Activities of the Legislature affecting farmers and ranchers in Washington state

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March 30, 2007

In This Issue

Farmers, Farm Bureau Fight Buffers at House Hearing

With the opposite house policy committee cutoff date of March 30 looming, dozens of exasperated farmers crowded into a standing-room-only hearing room this week as the House Local Government Committee heard testimony on SB 5248. 

As introduced and passed by the Senate, the bill would protect legally existing agricultural activities from new regulations under the Growth Management Act. 

Existing laws would remain in place. Below is a partial listing of existing state and federal regulations that currently regulate agricultural activities and would remain in place under this legislation.

The Shoreline Management Act currently protects legally existing agricultural activities from new regulations under that act. SB 5248 would extend that same protection to the GMA.

One of the central goals of the GMA is to "maintain and enhance natural resource-based industries, including productive timber, agricultural, and fisheries industries. Encourage the conservation of productive forest lands and productive agricultural lands, and discourage incompatible uses."

Buffers that remove land from farming and drive farms out of business are certainly "incompatible uses" and do nothing to "maintain and enhance" agriculture, as directed by the eighth goal of the GMA.

Rather than protect legally existing agricultural activities, some want to have a two-year "timeout" from new regulations while people talk about the issues at the Ruckelshaus Center. The center is intended to facilitate negotiations on public policy matters.

The House committee removed the bill language that provides ongoing protection of legal agricultural activities and inserted language to provide the two-year time out from new regulations.

Farm Bureau has met almost daily with lobbyists from environmental organizations, legislators, and other people involved in this legislative issue.

We have agreed that discussions at the Ruckelshaus Center could produce programs and legislative proposals that would be beneficial to both the environment and farm viability. We have been clear, however, that a timeout from new regulations, as is proposed in the current versions of both SB 5248 and HB 2212 (passed earlier by the Senate Government Operations Committee), will send a signal to many farmers that new regulations are coming and that they have two years to get out of farming.

Many farmers brought maps and aerial photos of their farms to show how proposed wide buffers next to streams and wetlands would devastate their farming operations. 

The latest bill language does not give farmers the certainty they need to keep farming. 

If you just give farmers two years, a lot of folks will see this as a signal that the end is near and they have two years to get out of agriculture. That will have the opposite affect of what we are trying to accomplish with this legislation and the GMA. 

Farm Bureau will continue meeting with the parties involved to seek legislation that provides certainty to farmers and that will provide opportunities to craft programs that enhance agriculture and the environment at the same time.

Protecting the environment and protecting farms can be done. Farmers do it every day.

Partial list of federal requirements on farmers:
  • Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) -- pesticides
  • Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) -- three agencies, pesticides
  • Transportation and Safety Act -- transporting/moving pesticides
  • Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) -- pesticides notification, etc.
  • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)-- solid waste 
  • Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act (FACT) -- pesticide records
  • Endangered Species Act (ESA) -- actions/activities affecting endangered/threatened species, including fish, fowl, animals, and plants. Includes county level rules for pesticide use. 
  • Clean Water Act (CWA) -- point/nonpoint pollution
  • Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
  • U.S. Corps of Engineers -- jurisdiction over near-water activities and Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899
  • USDA acreage reporting to Farm Service Agency, swampbuster, and sodbuster rules

Partial list of state requirements on farmers:

