JOINT PANEL MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS TO LEGISLATURE

On February 6, a joint legislative panel told the full Florida Legislature how it could help improve the lives of the state's farmworkers. The Legislative Commission on Migrant and Seasonal Labor, a six-member panel, outlined its recommendations regarding affordable housing, pesticide rule enforcement, unscrupulous labor contractors and more.

Taking into consideration the concerns of farmworker activists, the agricultural community and regulatory agencies, the panel walked a fine line between providing services for undocumented individuals and placating their constituencies.

Rep. Baxter Troutman, R-Winter Haven, co-chaired the panel that made recommendations to the Florida Legislature on how to better serve the migrant and seasonal labor force.

LONG INACTIVE

The commission is not exactly new. It was founded in 1970 as the Legislative Commission on Migrant Labor, but was relatively inactive until the Legislature renamed it in 2004. It began meeting in October 2005 to form a plan of action and move forward in its ultimate purpose of improving the conditions for migrant and seasonal labor and to reduce the problems relating to their situation.

Since that time, it had been hearing from the various stakeholders and working toward a set of recommendations for legislative action, all the while under the shadow of unfinished federal directives on immigration and a guest worker program.

In the end, the panel recommended action in the areas of housing, employment, healthcare, safety and sanitation, education, transportation, disaster relief, and regulation. Among the highlights are a total of $20 million in state funding for affordable farmworker housing, and a plan to form partnerships between producers and non-profit organizations to provide land, infrastructure and buildings for that housing.

In the employment area, the panel recommended supporting a program that would use an independent auditor to certify farms are complying with ethical labor practices. Growers who are certified have demonstrated they comply with strict standards outlined in a code of conduct. Areas covered would include general employment practices and specific issues such as forced labor, child labor, discrimination, wages and benefits, employment records, workplace safety and housing.

Also on the employment front, the panel supports efforts for a federal guest worker program. It advised the Legislature to pass a resolution in favor of AgJOBS and the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005. Click here for background information.

Moving to healthcare, the commission endorsed funding for children to be enrolled in Florida KidCare program, which provides insurance to children in low-income families. The program experienced difficulties as it grew, but the Legislature provided funding to relieve those problems in 2004.

Other highlights from the panel's list of recommendations include endorsing legislative efforts to adopt a policy requiring seatbelt usage in farm labor vehicles, consideration of drivers license issues and modification of non-resident tuition policies for children of undocumented workers.

It also recommended increasing the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' budget to add 10 more positions in the Bureau of Compliance Monitoring.

By issuing the recommendation, panel members know they're going out on a limb. Some are afraid that a few of the requests might jeopardize the entire package in this election year. The goal is to walk a fine line to provide as much as possible without alienating the folks back in their home districts.

"We can do certain things without a problem," Rep. Baxter Troutman, R-Winter Haven, told the meeting. "But it's pretty hard to fund something that's against the law in the first place. We're damned if we do and damned if we don't."