Two Examples of Bad Policy

Two examples of bad policy

By Bruce Fry, SJFB President

This month, I am going to stand on my “soap box” and give my commentary. First, the 2012 Farm Bill. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed U.S. Senate version of the Farm Bill will spend $974 billion. The breakdown of spending is the following: 79 percent [$768 billion] Food Stamps [SNAP] & Nutrition, 10 percent [$94.6 billion] Crop Insurance, 6 percent [$57.7 billion] Conservation, 4 percent [$38.9 billion] Commodity and 1 percent [$9.7 billion] other.

A farm bill, NOT! It is a food stamp and nutrition bill with only 21 percent going to help farmers and ranchers with crop insurance, conservation programs, disaster payments, research, marketing, exotic pests and diseases and environmental programs. So, the so called “fat” in the budget in this is not “payments to farmers” but how and what can the SNAP dollars buy at a grocery store.

There have been many stories on this in the news lately on the abuse of SNAP debit cards. I say limit it to fresh food and vegetables and we can easily rein in the spending. This is an example why we need Farm Bureau lobbying on our behalf to help guide our elected officials on their spending habits.

Speaking about spending, the U.S. EPA is another bad example. Last month, a Lodi bakery, which employs over 650 people was fined $1.3 million for failing to control so called “harmful gases” released during the baking of bread. According to EPA they failed to obtain permits from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District or EPA and install proper air pollution controls when they installed new ovens in 1997, 2003 and 2005. EPA stated that when yeast-leavened bread is baked, the ovens emit ethanol, a volatile organic compound gas that contributes to the valley’s problem with both ozone and particle pollution.

I’m sorry, but the main cause of pollution are cars driving up and down the “The 99” and “The 5” not fermenting bread! So fix and expand our roadways so there will not be any more cars idling on the roadways. Don’t fine our business who are employing people and paying taxes. Now this bakery must pay a penalty of $625,000 to the EPA and the SJVAPD and buy $750,000 of new equipment to reduce their emissions by 95 percent.

So who in the heck comes up with these penalty dollars? How is a business supposed to survive with government agencies hovering around them fining you left and right? No wonder businesses are leaving California and cities are going bankrupt and the California Legislature is doing nothing about it except funding a high speed rail system to nowhere and building tunnels under the Delta to take “existing” water and not creating “new” water. What a mess!

My call to action: Write a check to FARMPAC! We need change to happen in November. We are at a critical point in our state and nation’s history. We need to get back to the basics, stop raising taxes, cut spending and government agencies. So we as farmers and ranchers need to support those candidates that support us. Ok, I am off my “soap box.” I do feel better now.