  • Washington Pesticide Control Act and associated WACs
  • Washington Pesticide Application Act and associated WACs, licensing, testing and recurrent training, relicensing requirements.
  • State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)
  • Shorelines Management Act -- on-going ag practices exempt, changes to practices, building and remodeling are not.
  • Air Quality -- ag burning, health hazards dust, smoke, etc.; regional clean air authorities.
  • Flood Plain Management
  • Coastal Zone Management
  • Composting and Solid Waste -- rules and regulations, carcass disposal rules.
  • Wetlands -- some federal exemptions, but not in Washington
  • Water resources -- irrigation rules, water rights
  • Instream flows -- some water rights are going to be curtailed starting in 2007.
  • Water quality -- point/non-point farming practices, nutrients
  • Ground water quality -- exceeds federal laws
  • Hydraulic project approval (HPA) -- Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, irrigation pumping standards, flood/erosion protection, RCW 77
  • Diking and Drainage Districts -- RCW 85 
  • Total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for water bodies -- restrictions on farming practices
  • National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) -- animal agriculture is allowed no discharges, while industry/municipalities are.
  • Dairy Nutrient Management Act -- mandatory, one of strongest in nation
  • Dam Safety -- ponds and lagoons
  • Livestock nutrient management planning -- not required, many are going voluntarily
  • Wastewater rules-- affect some ag operations, produce and bulb-washing permits
  • Watershed planning -- more rules and restrictions?
  • Forest Practices Act (FPA) -- many farms have woodlots
  • Trapping ban and WDFW rules -- nuisance animal control
  • Growth Management Act (GMA) -- unequal treatment between counties, right to develop is a big issue in non prime ag counties, density mandates so that family members cannot live on the farm, etc.
  • Road Maintenance and Abandonment Plans (RMAP)
  • Weed control

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Action Request -- Help Get Tax Bills Heard

Monday, April 2, is the deadline for legislative committees to act on fiscal bills. Two of Farm Bureau’s priority bills are stalled in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. If they are not heard and acted on by Monday, they will be dead for this year.

Please contact members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee to request that these bills be considered before Monday’s deadline. Committee members are listed at the end of this article.

ESHB 2352, a custom farming bill sponsored by Rep. Bill Grant (D-Walla Walla), would provide a small, targeted exemption from the Business and Occupation (B&O) tax for certain farmer-to-farmer activities. 

Under current Department of Revenue interpretations, a farmer operating a piece of his own farm equipment on property owned or leased by another farmer must collect B&O taxes for that work – even if no money traded hands (for example, "I will disk your field if you bale my hay"). This is contrary to another section of the relevant statute that says the B&O tax "shall not apply to any farmer that sells any agricultural product at wholesale or to any farmer who grows, raises, or produces agricultural products owned by others, such as custom feed operations." 

Farm Bureau supports Rep. Grant’s bill because it helps:

HB 2352 passed the House 90-5 and received a unanimous "do pass" recommendation from the Senate Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Committee. It has an estimated fiscal cost of less than $450,000. A similar bill passed the Senate last year 45-3.

HB 1376, a propane bill sponsored by Rep. Mark Ericks (D-Bothell), would exempt on-farm propane use from sales and use taxes. The bill passed the House 86-9 and received a unanimous "do pass" recommendation from the Senate Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Committee. A similar Senate bill sponsored by Sens. Jim Honeyford (R-Sunnyside) and Marilyn Rasmussen (D-Eatonville) also passed the Senate Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Committee and died in the Ways and Means Committee at the last fiscal cutoff.

Both HB 1376 and HB 2352 were included in the budget approved earlier this week by the House of Representatives.

Senate Ways & Means Committee members:

In other budget news, the Senate released its version of the budget this week, while the House released their version last week. Budget talks between House and Senate leadership have begun in earnest. On the down side, the budget proposals contain some things we would like to see removed. Among these items is funding for pesticide monitoring. This budget provision would allocate more than $500,000 to study an issue that is not fact-based. The Pesticide Incident Tracking and Review (PIRT) Panel has been monitoring and tracking pesticide incidents for over a decade now, and this data does not indicate a problem. Farm Bureau is working to save taxpayers from having to fund a duplicative study.

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Farm Bureau Continues to Oppose Flawed Paid Leave Bill

The concept of disability insurance -- payment for periods when a person cannot work due to an illness or the medical condition of a spouse or child -- is a good idea.

But E2SSB 5659, the current paid-leave bill being considered, is not.

