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Friday, January 3, 2020
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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