With an emphasis on budget compromise, fewer bills will be on the table

Rep. Ralph Poppell (left) with FFVA's Butch Calhoun. Rep. Poppell chairs the House Natural Resources Appropriations Committee.

As the Florida 2010 legislative session kicks off, all eyes are on the budget. Job creation and education are secondary priorities.

So where does that leave agriculture? Time will tell.

Rep. Ralph Poppell (R-Vero Beach) chairs the House Natural Resources Appropriations Committee. His committee is in charge of prioritizing and approving the budgets for four state agencies: the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Department of Citrus.

To recommend funding fairly across the board, the committee undertook a two-part exercise to determine recommended funding for programs falling under those agencies’ jurisdictions.

“We asked the committee to come up with the top eight of 81 high-ticket items,” Poppell said. “Then we did another exercise to look at the lowest 15 in the rankings to see how we could manage without those and which ones we would try to trim or cut out.” Ranking high in FDACS’ programs were those involved in food safety, best management practices, fruit and vegetable inspection and enforcement, and plant pest and disease control.

“We’re going to work with each one of the agencies on their line items to try and make sure we can sustain the programs that are needed to keep this state not only operational, but moving forward as much as possible in these tough times,” said Poppell.

OF INTEREST TO AGRICULTURE

Changes in Florida's greenbelt assessment would affect agriculture land owners.

“It’s good to have leaders like Sen. Alexander and Rep. Grimsley sponsoring this important legislation. That greatly enhances our chances of passage,” said Butch Calhoun, FFVA director of Government Affairs.

Other bills of interest include several that FFVA supports, including SB350/HB69 – Tomato Food Safety. It would require minimum food safety standards for producing, harvesting, packing and repacking of Florida-grown tomatoes and would provide growers with a presumption that those tomatoes are safe to eat.

A general ag industry bill, SB2074, would provide support to farmers in several ways. It would stop counties from enforcing certain duplicative regulations and prohibit county governments from imposing stormwater fees on agricultural lands. It would also create the Agricultural Nuisance Claim Act, which would require developers interested in building communities close to a farm to waive their rights to file noise nuisance claims.

FFVA is watching several bills that would harm Florida farmers’ ability to conduct business. One of these also is tied to the greenbelt assessment. SB1100 – Immigration/Greenbelt, filed by Sen. Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey), would deny agricultural classification and assessment of land when a grower knowingly hires, recruits or refers unauthorized foreign-born workers for employment. It would also provide an additional civil penalty for the employment of unauthorized aliens.

“Normally Senator Fasano is very supportive of agriculture, but this is the second year in a row that he has filed one of the worst immigration bills that could be filed,” said Calhoun. “We have discussed this bill with Sen. Fasano and cannot understand why he continues to push the issue. No House companion bill has been filed, so it is highly unlikely that this issue could pass the Legislature,” Calhoun added.

A roundup of legislation affecting Florida farmers is available to FFVA producer members weekly during the session via the Capitol Voice, a bulletin issued by the  Government Relations Division.

BATTLING MORE FEES AND TAXES

The agriculture industry is also greatly affected by any increases in fees and taxes. Poppell has been working on a bill, known as Dynamic Scoring (HB121), which could radically change the way Florida does business. “It will allow us to score bills in a different way and generate billions of dollars, and I think, create more jobs in the process,” said Poppell. He says the plan in the House is to not create any additional fees and taxes this year.

The November elections will also likely affect pending legislation. At least 16 seats are to be decided in the Senate and six incumbent senators are running for re-election. On the House side, there are 27 open seats and 93 incumbent House members running for re-election. On top of all that, the governor’s job, all state Cabinet seats, one U.S. Senate seat and a handful of congressional seats are up for grabs.

“The elections always have to have some kind of bearing on the outcome of the session,” said Poppell. “Because I’d say if you’ve been in office for four years or six years, you know your people. You know what they will agree with you on or tolerate if you misstep. When you’re running for a higher office in a different arena, you may be a little more cautious because you’re not certain. I’d say it would have some effect, but as far as what that might be, I don’t have a crystal ball so can’t tell you,” Poppell said.

The Legislature has to act fast this year. The House, for example, is allowed by rule to hear bills in committees until April 15, but Speaker Cretul has revised the schedule to stop committee meetings on April 2. After that, the focus turns to the budget. “This means that there will be two less weeks for bills to be heard in committee, so fewer bills will pass in the process,” said Calhoun.

Citizens who wish to have their voice heard by their lawmakers need to stay up-to-date on the workings in Tallahassee. Things will happen quickly. Contact your lawmaker and let your needs be known. It is important, though, to convey your message in a meaningful way. Lawmakers compromise. Their job is to see both sides of an issue and attempt to create legislation that takes into account not only those viewpoints, but how will affect the big picture.

“More now than ever, it is important for legislators to hear from you on issues that are important to you. So please contact your senator and representative,” said Calhoun.

“What I see as important in this session and in any session is that it doesn’t matter how much you tell people about what good farmers we have or what a great job the people at NASA are doing. Our job in the Legislature is to pass laws that will make a difference in people’s lives,” Poppell said.