Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2019)
8 CapitalPress.com Friday, March 1, 2019 Ex-Clinton official: Secure USMCA vote first Crowley co-chairman of Pass USMCA Coalition By DAN WHEAT Capital Press Groups beginning to work toward congressio- nal passage of the new trade agreement among the U.S., Mexico and Canada, should first focus on making sure there is a vote, says a for- mer Clinton administration official who worked on the North American Free Trade Agreement 25 years ago. Robert Kyle, now a part- ner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Hogan Lovells, was special assistant for inter- national trade and finance to President Bill Clinton. Kyle worked on congressional approval of NAFTA in 1994. In an interview with Cap- ital Press, Kyle said USMCA is one of the largest trade initiatives of the Trump administration. “People are focused on whether it will pass or fail, but a third option is no action,” Kyle said. In 2008, President George W. Bush had negotiated the U.S. Colom- bia Free Trade Robert Kyle A g r e e m e n t and wanted it passed by Congress. Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked it and it wasn’t passed until Republicans controlled the House and Barack Obama was president in 2011. “The possibility this (USMCA) might not move at all is a real possibility. I’m not saying it won’t but one of the options is no action,” Kyle said. If that happens, NAFTA could remain in effect but more likely President Don- ald Trump will withdraw the U.S. from NAFTA with six months notice and trade will revert to pre-1994 terms resulting in higher tariffs and could precipitate a trade war, Kyle said. There could be litigation over the president’s author- ity to withdraw, but Congress would be faced with choos- ing between USMCA or pre- Poll shows support for USMCA ratification By DAN WHEAT Capital Press American voters, by a nearly 4-to-1 margin, support Congress passing the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement, accord- ing to a new poll released by the Pass USMCA Coalition. The Morning Consult polling firm con- ducted the national survey of 1,995 people from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1. It has a 2 percent margin of error. Of the respondents, 51 percent favor Congress passing USMCA. Of that group, 32 percent “somewhat support” and 19 percent “strongly support” the trade treaty. Some 34 percent had no opinion. And 14 percent oppose it, with 10 percent of that group “somewhat opposed” and 4 percent “strongly opposed.” In a further breakdown, 60 percent said knowing the deal gives U.S. dairy farmers NAFTA conditions, he said. “It would be a high-stakes strategy but the president could take this course if he felt Congress would not act otherwise,” Kyle said. more opportunity to sell to Canada makes them more likely to support it. Some 54 percent said stronger intel- lectual property and patent protections for American medical innovations, such as medicines, makes them more likely to support it. Provisions requiring auto manufactur- ers to have a higher percentage of their parts made in the U.S., Mexico or Canada to qualify for lower import taxes, led to 52 percent saying that makes them more likely to support it. “Voters understand that the deal pro- tects American workers, manufacturers, farmers and innovators,” said Rick Dear- born, Pass USMCA Coalition executive director. “USMCA is a deal both Democrats and Republicans can get behind,” said Gary Locke, former Washington governor and coalition co-chair. Democratic members of Congress in swing agricul- tural districts “may quietly want it to go through,” he said. Debate over the U.S.-Mexico border wall and trade negotiations with China have stalled progress on USMCA and Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, ranking member of Ways and Means, has said he will oppose taking up USMCA until Trump lifts steel and aluminum restric- tions on Canada and Mex- ico, Kyle said. It’s “ambi- tious” for the administration to expect USMCA passage by June, he said. Meanwhile, former Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., who lost his 2018 primary elec- tion to Alexandria Oca- sio-Cortez, became honorary co-chair of the Pass USMCA Coalition, on Feb. 21. Crowley was chair of the House Democratic Caucus, fourth in leadership behind Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Crowley joins former Democratic Washington Gov. Gary Locke as coalition co-chair. Locke was announced as the coalition was launched on Feb. 13. He also is for- mer ambassador to China and former secretary of commerce. “I’m excited to join the coalition,” Crowley said in a press release. “USMCA is a landmark trade victory for American’s workers. My for- mer colleagues should take action to ratify the agreement quickly.” State commission removes 2 Thurston conservation supervisors By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA — Two Thur- ston Conservation District supervisors accused of intim- idating staff members and gumming up district finances were ousted from office Wednesday by the Washing- ton State Conservation Com- mission after a nine-hour hearing. State commissioners met privately for about one hour after the hearing and returned with a unanimous vote to remove Eric Johnson and Richard Mankamyer. No commissioner explained the decision. Commission chairman Jim Kropf declined