By Jack Hamm, SJFB President

Continuing the harvest

By Jack Hamm, SJFB President

As we start winding down this year’s harvest it is only natural to compare this year’s harvest to past years. Some years were better and some were worse. The same can be said for the laws coming out of Sacramento and the lack of action in Washington, D.C.

When we look at some “good” laws out of our state Legislature we can talk about AB 909 and SB 485 that deal with metal theft and recyclers. Another good law is SB 749, the senate bill that extended the safe guards to farmers under the Endangered Species Act. These and other beneficial legislations were well explained in the Sept. 18 Ag Alert.

On the other side of this harvest is the foolish, naïve, “lets wear rose colored glasses” of AB 10. AB 10 will raise the minimum wage to $9 per hour by July 1, 2014, and $10 by Jan. 1, 2016. By raising the minimum wage it raises all wages which in turn raises the amount of taxes that employers must pay. In my opinion this only makes California less competitive.

As foolish as AB 10 is there are some even crazier bills such as AB 976 expanding the powers of the Coastal Commission or SB25 that would make mediation a requirement on decades old union contracts. Although they did not pass this year, these proposed bills are real. These bills are like perennial weeds that border our fields, if left unchecked they will eventually take over.

I talk about these laws because just as we grow crops, Sacramento grows laws and regulations. We must stay involved. Paul Wenger, our California Farm Bureau president, said the open primary system will take three election cycles to see a difference our Legislature. We must as individuals and as a county Farm Bureau seek out and support electable candidates that will look out for agriculture. One way is to support the California Farm PAC.

We must stay active and visible at the local, county, state and national level. Our legislators want to hear from passionate and well-informed people, not always the same people. It is easy to take for granted that someone else will take care of it or say I do not have the time. We have to make the time and keep informing the elected officials. We have to work the land for the harvest. Our elected officials, too, must be tended to. Without proper care we would not have a crop. Without educating and informing the legislators we cannot expect them to produce good, common sense legislation.