E2SSB 5659 is an inefficient state-run disability program and a job-busting employment regulation.

By far, the worst part of this bill is the requirement to reinstate workers. This requirement puts employers on the hook to monitor the program, learn the regulations, and make decisions about reinstating workers. 

E2SSB 5659 could be significantly improved by removing the mandatory reinstatement provision. In this way, a worker who needed to attend to a family need could merely take a leave of absence and receive a payment. 

It's just that simple.

By removing the mandatory reinstatement procedures, employers would not have to police the regulation and would not be forced to fire a replacement worker when the worker who took leave is ready to return to work.

Proponents for Paid Family Leave are unwilling to consider a simple fix like this one, which would make Washington's proposed paid-leave plan very similar to existing California law.

The other aspect of the paid-leave bill is the disability program itself. The bill would establish a massive new bureaucracy for an insignificant benefit program of $250 per week for five weeks, after a one week waiting period. It is likely that no one would purchase this benefit unless forced to do so by the state. 

Unintended Consequences of Paid Family Leave

Sponsors of E2SSB 5659 have stated that the bill would result in a maximum benefit of 12 weeks per year. 

Wrong.

The combination of the proposed paid lave, the existing Washington Family Care Act, and the existing Unpaid Family Medical Leave Act could result in an employee's taking 20 weeks of leave in the first 15 months of employment with a company. 

  1. Paid Family Leave, E2SSB 5659 -- An employee is eligible for paid family leave after 680 hours of employment with any employer. 

    If a business hires a worker in January, that worker becomes eligible for paid leave in May, or sooner if the worker logged hours at a previous employer. Let's assume that the employee takes the six-week leave (five of which are compensated) in June and July.

    When the leave is concluded, the employer would be encouraged, but not required, to reinstate the employee. The employee would be eligible for unemployment if not reinstated.

  2. Washington Family Care Act -- Most employers provide at least one week of vacation and one week of paid sick leave to workers after a year of work. The Washington Family Care Act allows workers to demand time off that has been earned, in increments as little as one hour, for a medical emergency; to care for a spouse, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent; or for other reasons as specified in the law. 

    In our scenario, it is the employee’s right to take two weeks of paid leave in January, using vacation or sick leave for a family leave purpose.

  3. Unpaid Family Leave -- Employees who work for one year and 1,250 hours for an employer with 50 or more employees are eligible for Unpaid Family Medical Leave.

    In our scenario, after completing two weeks of Family Care Act leave in January, the employee could commence up to 12 weeks of unpaid family medical leave from mid-January to mid-April. 

    This scenario results in a worker who has taken 20 weeks of leave in less than a year -- from June of one year to April of the next. Finally, a person would still be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.

  4. Unemployment Insurance -- RCW 50.20.050(2)(b)(ii) currently allows an individual to use unemployment benefits for "the illness or disability of the claimant or the death, illness, or disability of a member of the claimant's immediate family." This benefit would still be available after the other benefits above were exhausted.

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Health-Care Battle Rages On

The two key health-care bills of the session, E2SSB 5930 and E2SHB 1569, are both still alive as the fiscal committee cutoff looms.

Farm Bureau has joined the rest of the business community in supporting SB 5930, often referred to as the "governor’s health-care bill" or the "Blue Ribbon Commission health-care bill," because it takes a deliberative and multi-faceted approach to improving health-care options and purchasing. Amendments added by the Senate vastly improved the bill, which received a unanimous vote in the Senate.

Sadly, the House Health and Wellness Committee stripped the bill of key provisions that would have benefited small businesses and their employees and provided opportunities to lower health-care and insurance costs. As a result, in testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, Washington Farm Bureau was forced to ask if the $25 million cost of the revised bill is a good use of taxpayer dollars or if those funds could be better spent elsewhere. In its current form, we believe the latter to be true.

However, Farm Bureau will continue working along with the business community to convince the full House of Representatives to reject the committee amendment and approve SB 5930 in the same form as it unanimously passed the Senate.

