Federal Legislation Report
May 2009 Carol Chandler

Climate Change: Top Issue

The new administration and the Congress have made climate change legislation and regulation at the top of their list for the near future. For example, the Cap-and-trade program is a controversial attempt to limit carbon emissions by allowing industries to offset their emission with carbon sequestration credits. The agriculture industry has joined with other business interests in raising the concern that the added financial burden of such a program would be harmful to the economy during the downturn.

Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator, advocates reducing greenhouse gases and aggressively addressing pollution. She also is a consumer activist and favors environmental protection for lower income communities. Her approach, as head of a huge agency, could result in more pesticide regulation, attention to water quality and non-point source pollution.

The new Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steve Chu, is a Nobel Laureate Physics Professor from UC Berkeley. His focus will be finding alternative and renewable sources of energy rather than the expansion of domestic energy supplies. Cap-and-trade is also a program he favors as a method of reducing our energy use.

Both of these members of the administration signal a shift toward greener and less economically friendly regulations. Agriculture representatives will need to monitor and stay engaged to impress upon them how their regulations and their implementation will affect our industry.

Immigration Reform

The US Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Schumer (D-NY), will hold a hearing on “Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We do It and How?” It remains to be seen if the administration and Congress will tackle this issue as unemployment in the country continues to rise. Hope for an AgJOBS bill remains strong.

Federal Legislation Report
March 2009 Carol Chandler

New Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack was sworn in as the 30th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on January 21, 2009. Appointed by the President, Vilsack received unanimous support for his confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Secretary Vilsack has served in the public sector at nearly every level of government from mayor to State Senator. In 1998, he was the first Democrat elected Governor of Iowa in more than 30 years, an office he held for two terms.

The first priorities of Vilsack are ethics, Civil Rights and reviewing all pending rules and regulations from the outgoing Bush administration. Vilsack also stressed the “the most important thing for us to do right now is to have a complete and thorough understanding of the Farm Bill as it was drafted by Congress and to make sure that we implement the provisions of the Farm Bill as promptly and properly as possible.” Noting congressional concerns about implementation, he said there are “600 provisions and 15 titles that have to be implemented and that is our job and that’s going to be our focus.”

Vilsack said he and the President are committed to being “creative and innovative” in this year’s reauthorization of the nutrition programs to provide more nutritious food. He also noted that the food stamps and WIC programs provide economic stimulus, pointing out that for nutrition programs, “every dollar invested generates $4 of activity in the economy”.