 to 2015. She was a special assistant to the senior vice president of public affairs and senior advisor to the chairman and chief executive officer at Pacific Gas and Electric Company from 2009 to 2011 and was manager of government relations at the Walt Disney Company from 2007 to 2009. Podesta served as director of scheduling in the Office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein from 2002 to 2007. Podesta is a Democrat.

Ag Begins Push for Tax Extenders, Focus on Depreciation, Expensing

Agriculture groups joined general industry this week in push for House action extending 55 expired federal tax breaks, with a particular focus on Sec. 179, expensing the 50% bonus depreciation and the limit on phased-out deductibility on purchases.

The tax breaks expired at the end of 2014, and the Senate has passed a two-year extenders bill. The House Ways & Means Committee, however, is talking about a one-year extension through the end of 2016, a move that does not please Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch (R, UT) or ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D, OR). Hatch has met once with new Ways & Means Committee Chair Kevin Brady (R, TX), but said tax extenders was not on their agenda.

Also in play is the House GOP's desire to make several of the tax breaks permanent, which Senate Democrats oppose due to the cost. If there's no meeting of the minds between the two chambers on the extenders package and permanent tax breaks, then the one-year extension, with benefits retroactive to January, 2015, is the fallback, insiders say.

The focus of the ag push for extension is Sec. 179 expensing. When the tax breaks were last extended in early 2014, the limit was raised from $25,000 in immediate expensing on equipment and machinery, to $500,000. The current extenders bill would return the maximum to the 2014 level. This would be tied to a 50% bonus depreciation on new capital assets.

Also in the package is a limit on the phased-out deductibility amount on purchases that would be restored to $2 million, indexed for inflation. The $1-per-gallon blenders' tax credit for animal and plant-based biodiesel production, along with other bioenergy tax incentives, is also in the package, though in the Senate bill the blender's tax credit would convert to a biodiesel producer's tax credit in the second year.

11th-Hour Push on Higher RFS as EPA Release Deadline Looms

With EPA's announced deadline of November 30 to publish its final rule setting Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blend rates for 2015 and 2016, biofuels makers turned their attention to the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) this week as OMB finishes its review of the proposed final rule.

Last week, a letter signed by 184 members of Congress went down to EPA urging the agency to hold the line on RFS increases so as not to threaten the so-called "blend wall," the point where gasoline production is not sufficient based on demand to blend the required amounts of biofuel at the 10% maximum rate allowed. That letter was condemned by pro-ethanol interests, with the lawmakers accused of "turning your backs on American farmers."

Ethanol supporters led by the National Corn Growers Assn. (NCGA) sent President Obama a letter this week urging him to increase the RFS for corn ethanol to the levels called for in the law that created the RFS, a level significantly higher than that proposed by EPA last May.

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) has its board in Washington, DC, next week for its annual membership meeting and will be heading to OMB to plead its case that the biodiesel RFS should be set at level equal to the industry's annual production capacity. Also set to meet with OMB are the Renewable Fuels Assn. (RFA) and several ethanol companies.

Obama Starts State-by-State Push for TPP Approval

President Obama is taking his fight for ratification of the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) to the states, releasing this week a state-by-state breakdown of TPP benefits, as well as a report on the benefit of TPP to 15 industries, including agriculture.

At a press event, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, U.S. Special Trade Representative Michael Froman and Virginia Governor Terri McAuliffe talked of TPP benefits, with McAuliffe saying part of his job is to generate business for his state and TPP will do just that.

The White House is also focusing its efforts on states were House and Senate members voted in favor of giving him trade promotion authority (TPA), hoping to hold those majorities when Congress votes on the treaty in about 90 days. Under TPA the treaty is open for public review - including congressional oversight - for 60 days, and then another month will be needed for the White House to craft implementing legislation to send to Congress. Congress can only approve or reject the treaty; no amendments are allowed.

In a related development, several agricultural groups gave TPP a boost at a press event held in conjunction with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters meeting in Kansas City. Voicing support for the treaty were the American Soybean Assn., the National Pork Producers Council, the National Cattlemen's Beef Assn., the National Corn Growers Assn., the National Association of Wheat Growers, and the U.S. Grains Council.

Glyphosate "Unlikely" Carcinogen, Says EU Food Safety Agency

The herbicide glyphosate, commercially known as RoundUp is unlikely to cause cancer, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) said this week releasing the results of a full safety reassessment of the crop chemical.

The finding puts EFSA in direct contradiction of the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which deemed glyphosate "probably carcinogenic." EFSA said the discrepancy was because it had access to newer reports not available to IARC.

The EFSA process was "exhaustive," according to a spokesman, and included several new studies and data sets. EFSA announced at the same time it was setting a new food safety dietary exposure level - an "acute reference dose" - of 0.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, a level in line with a higher level for lifetime dietary exposure, according to Monsanto.

In the U.S., EPA has begun its glyphosate reassessment, saying it will publish for 60 days of public comment a draft that should be available within "several months."

Immigration Goes from Back Burner to Center Stage

With a federal appeals court rejecting this week President Obama's request that a court stay of his executive order on limiting deportation of certain illegal immigrants be lifted, and with Republican GOP presidential aspirants talking immigration during the most recent debate, immigration reform has gotten a new lease on life despite House and Senate leadership's vow that the issue is dead in Congress until President Obama leaves office.

The 5th District Court of Appeals turned down the Department of Justice's (DOJ) plea that a Texas judge's stay of the Obama executive order be lifted, and DOJ immediately announced it would take its case to the Supreme Court. It's the White House's hope the court will accept the case and rule before Obama leaves offices next year.

The White House loss came the day before Republican candidates squared off in yet another debate. Donald Trump trumpeted his plan to round up all illegals, deport them and then allow them to petition for reentry. Candidates Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R, FL) and Dr. Ben Carson all argued for a granting of "legal status" to undocumented workers, with a system whereby they could apply for citizenship. Sen. Ted Cruz (R, TX) denounced the latter plan as "amnesty."

Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton sided with the President, tweeting the 5th District's decision was "wrong on immigration." Sen. Bernie Sanders (I, VT) said if elected president, he'd do even more than President Obama to provide "relief for immigrants."

All of this comes just one week after House Speaker Paul Ryan (R, WI) announced the House will not take up comprehensive immigration reform as long as President Obama is in office because he "can't be trusted on this issue." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, KY) made a similar announcement this past summer.

State Groups Call out Senators who Voted "No" on WOTUS Bill

Nearly a dozen Democrat Senators who voted against a Senate bill to force EPA to withdraw its "waters of the U.S. (WOTUS)" rule were called out by several state and national organizations. The lawmakers were urged to reconsider their vote when the Senate tries to bring the bill back to the floor later this year.

The groups wrote to the Senators to express their "extreme disappointment" in their votes. Further, the Senators had sent a letter to EPA the day of the vote urging the agency to work with industry, but the organizations said the letter "in no way makes up for your failure to support this important legislation."

"As has been discussed with you at length over the last several months, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have proven unwilling to address the concerns you raise and we share," the groups wrote. "We do not believe that EPA's final rule can be fixed without a further legitimate and transparent rulemaking process."