Meanwhile, HB 1569, the so-called "Cody-Hinkle Connector," is still alive in the Senate. It was amended and approved by the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee this week. This bill is a priority OPPOSE bill for Washington Farm Bureau, and we will continue working to defeat it in the Senate Ways and Means Committee and full Senate should it receive further consideration in either forum.

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Bills of Interest

The following is a list the bills we are currently tracking.

Health Care  

Bill Description Status Sponsor Position Lobbyist
SHB 1337 Colorectal cancer mandate S  2nd Reading Kenney O C
EHB 1460 Mental health parity mandate Del to Gov Schual-Berke O C
SHB 1538 Study of health insurance mandates S  Hea/L-T Care Bailey S C
E2SHB 1569 Forces small employers into state-run insurance pool S  Hea/L-T Care Cody O C
SHB 2094 Employers must pay state for employee's on state programs H  Approp Conway O C
ESB 5261 Ins commissioner authority H  Rules R Keiser O C
E2SSB 5930 Governor's health care reform bill H  Approp Keiser S C
E2SSB 5958 Primary health care delivery H  HCWDPA Keiser M C

 Labor and Employment  

Bill Description Status Sponsor Position Lobbyist
SHB 1244 Wages for workers' comp disability - banked hours S  Lab/Comm/RD Conway O F
SHB 1278 Lowers U/I rates for start-up companies S  Lab/Comm/RD Conway S F
SHB 1322 Expands definition of disability beyond ADA standards S  Judiciary McCoy O F
SHB 1407 Flexible funding would improve ESD administration S  Ways & Means Conway S F
SHB 1500 Workers comp permanent partial disabilities S  Rules 2 Conway S F
HB 1501 allows L&I to waive overpayments in workers comp pensions S  Rules 2 Wood O F
HB 1666 Nurse Practitioners can treat workers comp cases S  Rules 2 Green S F
HB 1722 Physicians asst. can treat workers comp claims consistent with licensure S  Rules 2 Conway S F
ESHB 2073 Workers' comp voc rehab -- increased benefits and opt out provision  S  Rules 2 Conway S F
E2SHB 2082 Field of dreams tuition assistance for students working in ag S  Ways & Means Chandler S F
EHB 2105 Workers' comp/prescriptions S  Lab/Comm/RD Conway S F
HB 2281 Shared leave S  Rules 2 Appleton M F
SSB 5053 Creates ombudsman for workers of self-insured employers H  Commerce/Lab Keiser O F
SSB 5087 Challenges the Constitutionality of Federal Real ID Act H  Exec Action Haugen M F
SSB 5137 Lowers U/I rates for start-up companies H  Rules R Kohl-Welles S F
ESSB 5290 Establishes workers' comp medical & chiro. advisory committee H  Rules R Keiser S F
SSB 5340 Expands definition of disability beyond ADA standards H  Rules R Kline O F
ESSB 5373 Omnibus bill -- mandatory U/I contributions for business owners H  Exec Action Kohl-Welles S F
SSB 5443 Workers' comp claims suppression H  Rules R Kohl-Welles O F
SSB 5653 Self employment assistance for unemployed workers H  Exec Action Kauffman S F
E2SSB 5659 Family & medical leave ins H  Approp Keiser O F
ESB 5675 Increasing Minimum Workers' Comp Disability Benefits H  Exec Action Franklin O F
SSB 5676 Revising workers' comp time loss provisions H  CL  DP Keiser O F
SSB 5688 Allowing attorneys to receive workers' comp claim notices earlier H  Rules R Kohl-Welles S F
SSB 5702 Employer must inform worker if worker is not covered by U/I H  Commerce/Lab Benton S F
ESB 5723 Agricultural worker safety grant H  Commerce/Lab Rasmussen S F
ESSB 5915 Newly registered businesses receive required employment posters H  Commerce/Lab Honeyford S F
ESSB 5920 Workers' comp voc rehab -- increased benefits and opt out provision  H  Rules R Kohl-Welles S F

