The bill was passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives unanimously. Once signed into law, fertilizer plants will achieve increased production thru-put. Additionally, fertilizer producers will realize significant cost savings without jeopardizing public or worker safety.

AAI supported SF 2280 and worked with member representatives to secure its passage and is pleased with this outcome. AAI and our lobbying team is confident that Governor Branstad will sign the bill and have left messages with his office that the bill is great policy and regulatory reform and should be signed.

The bill, now titled Senate File 2280 (SF 2280), has been introduced and is eligible for senate floor debate.  With bill passage, fertilizer plants will achieve increased production thru-put.  Additionally, fertilizer producers will realize significant cost savings without jeopardizing public or worker safety.

AAI supported SSB 3158 and worked with member representatives to secure its passage out of committee.  AAI and our lobbying team will monitor the progression of SF 2280 and keep our members informed of its progress through the legislature.

On February 16, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation, passed unanimously by the Legislature and approved by the Florida Environmental Regulations Commission (ERC), that would ensure the EPA does not overstep its authority and implement federal numeric nutrient criteria in the state.  The legislation directs the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to submit their own Numeric Nutrient Criteria rules to EPA for approval.

“Our rules provide a clear process for identifying waters impaired by nutrients, preventing harmful discharges and establishing necessary reductions. They provide a reasonable and predictable implementation strategy, and avoid unnecessary costs for Florida’s households and businesses,” said FDEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard in response to Gov. Scott signing the legislation.  “We are pleased that we will now be able to submit our widely supported rules for final EPA approval. It’s important to start addressing our nutrient challenges, and we look forward to getting these rules on the books and implemented as soon as possible,”  added Vinyard.

In addition to the state legislation, on February 15, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) sent a letter to Administrator Jackson in support of the FDEP rule and urged the Administrator “to promptly review and approve” the Florida rule.  On February 16, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a companion bill to the “State Waters Partnership Act of 2012” (H.R. 3856) filed by Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) that “would force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt Florida’s science-based numeric nutrient criteria on water quality regulation.”

As stated in the letter, EPA has acknowledged that states must take the lead in addressing nutrients.  AAI and the other signees agree with this and believe that states are best suited to deal with issues related to their unique landscapes and climates.

The Agribusiness Association of Iowa (AAI) registered in favor of this bill and assisted other farm groups to pass the legislation.   “Iowans appreciate honesty and ag employers appreciate honesty as well,” said Jeff Schnell, AAI CEO.

The original version of the bill, which saw extensive debate and was passed by the House last session, would have made it illegal for undercover videotaping at farms or other animal operations in Iowa.  The Iowa’s attorney general’s office advised state senators that the bill in its original form would most likely face constitutional challenges due to the rendering possession or distribution of audio or video recordings illegal.  Previous rulings by the U.S. Supreme established ruled that films exposing animal cruelty are protected under free speech.

Sen. Joe Seng, D-Davenport

Sen. Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone

State senators, Sen. Joe Seng, D-Davenport and Sen. Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone, worked to amend the bill and substituted a provision that does not deal with audio or video recordings but instead creates a new crime: Agricultural Production Facility Fraud.

If signed into law, a person who obtains employment under false pretenses with intent to commit an act not authorized by the owner of the agricultural production facility can be found guilty of this new crime and face serious or aggravated misdemeanor charges.  In addition, any individual or organization that aids a person in obtaining a job for an undercover sting operation would be prosecuted as well.

Critics, who have coined the phrase “ag-gag bill,” believe that this legislation  and similar bills in several other states will hider transparency of food production.  Producers, on the other hand, believe this law is necessary in order to protect their businesses and the state’s agricultural economy against activists who seek to cast their operations in a negative light instead of reporting and working to correct possible abuse immediately.

The revised bill was passed Tuesday afternoon by a 40-10 Senate vote.  The House then passed the amended bill without debate with a 69-28 vote.  The bill has been sent to the Governor’s office for signage.  The Governor’s spokesperson, Tom Albrecht has stated, that while he has not decided if he will sign the legislation, Governor Branstad was impressed by the bipartisan support it received.

