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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2015)
July 31, 2015 CapitalPress.com Content & Design Provided by Oregon Farm Bureau OREGON FARM 'I BUREAU he 2015 Oregon Legislative Session will be remembered as a long, hard-fought battle for farmers and ranchers from the very start. Important agriculture-related bills that gained traction early this session included the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and several labor-related bills. Farm Bureau members and small-business owners flocked to the Capitol to advocate against costly legislation like LCFS and mandated paid sick leave, which passed and are now laws, and a substantial minimum wage hike, which died in committee. /' •..-*' OFB's Jenny Dresler welcomed Marion County Farm Bureau President John Zielinksi as he arrived to the Capitol to meet with lawmakers. "OFB succeeded in stop- ping a lot of legislation that was harmful to Oregon agriculture, thanks to a strong OFB Government Affairs team, coalition partners, and friends in the legislature," said Jenny Dresler, OFB director of state public policy. Their combined efforts also were critical to passing g o o d bills and investments in Ore- gon's natural resources: $ 5 0 million in water infrastructure funding, investments in sage grouse work, $ 3 . 3 million and an expansion for the Farm to School Program, and $ 1 4 million in additional funding to OSU's Statewides (Extension Service, Agriculture Exper- iment Stations, and Forest Research Lab). OFB thanks the many Farm Bureau members w h o took the time to engage with law- makers this session. "If Farm Bureau opposes a bill, legislators know our mem- bers will show up and speak up, said M a r y Anne Nash, OFB public policy counsel. Volunteers called and wrote lawmakers, testified in commit- tees, gave media interviews, and discussed important pol- icy issues with elected officials throughout the 2 0 1 5 session. These efforts were critical to OFB's successes in the Capi- tol, and we thank Farm Bureau members for their advocacy. OFB 2nd VP Angela Bailey (left) and Farm Bureau members Amy Doerfler Phelan and Bob Schaefer spoke at a public hearing in opposition to a significant minimum wage hike. Bills That Passed HB 2 4 4 3 , Fertilizer Fees: Increases registration fees on fertilizers, adds a tonnage fee on lime, and increases the product evaluation fee for soil enhancing products to bring parity to the system. SB 2 4 4 3 also updates the fertilizer statute to be consistent with the national model language. OFB supported; bill passed. HB 2 5 0 9 , Ag Mediation: Establishes statewide policy on ag coexistence. The result of a workgroup on G M O s and coexistence conflicts, HB 2 5 0 9 provides incentives to neighboring farmers to work out disputes through a third- party mediator instead of gov- ernment intervention. Growers may utilize either O D A or USDA's agriculture mediation programs. OFB supported; bill passed. HB 2 6 9 0 , State Retirement for the Private Sector: Requires ALL employers who do not offer a retirement plan to enroll ALL employees in a state-sponsored retirement plan. Employees may opt out after enrollment. HB 2 9 6 0 puts a burden on employers for compliance and reporting, and puts employers at risk of a potential lawsuit. OFB opposed; bill passed. HB 2 7 6 4 , Workers' Com- pensation: As passed by the House, HB 2 7 6 4 would increase trial attorneys' fees and workers' compensa- tion system costs by several percentage points. This would increase costs for employers. However, the Senate adopted an amendment agreed to by the Management-Labor Advisory Committee (MLAC) to maintain fairness in the system. It will still cost the sys- tem more as amended. OFB neutral; bill passed. HB 3 1 2 5 , Food Processing Personal Property Exemp- tion: Expands food production tax exemption to bakery, dairy, e g g , and grain proces- sors. HB 31 25 encourages job growth in the food pro- cessing industry in Oregon , helping producers keep costs Upcoming events For more information, visitoregonfb.org. Century Farm & Ranch Induction Ceremony: Aug. 29, 1 1:00 a.m. at the Oregon State Fair O F B Classic Golf Tourney: Sept. 2 4 a t Stone C r e e k Golf Club in Oregon City County Farm Bureau Annual Meetings: October & November Oregon Farm Bureau Annual Meeting: Dec 8 10 in Sun River American Farm Bureau National Convention: Jan. 10-13, 2 0 1 6 in Orlando, Florida I d o w n and remain viable. OFB family members when part of immediate cease and desist if he/she has "reason to believe" the natural resources property supported; bill passed. that the employer is engaging is out of state. SB 8 6 4 deter- HB 3 1 8 8 , Predator Control in unlawful w a g e practices. mines eligibility for the natural Funding Districts: Allows OFB opposed; bill died. resources tax credit based on certain counties to adopt a the ratio of in-state property to voluntary funding mechanism the in-state portion of the gross to pay for county predator estate. This should facilitate control services (i.e. USDA transitions of the family farm APHIS Wildlife Services). from one generation to the next. As timber revenues continue OFB supported; bill passed. to decline, it is critical that counties are able to provide predator management to help prevent costly depredation on livestock and timber. OFB supported; bill passed. HB 3 5 4 9 , Pesticide Reform Package: Faced with over two dozen pesticide bills this session, OFB participated in two workgroups to find consen- sus on how to move forward with pesticide regulations. HB 3 5 4 9 allocates resources to O D A and the Pesticide Analytical & Response Center (PARC) to conduct adequate investigations, creates a new aerial applicators' certificate, and increases penalties for pesticide violations. It does not include additional reporting or new notification requirements. OFB supported; bill passed. SB 3 2 4 , Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS): Requires mandatory reduction of car- bon content of fuels through a cap-and-trade of carbon credits. Although the LCFS is estimated to increase the cost of fuel for families and businesses anywhere from 4 cents to $ 1 . 