Land Use  

Bill Description Status Sponsor Position Lobbyist
SHB 1409 Forest practices jurisdiction by local governments S  Ways & Means Sullivan, B. S W
SHB 1458 Requires written notice for eminent domain actions S  2nd Reading Van De Wege S W
SHB 1561 Gives eminent domain powers to local govt. watershed groups S  Rules 2 Jarrett O W
2SHB 1636 Transfer of development rights review & recommendations S  NR/Ocean/Rec Simpson M W
EHB 1648 Right to Farm protections S  Rules 2 Sullivan, B. S W
ESHB 2016 Provides right to repurchase land taken through eminent domain S  Judiciary Springer S W
ESHB 2212 Agricultural activities S  Rules 2 Blake M W
SSB 5108 Farmland preservation office H  Approp Haugen S W
SSB 5145 Precludes wetland mitigation banks on certain ag lands H  Local Gov. Haugen S W
SSB 5248 Protects existing ag uses on ag lands H  LGDPA Hatfield S W
SSB 5315 Allowing access to private property during wild fires H  Rules R Schoesler S W
SB 5444 Eminent domain notice H  Judiciary Carrell S W
SSB 5733 Allowing action to stop chronic flood and erosion damage H  Ag & Nat Res Stevens S W
SB 5778 Counties must create shellfish protection programs H  PUGTDP Fraser M W
2SSB 5883 Forest land conversion to non-forestry uses H  Rules R Fraser S W

Other  

Bill Description Status Sponsor Position Lobbyist
HB 1077 Protects sensitive fish & wildlife data S  Rules 2G Blake S S
SHB 1122 Allows DNR to continue contracting out to manage forest health S  Rules 2 Kretz S S
ESHB 1151 Creates another advisory panel on animal identification S  Ag/Rural/Dev Pearson O C
EHB 1189 Limiting political contributions from LLCs S  Govt Op & El Dunshee M C
ESHB 1251 Stolen metal property S  Judiciary Morrell S W
SHB 1304 Requires farm trucks to obtain US DOT numbers S  Rules 2 Kagi S S
HB 1416 Extends asparagus standard exception to 2009 S  Rules 2 Grant M C
ESHB 1756 Authorizing one additional hound hunting cougar season S  Rules 2 Kretz S S
HB 1775 Class b felony to harm or kill horses/cattle of others w/o permission S  Judiciary Hinkle S S
SHB 1909 Protecting from the theft of specialized forest products S  Rules 2 Orcutt M S
SHB 1987 Property owner is not liable for injuries resulting from metal theft S  Judiciary Warnick S W
ESB 5204 Animal health laws H  Approp Rasmussen S C
SSB 5236 Public habitat and recreation lands management H  Rules R Parlette M W
ESSB 5312 Increases records requirements to deter metal property theft H  Exec Action Tom S W
ESB 5401 Licensing Christmas tree growers H  Rules R Rasmussen S C
SSB 5461 Allows DNR to continue contracting out to manage forest health H  Rules R Morton S S
SSB 5463 Increases the forest fire protection assessment H  Rules R Jacobsen M S
SB 5561 Voter registration allowed up to election day H  Exec Action Oemig M W
SSB 5844 Modifies specialized forest product regulations H  Ag & Nat Res Roach M S
SSB 6141 3-tier forest health program, small landowner help if problem due to others H  Approp Jacobsen S S

