Bill Huffman
Director - Government Relations

The Friday Report

August 7, 2009

Congress will return September 8th from their August recess.

Legislative Update

Before leaving Washington last night, the Senate on a 60-37 vote approved an additional $2.0 Billion expenditure for the “Cash for Clunkers” program. The bill now goes to the White House for signature. The Senate also voted Thursday to confirm Judge Sotomayor to be the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

In September, their number one priority will be the Health Care Reform, which will likely consume much of their time throughout the fall. Additionally, Senator Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Environment and Public Works, has assured Senate Leader Harry Reid that the Senate’s “Climate Control Legislation” will be ready for floor debate on or about September 28th.  The House passed “Food Safety Bill” is also on the Senate agenda and it could come up this fall for a floor vote.

During the August recess, Senate and House staff will be working to iron out differences in several appropriation bills including that for the Agriculture Department.  The Senate passed the FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Bill with a vote of 80-17 this week. We expect that a final conference report will be ready by the end of September and a final floor vote on the Agriculture Appropriation bill will be held prior to the new fiscal year beginning October 1st.

Interesting Comments

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson made some interesting comments this week in a speech to the American Sugar Alliance.  The Chairman said, “Although climate change legislation is meeting resistance in rural America, it is unrealistic to think the government will not take action on controlling greenhouse gases.”

Peterson said the House-passed climate change bill is a measure “we can live with.”

Peterson told the American Sugar Alliance group that after the Supreme Court ruled that EPA must regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, it would have been unlikely for the government not to take action. That ruling motivated Peterson to pay a major role in the House bill and he predicted the Senate would produce a bill even more favorable to farm-state interests than the House bill.

It will be interesting to see what the final Senate Bill looks like with respect to agriculture. Commodity groups continue to lobby for changes that would give agriculture and the forestry industries a more important role in the carbon “cap & trade” provisions of the legislation.

Devine Intermodal Updates Key Equipment at FRC

We received word this week from our friends at Devine Intermodal that they will be purchasing and delivering a new “Clean-Diesel Yard Goat”, a transfer vehicle used at the FRC mill for moving and positioning containers at the FRC plant site. The vehicle, which costs $96,000, utilizes the latest diesel engine technology reducing exhaust particulate matter to almost nil. Devine received a $30,000 “Clean Air Fund” grant from the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, which went toward the purchase of the new transport vehicle.

Thanks to Devine Intermodal and the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District for helping FRC go “green” with this new piece of equipment.

Rice Field Day

The annual Rice Experiment Station Field Day at Biggs will be held on Wednesday, August 26th with registration from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. The general session commences at 8:30 a.m. The program will conclude at noon with a complimentary luncheon. The Rice Experiment Station is located on Highway 162, about two miles west of Highway 99 north of Biggs.

Thanks

We would like to thank the fifteen rice growers who contributed and attended the rice industry’s fundraising event this week for Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia. Mr. Goodlatte is a senior ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee and the former Chairman when the Republican’s controlled leadership of the House of Representatives. He is a good friend of the California rice industry and we appreciate his continuing help on farm policy and trade related matters.