to com- ment on why the commis- sion concluded Johnson and Mankamyer neglected their duties and acted with malfeasance. Johnson’s and Mankamy- er’s attorney, Shawn New- man, ridiculed the proceed- ing as a “kangaroo court.” Even before the hearing, the two had sued the state com- mission over the process used to oust them. The suit is pending in U.S. District Court. “This is an affront to people who want to volun- teer and do their civic duty,” Newman said. Johnson and Mankamyer, both farmers, have repeat- Don Jenkins/Capital Press Thurston County, Wash., farmers Eric Johnson, right, and Richard Mankamyer sit after being voted out of office Feb. 20 in Olympia by the Washington State Conservation Commission. edly clashed with staff mem- bers over such matters as spending and the accuracy of meeting minutes. They also were accused of harassing staff members. The state commission can remove conservation district supervisors. Johnson’s term was due to expire in May, while Mankamyer’s term would have ended in May 2020. Before voting on removal, state commissioners unani- mously agreed that Johnson and Mankamyer neglected their duties by failing to timely approve meeting min- utes, and sign time sheets and checks. In another vote, the com- mission found Johnson and Mankamyer acted with mal- feasance by treating staff members inappropriately. Johnson was also cited for malfeasance for failing to participate in a meeting in November 2017 that contrib- uted to the district missing out on collecting $550,000 from property owners. Only Perry Beale, who represents the state Depart- ment of Agriculture, voted against finding Johnson and Mankamyer acted with mal- feasance. “To me, I’d like to see all the proof. I couldn’t quite go there,” he said after the meeting. In testimony, the com- mission’s lead investigator, Kirk Robinson, said he was struck that staff members he interviewed consistently said Johnson and Mankamyer made them uncomfortable. “A common theme was a concern for their own per- sonal safety,” said Robinson, who is now the state conser- vation commission’s interim director. Robinson’s report noted complaints about negative comments by Johnson and Mankamyer. There were a few specific complaints. Still no AEWR court ruling By DAN WHEAT Capital Press 9-2/103 A federal judge has not yet ruled on rolling back minimum wages for agri- cultural foreign guestwork- ers to last year’s levels, and a Northwest farm labor asso- ciation is cutting its fees to help some growers. U.S. District Judge Tim- othy J. Kelly heard argu- ments Jan. 28 in Wash- ington, D.C., on a lawsuit filed Jan. 7 against the U.S. Department of Labor by the National Council for Agri- cultural Employers and Peri & Sons Farms, Yerington, Nevada. The suit seeks a prelim- inary injunction to stop the 2019 increases in the mini- mum wage for H-2A foreign guestworkers that average 6.3 percent nationwide and are 22.8 percent in Nevada, Utah and Colorado. The plaintiffs say the increases are arbitrary, unsubstanti- ated and will cause irrepara- ble harm to many farms. The judge noted the urgency of the matter on Jan. 28 but has said nothing since then, said Michael Marsh, NCAE president and CEO. “I hope it is because the judge is being really careful and is taking a good look at the arguments,” Marsh said. “It’s not good news. When people call we tell them not to count on this being any help this year,” said Dan Fazio, director of the Northwest farm labor association WAFLA. “We support the action by NCAE and hope it’s success- ful. Our concern is that the law gives discretion to agen- cies to determine an adverse effect wage and this makes it an uphill battle for some- one challenging the agency action,” Fazio said. The H-2A minimum wage, known as the Adverse Effect Wage Rate or AEWR, is intended to ensure the hir- ing of foreign workers does not depress wages of domes- tic workers. DOL has never shown any adverse effect but assumes there is one in setting an arbitrary premium minimum wage for foreign workers based on USDA wage surveys, NCAE has said. “We’re clearly show- ing irreparable harm but the merits are the tough one because we have to prove the government was arbi- trary and capricious in issu- ing a rule,” Marsh has said. WAFLA provided 15,771 H-2A workers in the North- west in 2018 and 13,848 out of 24,862 in Washington. In Washington and Ore- gon, where the AEWR went from $14.12 to $15.03, Fazio said WAFLA is on schedule so far this year in arranging 3,000 H-2A work- ers on farms in Washing- ton and Oregon now with another 5,000 by June. Ten small growers in Central Washington said they could not afford a nor- mal, six-month contract to pay a minimum of $15.03 per hour, Fazio said. So WAFLA is offering reduced rates to provide 300 to 500 H-2A workers for up to 20 growers in Washington and Oregon on a master appli- cation to the U.S. Depart- ment of Labor, he said. It’s for apple and pear harvest from Aug. 10 through Nov. 1. So far seven or eight have signed up and about 10 more are needed by mid to late May. “I’d love to do 1,000 workers if I could be guaran- teed not to lose money, but at 500 we hope to breakeven,” Fazio said. For up to 20 hardship growers, WAFLA will drop its application services fee to $500 from $4,500 and its fee for recruitment, consul- ate and visa fees and trans- portation to $1,000 per worker down from $1,200, he said.
