Bill Huffman
Director - Governmental Affairs

November 7, 2008

The election dominated the news out of Washington, D.C this week. Now the speculation begins on who will become Secretary of Agriculture and who will Chair the House and Senate Agriculture Committee’s.

Election Results

For agriculture, the election of members of Congress resulted in no major changes of significance. Three first term Democratic members of the House Agriculture Committee were defeated. They were from Kansas, Texas and Florida. All three were not in Committee leadership positions. Republicans on the Agriculture Committee from Colorado, Michigan, New York and North Carolina lost their re-election bids as well. We do not know who there replacements will be on the Agriculture Committee at this time.

In the U.S. Senate, our good friend Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia appears to be headed for a runoff in a very close race. Senator Chambliss formerly was Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and has been to California twice for Farmers’ Rice Cooperative and California rice industry fundraisers. He was a strong supporter of the rice industry in the 2008 Farm Bill and hopefully will be reelected if there is to be a runoff election on December 2 in Georgia.

When all of the votes are counted and certified, it appears the Democrats will have close to 260 members in the House of Representatives and maybe 58 seats in the Senate. The House overwhelmingly will be controlled by the Democrats and it would appear that the Democrats will find it much easier to move legislation through the Senate if the two independent members of the Senate vote with the Democrats, forming a 60 vote block that can end filibusters that often has blocked important legislation.

We expect Representative Collin Peterson, D-Minnesota, will continue to Chair the House Agriculture Committee. It is possible there may be a chairmanship change for the Senate Agriculture Committee. Our good friend Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Arkansas, might become chair of the Committee should Senator Tom Harkin move to another chairmanship in the Senate.

Lame Duck Session for Congress????

It is still not clear if there will be a lame duck session of this Congress to debate and possibly act on another “stimulus” package. Some Washington, D.C. observers believe that could result in another big fight between Republicans and Democrats and fiscal conservatives. It may be that President-Elect Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress decides to hold off on another “stimulus” package until after the first of the year and the inauguration.

Secretary of Agriculture Speculation???

There is much speculation about who will be the next Secretary of Agriculture. Many prominent names including Tom Buis, President of the National Farmers Union and former Congressman Charlie Stenholm of Texas are two often mentioned. President-Elect Obama previously stated that there would be no lobbyists appointed to his cabinet and that may eliminate both Buis and Stenholm from consideration.

Our best guess is that the new Secretary of Agriculture will come from the Midwest, possibly from the State of Iowa. As the nation’s largest farm state, we are hopeful that someone from California will be appointed to one of the top three positions at USDA.

Very Important California Rice Commission Meetings

The California Rice Commission will hold four important local grower meetings next week. These meetings will be to update growers on CRC programs and activities and to discuss the recent election and how that will affect the California rice industry.

Featured speakers will include Randy Russell of Lesher, Russell and Barron, the Washington, D.C. advisors, counselors and lobbyists for the California Rice Commission, George Soares of Kahn, Soares and Conway, who represents our industry in Sacramento, and Tim Johnson, President & CEO of the California Rice Commission.

The meeting schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, November 12

9:00 a.m. at the Bonanza Inn in Yuba City

1:00 p.m. at the Veterans Hall in Biggs

Thursday, November 13

9:00 a.m. at the Colusa Indian Casino

1:00 p.m. at the Glenn Pheasant Hall

We urge all California growers to attend one of these important meetings! There will be more information about new provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill having to do with “actively engaged rules” and the new “ payment limit” provisions as well as the outlook for possible budgetary cuts next year resulting from the “budget meltdown” that has occurred in Washington, D.C. this year.