While You Were Working A Government Relations Update from the Farm Bureau

November 20, 2020

THE SESSION IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER By Chelsea McGuire, Government Relations Director With so much of the Teller (LD7), who 2020 Election still has traditionally feeling unsettled, this voted in favor of week brought with it agricultural some certainty about interests even what we can expect at when it means the Arizona legislature. voting against the Democratic Republican and party’s position. Democrat leadership in the House announced The Natural committee assignments this week, Resources, Energy, and Water committee including who will chair key jurisdictional will continue to be chaired by LD14 committees on which Arizona Farm Bureau Representative , an inestimable keeps close tabs. The House will continue figure at the Capitol who is largely to have two committees dedicated to Farm considered the gatekeeper of rural water Bureau issues. rights. She, along with Vice Chair Rep. Judy Burgess (LD1), will have the ability to The House Land, Agriculture, and Rural determine which water regulatory bills Affairs Committee will be chaired by LD13 receive a hearing and which will never see Representative and Farm Bureau member, the light of day. Also on that committee are . This is the second year in a row Representatives Carroll (LD22), Dunn of Mr. Dunn’s chairmanship of the (LD13), and Finchem (LD11). Rounding out committee dedicated to agricultural and the Republican roster is newcomer rural issues. Rep. Dunn’s vice chair will be Jacqueline Parker (LD16), who was none other than Representative-Elect Joel formerly a policy advisor to Corporation John, another Farm Bureau member whose Commissioner . surprise victory in the largely Democratic district of LD4 saved the Republican On the Democrats’ side, Rep. Andres Cano majority in the house. We are thrilled to (LD3) will continue his tenure on the watch Rep. John embrace this committee committee as Ranking Member. Joining him leadership role in his first year. will be Representatives Dalessandro (LD2), Lieberman (LD28), and newly-elected Other familiar names on the committee (LD10). include Republicans David Cook (LD8), (LD8), and Gail Griffin (LD14). When it comes to other House Committees We will also see the return of Brenda of note, there are several familiar faces. Barton (LD6), who was recently re-elected Rep. (LD5) will remain the after leaving the legislature in 2018. From chairman of Appropriations, while Rep. the Democrat side, Ranking Member Rep. (LD14) will serve her first term (LD19) will join the as chairman of the Rules Committee and committee, along with Representatives has been appointed to chair the Ethics Dalessandro (LD2), Rodriguez (LD27), and Committee. In total, the House will have 13 Epstein (LD18). Also returning to the subject-matter committees this year, down committee is Representative Arlando from 18 last year.

The Senate also trimmed the number of committees to 9, down from 12 last year. Senator has announced chairs and vice-chairs of the Senate Committees, but we still await further member assignments. Our committee of jurisdiction in that chamber, the Committee on Natural Resources, Energy, and Water, will be chaired by Farm Bureau member and dairy farmer Senator (LD13). Senator-Elect T.J. Shope (LD8) will serve as vice chairman. Senator (LD14) remains the chair of the Appropriations Committee, with Senator (LD11) serving as vice chair. Senator Tyler Pace (LD5) takes over as chair of Transportation, and Senator J.D. Mesnard (LD17) will serve as the chair of Commerce.

Committee assignments are often an indicator of how successful a session will be for Farm Bureau’s interests. Committee chairmen have complete discretion to set the agendas for their committees, which means that if they don’t like a bill (or don’t want to be forced to go on record with a position on the bill), they have the right to simply not hear it. It also means that they can play a key role in making sure that key legislation is assigned, heard, and brought to the chamber’s floor at the right time. Committee members are also key when it comes to legislation that is likely to split down party lines. If it ever becomes necessary to get a member to defect from the party’s position, it’s key to have legislators who are willing to vote based on issue, rather than ideology.

In all, Arizona Farm Bureau could not be more pleased with the committee assignments. Our key committees will be chaired by elected officials who are actively engaged in agriculture and well attuned to the needs of the industry. (Many of them are Farm Bureau members themselves!) With these leaders at the helm, we are confident that a large measure of bad legislation will be stopped in its tracks when committee chairs decline to give it a hearing, and that good legislation will be prioritized and well-advocated for.

Fixing the AEWR: Good News from DOL This time last year, we were in the midst of a heated debate over the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. One of Farm Bureau’s key issues with the act was that it failed to reform the wage rate paid to H-2A agricultural guest workers, known as the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR). While the bill ultimately passed the House, only to be stalled with no further action in the Senate, discussions continued on non-legislative ways to make the AEWR more workable for agricultural employers.

Late last week, the Department of Labor released a final rule amending how the AEWR is determined. Before, the wage rate was based on labor cost reports compiled by the National Ag Statistics Service (NASS). Now, DOL will use the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index to determine the change in AEWR from year to year. This change is largely expected to bring stability to the AEWR, avoiding some of the huge year-to-year increases in labor costs that have contributed to making H-2A unworkable for so many producers.

Lucky for you, American Farm Bureau Economists are far more qualified than I am to explain the benefit of this change, and they’ve done so for you in the latest Market Intel piece. In the article, you’ll hear Dr. John Newton discuss the impact this change may have on labor-intensive agriculture. Go to https://www.fb.org/market-intel/certainty-and-stability- for-aewr to check it out.

From all of us at the Arizona Farm Bureau Government Relations Department, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!