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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2015)
6 CapitalPress.com January 9, 2015 Editorials are written by or approved by members of the Capital Press Editorial Board. All other commentary pieces are the opinions of the authors but not necessarily this newspaper. Opinion Editorial Board Publisher Editor Managing Editor Mike O’Brien Joe Beach Carl Sampson opinions@capitalpress.com Online: www.capitalpress.com/opinion O ur V iew Presidential order likely to hurt agriculture F or several years now farm groups have been talking about the need for immigration reform — but apparently not the piecemeal reform unilaterally undertaken by President Obama. The United States needs immigration reform, but of a far more comprehensive nature than provided by the latest executive action. After November’s election, Obama announced he’d take executive action to temporarily lift the threat of deportation for as many as 5 million illegal immigrants who have been in the country for five years and who have children born in the United States, and to children brought by their parents prior to Jan. 1, 2010. Those immigrants would be eligible for work permits under the program, allowing them to legally hold jobs in the United States. Farmers who raise vegetables, fruit and nursery crops depend on immigrant labor, as do many processors and packers. It’s generally agreed that most of these workers, as many as 85 percent in some areas, are in the country illegally and are providing employers with fake papers. So you might think that 5 million newly legal — at least for the moment — workers would be a boon to agriculture. You would be wrong, according to agriculture leaders in California. Growers and processors in the Golden State employ some 330,000 farmworkers. Their labor makes possible California’s $46 billion agriculture industry. But by even the most conservative estimates, more than 200,000 of these workers are in the country illegally and are ineligible for employment. Manuel Cunha, president of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League, told The Associated Press last month that he thinks as many as 50,000 of those workers will take their new work permits out of the field and into more stable, year-round jobs off the farm. We must be honest. Farm work is hard and mostly seasonal work. Workers who have both the skills and the ability to legally exploit other options are going to take that opportunity. Armando Elenes, national vice president of the United Farm Workers, said Obama’s program changes the equation. “It’s going to open up a whole new world for workers,” he told The Associated Press. “A lot of times, if you’re undocumented, you feel like you’re stuck.” Good for workers, bad for growers. Jason Resnick, vice president and general counsel of Western Growers, saw the flaw in the Obama plan — it lacks a mechanism to bring in new workers to fill jobs vacated by workers able to chase new opportunities. Growers need changes to the H-2A guest worker visa system to remove the politics and the nonsensical requirements now in place. It should not take months to apply for and obtain needed temporary, legal workers from overseas. If a farmer has a shortfall, he should be able to obtain help quickly. Comprehensive immigration reform also must include a pathway for permanent legal status that imposes strict requirements on immigrants, a secure border, and a requirement that employers verify the legal status of their employees. All of this must be passed by Congress, not through executive fiat. Farmers’ efforts Minimum wages and other people’s money put ag a few steps ahead for 2015 O ur V iew H ere’s a conversation that occasionally takes place in state capitols around the nation. Political Genius No. 1: “We need to raise the minimum wage.” Political Genius No. 2: “Why is that?” Political Genius No. 1: “Well, it’ll give our constituents more money, which they will like, and best of all, it uses other people’s money.” Political Genius No. 2: “Sold!” Political Genius No. 1: “Just don’t tell people it could cost them their jobs.” Political Genius No. 2: “I didn’t hear a thing you just said.” The idea of raising the minimum wage has gained a certain amount of political currency, so to speak, as politicians, having emptied the public coffers, look for other ways to make themselves look good using other people’s money. For many, it means increasing the minimum wage. Nine states’ minimum wages increased as of Jan. 1 because of automatic increases. Overall, 29 states have minimum wages higher than the $7.25 per hour federal minimum. In the Northwest, we know about increasing the minimum wage. For years, Washington and Oregon employers have been stuck on an inflation-adjusted treadmill that forces their minimum wages upward each year. Washington employers will pay $9.47 an hour this year, and their counterparts in Oregon will pay $9.25. Though politicians point out that people with minimum wage jobs get more money — that much By ERIN ANTHONY For the Capital Press W Rik Dalvit/For the Capital Press is true — they somehow miss the fact that employers also scour their operations for ways to reduce their payrolls to offset the increase. In addition to layoffs, many have switched to part-time and on-call employees as ways to save money. Mechanization and automation are also options and have gotten more of a boost from the push for higher wages. For example, retailers and grocers are installing self-service checkout stands by the thousands. Each represents more lost jobs. Even McDonald’s, which is known for hiring entry- level employees with no skills and teaching them what it takes to hold down a job, is testing a self-service ordering system that will reduce the number of employees needed. The undeniable result of artificially high wages at the bottom rung of the employment ladder is fewer jobs. Proponents of higher minimum wages say the cost can just come out of the employers’ profit margin. That wouldn’t work for most small businesses, food processors and farms, where the margins are slim, if they exist at all. That reality is something young men and woman just entering the workforce and others, including politicians, need to understand as they agitate for higher minimum wages. The key to success in the work world is possessing a skill set that employers want and need. Without that, a young man or woman will not be able to get and keep a job at any wage. If politicians want to help those at the bottom of the pay scale, they can help them afford training and education, the costs of which are rapidly spiraling beyond the grasp of all but the wealthiest Americans. A well-educated and well-trained population will make the question of how high the minimum wage is immaterial. That’s something every politician should be able to understand and support. Readers’ views Citizens ignored by lawmakers Increasingly we as U.S. citizens are being ignored and put upon by bad legislation, either to be voted on or already in place. We all should be very disturbed by what our so-called representatives everywhere are doing and creating in our names. For instance, there’s the ongoing U.S. Department of Labor case against the blueberry farmers in Or- egon. Return their money already! It’s time for all of those kinds of things to stop. We are all U.S. citizens — no more Gestapo here. Any judge that can’t decipher good laws versus bad laws may need to go. D. Tankersley Willits, Calif. Stand up for the Constitution With interest the arti- cle, “Forest Service betrays its heritage, assaults water rights,” was read. How many see the tentacles of the United Nations slowly violating our Constitution and destroying our rights? We, the people, are the stewards of the land. It is our responsibility and duty to see that those whom we have elected uphold the rule of law — the Constitution. We have legislators who are members of the Bilderbergs, Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Affairs who fur- ther the U.N.’s encroachment. We are more concerned with the latest movies, foot- ball games, “Dancing with the Stars,” et cetera — they are planned to be misleading and distracting — but pay lit- tle or no attention to the path this nation is heading. Yes, we need relaxation, but we need to pay attention to the busi- ness of our republic. How many have re- searched Agenda 21 and the U.N. 2000 Millennial Goal? The goal is to control all land, air and seas (the Clean Water Act now controls all our wa- ters), control all monies (sure- ly, you see this with the push- ing of a cashless society) and a dependent society (more on welfare). Are we all so intent for the nation to be controlled by the U.N.? Why are our heri- tage sites under U.N. control and we furnish the upkeep and money and are restrained from some of these sites? Are you allowing your own en- slavement? You can start a change by demanding the legislators cut off all funds (your tax mon- ies) to the U.N., getting them out of our nation and quitting the organization. Then demand the officials follow and uphold the word of the Constitution and re- move from office all officials who violate the Constitution. Remember, it is your duty. You pay all of the bills. Don’t let political correctness still your voice. You are an Amer- ican and standing up for your rights, the Constitution and the legacy to your children. Mrs. Mary A. Novak Yamhill, Ore. eather. Input costs. Commodity pric- es. From planning to harvesting, there’s plenty that’s out of farmers’ and ranchers’ control. Perhaps that’s why when they have the chance to hold sway, they go all in. There’s hardly a better example of that than the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Ditch the Rule campaign, launched this spring to challenge EPA’s proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule. The rule could ultimately lead to the un- lawful expansion of federal regulations to cover routine farming and ranching prac- tices as well as other com- mon private land uses, such as building homes. Through official com- ments to EPA, hundreds of thousands of tweets and Facebook posts, testimo- ny before Congress, calls, emails and in-person meet- ings with policymakers, in- terviews with reporters and much more, Farm Bureau members were relentless in telling EPA, the media and Congress why this propos- al is such a threat to agri- culture, not to mention an end-run around congressio- nal intent and rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. While Ditch the Rule focused on administrative action, immigration reform is Congress’ job. Growers were optimistic that Senate passage last year of an im- migration reform bill that addressed agriculture’s la- bor needs would provide momentum for House ac- tion in 2014, but that was not to be. Nearly everything ground to a halt this summer with the mid-term elections looming. Still, farmers’ and ranch- ers’ leadership on the issue became even clearer when President Obama’s execu- tive order made everyone ask: “What does this mean for agriculture?” Although the president’s move does little, if anything, for farm- ers and ranchers in dire need of a stable workforce, Farm Bureau has success- fully made the agricultural labor crisis a political real- ity that cannot be ignored in 2015. Farm Bureau was also front and center in the push for a national food label- ing policy. Legislation in- troduced earlier this year would provide a federal solution to protect consum- ers from a patchwork of individual state GMO label- ing policies, and the con- fusion and high food costs that would come with them. At a congressional hearing Guest comment Erin Anthony earlier this month, Kansas Farm Bureau board mem- ber Stacey Forshee made a strong case for why law- makers should pass the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (H.R. 4432). Labeling foods with biotechnology traits “will mislead consumers into be- lieving such food products are materially different, cre- ate undue risk and should be avoided — all of which are scientifically false,” she said. Also this month, Con- gress extended retroactively for 2014 a series of tax pro- visions that expired at the end of 2013. These “extend- ers” are important because they help farmers invest in the machinery, equipment and other depreciable cap- ital that they can’t do their jobs without. In addition, a number of the provisions encourage the production and use of clean, renewable energy. In the end, Congress took longer than farmers and ranchers would have liked, but the final extend- ers bill, which included Farm Bureau priorities like Section 179 small-business expensing, was one of the few pieces of legislation the House, Senate and the president agreed upon in the second half of the year — a testament to farmers’ and ranchers’ ability to deliver a strong message. With the extenders secure for 2014, farmers and ranchers will push forward in 2015 to make some of the key small business provisions perma- nent. Stepping out of the pol- icy arena, Farm Bureau led the way with a historic agreement on data privacy and security principles that will encourage the use and development of a full range of innovative, technolo- gy-driven tools and services to boost the productivity, ef- ficiency and profitability of American agriculture. The data privacy and se- curity principles detailed in the agreement provide a measure of needed cer- tainty to farmers regard- ing the protection of their data. From Ditch the Rule to immigration reform, tax ex- tenders and big data, look- ing at farmers’ and ranch- ers’ 2014 successes shows us agriculture is clearly a few steps ahead for 2015. Erin Anthony is editor of FBNews, the American Farm Bureau Federation’s official e-newsletter.