0 6 per gallon, the hidden tax will not fund road infrastructure improvements. OFB opposed; bill passed. OFB's Mary Anne Nash testified on a land use bill at a legislative committee hearing. SB 3 4 1 , Agritourism Lia- bility Protection: Addresses the issue of farm liability protection for certain rec- reation activities. SB 3 4 1 provides liability protection to agritourism operators w h o post certain notices on their properry, enabling them to more readily obtain liability insurance for their activities. OFB supported; bill passed. SB 4 5 4 , M a n d at o r y Paid Sick Leave: Requires employ- ers with 1 0 or more employ- ees outside of Portland to offer employees paid sick leave. O n e hour is accrued for every 30 hours worked, and paid sick leave can be used after 90 days of employment. Hours may be carried over for 1 80 days after termination of employment and up to 40 hours may be carried over to the next year. SB 4 5 4 places a significant burden on ag producers w h o need a reli- able workforce during the crit- ical time of harvest and must track hours for all seasonal and temporary positions. OFB opposed; bill passed. SB 8 6 4 , Estate Tax Fix: Modifies estate tax provisions to facilitate transfers between SB 5 3 4 , A i r p o r t Annexation: Authorized cities to extend water and sewer services to airports outside the city's boundaries without first annex- ing the airport into the city. OFB opposed; bill passed. Farm Bureau member Pieper Sweeney spoke at a House committee hearing about how proposed legislation would impact her family farm. HB 2 5 9 8 / SB 9 2 0 , Livestock and Antibiotic Use: Prohib- ited the use of antibiotics for any nontherapeutic purposes, including some medical purposes in food-producing animals. These bills created HB2004/SB130/SB332, conflicting federal and state Preemption on Minimum regulations, required annual Wage: Removed the state pre- emption that prohibits local gov- reporting of the use of any ernments from setting their own medical antibiotics used on food animals without a minimum w a g e requirements. scientific purpose, and put These bills would allow for a Oregon food producers at patchwork of minimum w a g e regulations throughout the state. a competitive disadvantage. OFB opposed; bills died. OFB opposed; bills died. Bad Bills Killed by OFB Involvement -__ Farm Bureau member Karl Dettwyler explained to lawmakers how his family farm couldn't sustain a $15/hour minimum wage for employees. HB 2 0 0 8 / HB 2 0 0 9 / HB 2012/SB 327/SB 682/ SB 610, Minimum Wage Increase: Bills increased Oregon's minimum wage in increments to $ 10.75/hour by 2016, $12.20/hourby 2017, $13.50/hourbythe end of 2017, or $15/hour by 201 8. An amendment was introduced to HB 201 2 at the end of session to increase state minimum wage to $1 3/ hour by 201 8 and remove the preemption on minimum wage to allow local governments to set their own wage. OFB opposed; bills died. HB 2010/HB 3377/SB 888, Mandatory Predictable Flexible Scheduling: Required employers to discuss creating a personalized schedule with their employees if he/she has: a health condition, caregiving responsibilities for children or the elderly a second job, or is attending school or job-training. HB 3 3 7 7 also would require employers to provide a written schedule 21 days in advance and compensation if the employer made changes to that schedule after the three weeks. OFB opposed; bills died. HB 2 1 0 5 , Personal Property Tax Exemptions: Under current law, personal properry of farmers and farm operations, such as machinery, equipment, inventory, annual or perennial plants or crops, and irrigation tools, are exempt from annual property taxation. This bill repealed those exemptions after HB 2 6 6 6 , Aggregate: Changed the land use policy for processing aggregate oper- ations by: heightening the stan- dard that a farmer would have to meet to prove an impact on their operations, substituting other permit approvals for the analysis of impacts to farmers required under the land use statutes, and limiting the zone of impacts to farms that can be considered by local govern- ment. OFB opposed; bill died. HB 2674/ HB 2675/ HB 3121/HB 3122/HB 3554/ SB 207, GMOs: The 2015 Legislative Session continued to target genetically engi- neered/genetically modified organisms and production methods. Bills were introduced to implement bans, control areas, or market preferences that would exclude G M O s or other patented crops. OFB opposed; bills died. HB 2 7 1 8 , Fertilizer Fee Expansion: Oregon Envi- ronmental Council's bill to increase the limit on soil-en- hancing products' registration fees to fund soil scientists and research grants. HB 2 7 1 8 increased the tonnage cap on these products by 77%. It also mandated a change to the composition of the Fertilizer Research Committee. OFB opposed; bill died. HB 3 3 1 0 / S B 8 2 4 / S B 823, California Clean Diesel: Imposed varying provisions of California's Truck & Bus Regu- lation on Oregon agriculture and small businesses. These bills increased registration fees for off-road vehicles and required significant investments in diesel particulate retrofits or in new trucks entirely. OFB opposed; bills died. SB 7 1 6 , Industrial Lands: Authorized Clackamas, Mult- nomah, and Washington Coun- 2018. OFB opposed; bill died. ties to designate 1 5 0 to 5 0 0 acres of land outside of urban HB 2 3 8 6 , Cease & Desist: growth boundaries to develop Allowed the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor & Industries one large-lot industrial reserve. (BOLI) to issue a temporary but OFB opposed; bill died. 31-7/#13 9