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NORTHWEST AG SHOW SPECIAL SECTION | INSIDE th 50 Anniversar y E N TE PA ES CapitalPress.com Friday, January 3, 2020 N Y PR EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER D BY HAR VE ST C TA API O L C M Volume 93, Number 1 $2.00 2020 The year ahead OREGON WASHINGTON IDAHO What farmers can expect when legislators in Oregon, Washington and Idaho convene By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press OREGON: Another try for ‘cap-and-trade’ SALEM — Though Oregon’s upcoming legislative session will only last five weeks, lawmakers are expected to revive climate legislation in 2020 after the failure of last year’s controversial proposal. A carbon “cap-and-trade” bill passed the House in 2019 but stirred up powerful resistance in the farm and timber communities, ultimately fail- ing to get a vote in the Senate. Due to ballot initiatives planned for the November election that propose to phase out Oregon’s carbon emissions entirely, lawmakers in the House and Senate are feeling pressure to resub- mit a climate proposal, said Jenny Dresler, a lobbyist for the Oregon Farm Bureau. Northwest political party control by state Under a cap-and-trade system, car- bon emissions are capped at a certain level and companies can earn credits for reducing their output below that threshold. The credits can then be sold to other firms that exceed it. An early legislative concept being floated in the Senate would initially limit that scheme as it pertains to fuels to the Portland metropolitan area, then roll it out to other cities, Dresler said. The idea is to mitigate the adverse economic effects on rural residents who face longer commutes, which was a major sticking point with the last proposal. “There is some momentum being made to address the concerns of the opposition,” Dresler said. Oregon Washington *As of July, 2018 Idaho Population: 4.19 million * Population: 7.54 million * Population: 1.75 million * Governor: Kate Brown (D) Governor: Jay Inslee (D) Governor: Brad Little (R) House: 38 Democrats, 22 Republicans House: 56 Democrats, 41 Republicans, 1 vacancy House: 55 Republicans, 13 Democrats, 1 vacancy Speaker: Tina Kotek (D) Speaker: Laurie Jinkins (D) Speaker: Scott Bedke (R) Senate: 18 Democrats, 12 Republicans Senate: 29 Democrats, 20 Republicans Senate: 28 Republicans, 7 Democrats President: Peter Courtney (D) President: Cyrus Habib (D) President (pro tem): Brent Hill (R) Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; Capital Press research Capital Press graphic See 2020, Page 11 Court orders EPA to write temperature control plans Lawsuit originally filed by environmental groups in 2017 By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press A federal appeals court has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to finalize a long-overdue plan to lower water tempera- tures for endangered fish in the Columbia and Snake rivers. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is likely to intensify the ongo- ing debate over breaching four Lower Snake River dams in Eastern Washington to increase salmon and steelhead runs. Environmental and commercial fish- ing groups sued the EPA in 2017 to protect Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead from dangerously high river temperatures. Water exceeding 68 degrees is considered particu- larly lethal for the fish, causing them to strug- gle migrating upstream and leaving them sus- ceptible to disease. The plaintiffs — including Columbia Riv- erkeeper, Snake River Waterkeeper, Idaho Riv- ers United, the Institute for Fisheries Resources and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations — highlighted the summer of 2015, when an estimated 250,000 Snake River sockeye salmon died before they could spawn. Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper, said the slack water reservoirs behind hydroelectric dams on the rivers are a major culprit when it comes to heat- ing water. Growers say $15.83 H-2A minimum wage ‘too high’ By DAN WHEAT Capital Press WAPATO, Wash. — The minimum wage for H-2A-visa foreign guestworkers in Wash- ington and Oregon increasesd 5.32% on Jan. 2, from $15.03 to $15.83 per hour, making it the highest in the nation. The national average is $13.99 per hour, up 5.58%. Rob Valicoff, president of Valicoff Fruit Co., in Wapato, is mad about it and says all the other growers he talks to aren’t happy either. He blames his own con- gressman, Rep. Dan New- house, for not getting more wage and housing relief for growers in the Farm Work- force Modernization Act, H.R. 5038. The bill passed the House on Dec. 11, and Newhouse and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rob D-Calif., Valicoff are the chief sponsors. “Newhouse didn’t do his job. He started his compro- mise too low. He wants to give workers already here amnesty and a free ride. I’m OK with some of that, but he didn’t do squat on H-2A,” Valicoff said. The bill’s one-year freeze on the H-2A minimum wage, known as the Adverse Effect Wage Rage, or AEWR, isn’t enough and subsequent annual increases of 3.25 to 4.25% are too high, Valicoff said. Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, said the $15.83 per hour will “be a challenge for many growers who are already operating below the break-even point.” AEWR increases “are unsustainable” and that’s why the Lofgren-Newhouse bill addresses it, DeVaney said. Growers should be able to pay the state minimum wage or prevailing wage and recoup some housing costs from workers, as is allowed in the non-agricultural H-2B pro- gram, Valicoff said. See Wage, Page 11 “The reservoirs have created this hot water problem, and climate change is pushing it over the edge,” VandenHeuvel said. “We need solu- tions quickly, and they need to be big solutions.” Under the Clean Water Act, states are required to identify and issue pollution con- trols for imperiled waterways. The standards — known as “Total Maximum Daily Load,” or abbreviated TMDL — can address high levels of specific pollutants, such as nitrogen, or con- ditions such as water temperature or turbidity. See Plans, Page 11 Adverse Effect Wage Rate The new hourly minimum wage for H-2A-visa foreign guestworkers takes effect Jan. 2. State Ore. , Wash. Kan., Neb., N.D., S.D. Hawaii Calif. Iowa, Mo. Ill., Ind., Ohio Mich., Minn., Wis. Conn., Maine, Mass., N.H., N.Y., R.I., Vt. Colo., Nev., Utah Idaho, Mont., Wyo. Del., Md., N.J., Pa. Ariz., N.M. N.C., Va. Okla., Texas Kty., Tenn., W.V. Ark., La., Miss. Ala., Ga., S.C. Fla. Adverse Effect Wage Rate 2019 2020 Percent change $15.03 14.38 14.73 13.92 13.34 13.26 13.54 13.25 $15.83 14.99 14.90 14.77 14.58 14.52 14.40 14.29 5.3% 4.2 1.2 6.1 9.3 9.5 6.4 7.9 13.13 13.48 13.15 12.00 12.25 12.23 11.63 11.33 11.13 11.24 14.26 13.62 13.34 12.91 12.67 12.67 12.40 11.83 11.71 11.71 8.6 1 1.4 7.6 3.4 3.6 6.6 4.4 5.2 4.2 Source: National Council of Agricultural Employers Capital Press graphic