“LightSquared’s proposal to provide ground-based mobile service offered the potential to unleash new spectrum for mobile broadband and enhance competition. The Commission clearly stated from the outset that harmful interference to GPS would not be permitted. This is why the Conditional Waiver Order issued by the Commission’s International Bureau prohibited LightSquared from beginning commercial operations unless harmful interference issues were resolved,” FCC Spokesperson Tammy Sun shared in a statement on Tuesday.  “This proceeding has revealed challenges to maximizing the opportunities of mobile broadband for our economy. In particular, it has revealed challenges to removing regulatory barriers on spectrum that restrict use of that spectrum for mobile broadband. This includes receivers that pick up signals from spectrum uses in neighboring bands.”

The Defense Department, legislators, agriculture industry and GPS receiver manufacturers have been critical of LightSquared operating signal being too close to the spectrum that GPS receivers use. LightSquared claims that GPS receivers are poorly designed while the GPS receiver manufacturer believe that their instruments are too sensitive to filter out LightSquared’s cell signals.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)

Since last April, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for documents related to the agency’s decision to fast-track the LightSquared broadband wireless project, despite concerns of widespread interference with global-positioning system devices. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley released the following statement on the decision, ““The FCC’s action seems to acknowledge the point I’ve been making since April.  Prematurely granting a conditional waiver in a rushed process is not the way to get the right result.  Now that the interference issue is settled, we need to find out more than ever why the FCC did what it did.  The agency put this project on a fast track for approval with what appears to have been completely inadequate technical research.  After all of this time and expense, still, no one outside of the agency knows why.  That’s not the way the people’s government should work.  The public’s business ought to be public.  Now that the FCC has backtracked on LightSquared, I’d like to see my Senate colleagues join my document request, especially the chairman of the only Senate committee that the FCC is willing to answer.  If we don’t find out how and why the FCC failed to avoid this controversy, then it will keep operating as a closed shop instead of the open, publicly accountable agency it should be.”

After the FCC’s decision, rumors of impending bankruptcy started to circulate.  LightSquared is the biggest investment of the Harbinger Capital Partners fund. “It is clearly not on the table,” said fund manager Phillip Falcone in an email to Reuters on Wednesday in response to the rumors.  On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that LightSquared is pursing the possibility of swapping spectrum with the Defense Department as a way to move forward.

AAI Board Members, staff and legislative team  members shared Iowa specific information from CropLife Americas’  The Contribution of Crop Protection Products to the United States Economy with attendees.  The report highlighted the direct and indirect additional value of crop protection products in Iowa which are:

• 24,543 jobs with an annual payroll of $892,928,839
• $5.176 billion in total output

This educational outreach effort was well attended.  Attendees included industry leaders, legislators, Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds and Governor Terry Branstad.

Attendees discussed industry issues over breakfast at AAI's Legislative Breakfast in the Statehouse rotunda.

Max Smith, Smith Fertilizer Feed & Grain, speaks with Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm (D).

Tracy Gathman, Two Rivers Cooperative, and Dave Coppess, Heartland Co-op, speak with Senate Minority Leader Jerry Behn (R).

Governor Terry Branstad visits with AAI Board Members at the Legislative Breakfast on Tuesday.

The coalition comments focused on what AAI and other agriculture organizations see as over-reaching regulatory efforts by DOL. Most prominent is the proposal’s potential impact on family farms. The coalition comments urged the department “to maintain the integrity of the family farm exemption approved by Congress.”
The department has the authority to prohibit youth employment in jobs that are “particularly hazardous” but the department’s proposal would prohibit youth from working in any job with “power-driven equipment.” Read literally, the department’s proposal would prohibit a youth under 16 from working in any job that had even simple power tools like a battery-operated screw driver. The coalition argued that DOL should withdraw the rule and make sure that it is following the intent of Congress in only addressing occupations that are particularly hazardous.

Download and read the coalition’s DOL Child Labor Comments

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