Taxes and Budget

Bill Description Status Sponsor Position Lobbyist
HB 1089 Supplemental operating budget 2005-07 H  Approp Sommers M C
ESHB 1092 Capital budget S  Ways & Means Fromhold M C
HB 1093 Supplemental transportation budget 2005-07 H  Trans Clibborn M C
ESHB 1094 Transportation budget 2007-09 S  Rules 2 Clibborn M C
SHB 1128 Operating budget 2007-09 S  Ways & Means Sommers M C
ESHB 1147 Implements use of USDA to determine cause of damage to livestock S  Ways & Means Kretz S S
HB 1311 Small farm assistance program S  Rules 2G Grant S C
HB 1376 Sales & use tax exemption for on-farm propane use S  Ways & Means Ericks S C
HB 1443 Utility tax deduction for transporting commodities S  Ways & Means Grant S C
SHB 1513 Modifies forest product B&O tax provisions S  Rules 2G Kessler S C
HB 1549 Wholesale unprocessed milk B&O tax exemption S  Ways & Means Linville S C
SHB 1805 Increases homestead exemption to $125,000 S  Judiciary Morrell M C
EHB 1902 Sales tax exemption for labor and services to repair farm machinery S  Ways & Means Grant S C
HB 2032 Fruit & vegetable processing S  Ways & Means Takko S C
ESHB 2352 Exempts custom farming activities performed by certain parties S  Ways & Means Grant S C
EHJR 4204 Simple majority to pass school levies, see SJR 8207 S  2nd Reading Schual-Berke O C
SB 5136 Transportation budget 2007-09 S  Transportatn Haugen M C
SB 5138 Supplemental transportation budget 2005-07 S  Transportatn Haugen M C
SB 5139 Supplemental operating budget 2005-07 S  Ways & Means Prentice M C
SB 5140 Operating budget 2007-09 S  Ways & Means Prentice M C
SB 5156 Capital budget S  Ways & Means Fraser M C
SSB 5207 Studies new taxes to fund freight-related infrastructure projects H  Exec Action Haugen O C
ESSB 5311 Creates Budget Stabilization Account H  Approp Brown S C
SSB 5463 Changes forest fire protection assessment rates H  Rules R Jacobsen M C
SSB 5560 Making technical corrections to tax laws H  Rules R Schoesler S C
SB 5932 Transportation financing title only S  Transportatn Haugen M C
SB 5933 Transportation funding title only S  Transportatn Haugen M C
ESSJR 8206 Creating the budget stabilization account H  Approp Brown M C

Water, Energy, and Environment  

Bill Description Status Sponsor Position Lobbyist
E2SHB 1035 Requires state agencies to purchase anaerobic digestion power S  Wtr/Ener/Tel Morris S S
E2SHB 1303 Providing incentives to enhance use of cleaner energy S  Wtr/Ener/Tel Dickerson M S
E2SHB 1374 Creating the Puget Sound Partnership S  Wtr/Ener/Tel Upthegrove M S
E2SHB 1595 Expanding county authority to protect shellfish areas S  NR/Ocean/Rec Appleton M S
SHB 1646 Allows WDFW to take fish samples on public lands or with permission/search warrant S  Rules 2 Blake S S
SHB 2107 Settlement agreements S  Rules 2 Schual-Berke M S
SSB 5318 Directs WDFW to participate in efforts to protect Yukon to Yellowstone ecosystem H  Ag & Nat Res Poulsen M S
ESSB 5372 Creating the Puget Sound Partnership H  Exec Action Rockefeller M S
SSB 5481 Funding a study of water conservation/supplies for rural villages H  TECDP Oemig M S
ESB 5669 Renewable fuel standards H  TECDPA Holmquist M S
ESSB 6001 Climate change H  Tech/En/Com Pridemore M S
E2SSB 6117 Encouraging use of reclaimed water H  Exec Action Fraser M S

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Subscription Information

To subscribe to LegisLetter by e-mail, contact Scott Dilley at sdilley@wsfb.com. 

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Information Resources

Washington Farm Bureau: www.wsfb.com 
Legislative Information: www.leg.wa.gov 
Governor's Bill Actions: www.governor.wa.gov 
Legislative Hotline: (800) 562-6000

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