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Friday, January 8, 2021
Volume 94, Number 2
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LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS
Northwest legislatures convene to debate COVID-19 fallout, climate change and budgets
hen legislators in Oregon, Idaho
and Washington state convene
later this month, some will meet
online and others will meet in
their state capitol.
But the differences in the states’ priorities
will go beyond how the legislatures meet in
response to COVID-19 concerns. Many of the
policies they set — and the laws they pass —
will impact farmers and ranchers across the
Pacific Northwest.
In Washington state and Oregon, both gov-
ernors are Democrats and the legislatures are
led by Democrats. But while cap-and trade cli-
mate policy is high on Washington Gov. Jan
Inslee’s priority list, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
and legislative leaders will likely pivot toward
other climate-related concerns such as renew-
able energy.
In the Republican-led Idaho Legislature, the
top concern is what to do with a $600 million
budget surplus that has accumulated since last
March, when COVID-19 prompted Gov. Brad
Little, also a Republican, to put the brakes on
state spending.
Following is a state-by-state rundown of leg-
islative priorities that will impact agriculture.
W
Washington State Capitol
GOV. JAY INSLEE REJECTS
SCALING BACK HIS
LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC,
WHICH WILL PREVENT
CONSTITUENTS FROM ENTERING
LEGISLATIVE BUILDINGS. THE
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR HAS
REKINDLED CAMPAIGNS TO TAX
CARBON AND CAPITAL GAINS.
Oregon State Capitol
GOV. KATE BROWN HAS PROPOSED
SPENDING $100.2 BILLION IN HER
OVERALL BUDGET FOR THE
2021-2023 BIENNIUM, BUT
LAWMAKERS TYPICALLY AMEND
THAT AMOUNT. OF THAT,
$24.3 BILLION IS IN THE GENERAL
FUND, WHICH COMES FROM TAXES.
THE REMAINDER IS FROM THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND
OTHER SOURCES SUCH AS THE
STATE LOTTERY AND FEES.
Idaho State Capitol
GOV. BRAD LITTLE, A REPUBLICAN
RANCHER FROM EMMETT, IS
SCHEDULED TO OPEN THE
2021 LEGISLATURE JAN. 11
WITH HIS STATE OF THE STATE
ADDRESS. HE WILL INCLUDE HIS
PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL
2022, WHICH STARTS JULY 1.
WASHINGTON: Governor embraces
new term as ‘magic moment’
OLYMPIA — Washington Gov. Jay Ins-
lee has taken his re-election as a mandate, call-
ing the beginning of his third term “a magic
moment of progress.”
Inslee rejects scaling back his legislative
agenda because of the pandemic, which will
prevent constituents from entering legislative
buildings. The Democratic governor has rekin-
dled campaigns to tax carbon and capital gains,
and gradually wring some of the carbon out of
gasoline and diesel sold in the state.
“We have big things to do, and I think we’re
going to get them done. I’m excited about this
session. I think the moment is a magic moment
of progress on so many different things,” Ins-
lee said.
The Legislature will convene Jan. 11 for a
105-day session with Democrats holding solid
majorities in the House and Senate. Committee
hearings will be on Zoom, and lawmakers will
vote by video.
Rep. Joel Kretz, a Republican who rep-
resents northeast Washington, said getting and
staying online will be a problem for him and
other rural lawmakers and residents.
See Legislatures, Page 8
Hammonds may get grazing rights back
SALEM — The federal gov-
ernment has proposed awarding
grazing allotments to an Oregon
ranching family whose mem-
bers were convicted of arson in a
court battle that triggered the take-
over of a federal wildlife refuge by
right-wing extremists.
The Dec. 31 action by the
Bureau of Land Management
in favor of Hammond Ranches
angered environmental groups.
Steven Hammond, co-owner
of the ranch, and his father,
Dwight, were convicted of arson
for setting fire to range land and
sent to prison for mandatory five-
year sentences.
That in part led to the armed
occupation of Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge in Oregon for 41
days in 2016. One occupier was
shot dead by Oregon State Police.
They say he reached for a pistol at
a roadblock.
President Donald Trump par-
doned the Hammonds in 2018,
allowing them to be freed from
federal prison.
In a proposed decision on Dec.
31, the BLM said Hammond
Ranches should be apportioned
all available forage in the Bridge
Creek area grazing allotments in
the high desert of eastern Oregon,
covering about 26,000 acres.
The federal agency cited the
Hammonds’ “extensive historic
use of these allotments, past proper
use of rangeland resources, a high
level of general need, and advan-
tages conferred by topography.”
But in 2014, when Barack
Obama was president, the BLM
denied Hammond Ranches a graz-
ing permit renewal, saying it “does
not have a satisfactory record of
performance” and cited numerous
incidents of arson.
At the Hammonds’ trial, wit-
nesses testified that a 2001 arson
fire occurred shortly after Steven
Hammond and his hunting party
illegally slaughtered deer on BLM
property. One said Steven Ham-
mond handed out matches with
instructions to “light up the whole
country.” The jury also convicted
Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP
In this July 11, 2018, photo, rancher Dwight Hammond Jr., left, is embraced
by his wife, Susie Hammond, after arriving at the Burns, Ore., Municipal Air-
port. Hammond and his son Steven, convicted of intentionally setting fires
See Hammonds, Page 8 on public land in Oregon, were pardoned by President Donald Trump.
California ag groups challenge COVID-19
emergency temporary standards in court
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
LOS ANGELES — A coalition
of California agricultural groups and
business employers has filed a lawsuit
in the Los Angeles Superior Court
challenging the state’s COVID-19
protocols.
Farm groups say the emergency
temporary standards, or ETS, they are
challenging in court are unnecessary
and harmful.
The California Occupational
Safety and Health Standards Board
issued the standards on Nov. 30.
Farmers say the standards create addi-
tional challenges for housing farm-
workers, shift the burden of virus
testing onto employers and impose
impractical requirements. Experts say
the standards also take away regula-
tory flexibility from Cal/OSHA, the
state’s health and safety agency.
“They (the board) jammed this
thing through around Thanksgiving
and gave us little notice. We were
scrambling to figure out what it was.
Honestly, we’re still trying to figure
out what all it does. But we know it
hurts growers,” said Michael Miiller,
director of government relations at the
California Association of Winegrape
Growers, one of the plaintiffs.
Other plaintiffs include the West-
ern Growers Association, Califor-
nia Farm Bureau Federation, Cal-
ifornia
Business
Roundtable,
See Challenge, Page 8
Thank You to our Customers and Community.
We’re Honored to Serve You.
Happy New Year!
Here’s to a New Year of Health, Thriving Growth and Plentiful Har vests.
Member FDIC
ARLINGTON BOARDMAN CONDON
FOSSIL HERMISTON IRRIGON LA GRANDE MORO
PENDLETON
ATHENA
BURNS ENTERPRISE HEPPNER
IONE
JOHN DAY
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By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press