CALIFORNIA
California Farm Bureau supports reintroduction of agricultural immigration bill
Saying it would provide mutual benefit for farmers, ranchers and their employees, the California Farm Bureau applauded today’s reintroduction of federal legislation to improve agricultural immigration programs.
California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson said the organization is committed to work for passage of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, reintroduced by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.
“We were early supporters of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act when it was originally introduced in 2019, and we’re pleased to see its reintroduction,” Johansson said. “Reform of federal immigration law continues to be a top priority for the California Farm Bureau, and this bill would create meaningful changes that would ease chronic employee shortages and recognize the value of farm work.”
The original bill won passage from the House of Representatives in late 2019, based in part on the support of more than 300 agricultural groups and companies.
“The Farm Workforce Modernization Act earned bipartisan support at that time by addressing both current and future needs for agricultural employers and employees,” Johansson said. “Its reintroduction will stimulate ongoing discussions about immigration policy. Its passage would improve agricultural visa programs and accommodate immigrant agricultural employees already in the United States, while enhancing border security.”
Johansson said the bill’s reintroduction comes at a particularly important time, as farmers and their employees maintain agricultural production during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Long before the pandemic, we recognized the people who work on California farms and ranches as essential to reliable supplies of healthy food and farm products. The pandemic has only underscored the importance of assuring the people who work on farms and ranches can do so with the security of legal immigration status,” he said.
The California Farm Bureau works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of nearly 32,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of nearly 5.6 million Farm Bureau members.
—Submitted
SACRAMENTO
Analyzing the State of the State
Newsom’s administration also announced Wednesday that the governor will deliver the annual State of the State speech on Tuesday. That’s the latest date in California history — never before has a governor delivered the State of State address after February, according to records maintained by the California State Library. It will also be unusual in that Newsom will deliver it remotely from Los Angeles County in the evening, rather than in front of the state Legislature in Sacramento during the day. I talked with CalMatters political columnist Dan Walters, who’s been covering state politics for nearly 60 years, about the significance of these changes.
Me: “What do you think about the timing?”
Dan: “Prime time television, prime time television! Since the Legislature can’t convene anyway, you might as well get the maximum TV exposure out of the thing by doing it in LA.”
Me: “I wonder if he was waiting to have the speech until more schools announced they’re going to be reopening.”
Dan: “He could not really deliver a State of the State message with the whole school issue still unsettled. … He needs to have the indicators pointing upward: COVID infections down. Schools are reopening. The economy’s good. Bright future’s ahead. And you can give me all the credit … and not vote for the recall.”
—Hoeven, CALMatters
Is the California Exodus real?
You’ve heard about the California Exodus by now. But fears that Californians — especially wealthy ones — are leaving the state in droves may be largely overblown, according to data released Thursday by the California Policy Lab, a research arm of the University of the California. The lab found that “the pandemic has not so much propelled people out of California as it has shifted them around within it.” Although the number of people leaving San Francisco in 2020 shot up an eye-popping 649% compared to the year before, around 80% of those roughly 38,000 people stayed in the state, CalMatters’ Lauren Hepler reports. And because so many things are happening at once during the pandemic, it’s hard to gauge the full extent to which the transitions are permanent. As Lauren points out, the remote work crowd is just beginning to confront the prospect of salary cuts that accompany moves to lower-cost locales.
- Alexander Shea, a 24-year-old actor who moved to St. Louis in March: “If things go well, I’ll just move back to LA.”
—CALMatters
Where is CA’s schools chief?
Where is Tony Thurmond? The state’s top education official has been conspicuously absent at events touting California’s plan to reopen public schools — which lawmakers will formally vote on today — and has had a limited role in negotiations, raising questions about how effectively he’s using the power of the office, CalMatters’ Laurel Rosenhall reports. In other states, education leaders have more visibly guided schools through the pandemic: In Connecticut, for example, education commissioner Miguel Cardona played a hands-on role negotiating with unions to reopen schools before President Joe Biden tapped him as the new U.S. education secretary. But Thurmond maintains he’s been working doggedly behind the scenes to help schools.
- Thurmond: “I recognize the limitations of my office, but I pretend like there aren’t any and I just put myself in the conversation. … I feel like I’ve done everything that I could, and more. I feel like I’ve exceeded what my position allows me to do.”
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WASHINGTON, D.C.
Garamendi Votes to Pass Historic Voting Rights, Anti-Corruption, and Ethics Reform Legislation
This week, Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA) voted to pass H.R. 1, the “For the People Act,” a sweeping anti-corruption package to clean up Washington, protect and expand voting rights, restore integrity to government and put the needs, and priorities of the American people ahead of special interests.
“I am pleased to help pass the most transformational and comprehensive set of anti-corruption reforms in a generation,” Garamendi said. “H.R. 1 delivers on our promise to clean up corruption in Washington and return us to a government of, by, and for the people.”
“H.R. 1 will protect the right to vote, ensure the integrity of our elections, crack down on lobbyists and Washington insiders, hold elected officials accountable, and end the era of big, secret, special-interest money in our politics. This historic reform effort will put an end to decades of dysfunction in Washington, return power back to the American people, and put us on an inspired path toward a more equitable, just and prosperous future,” Garamendi concluded.
Key provisions of H.R. 1, the For the People Act, include:
• Expanding automatic voter registration and same day registration.
• Strengthening vote by mail, early voting and ballot access.
• Combating voter intimidation and voter suppression.
• Protecting elections from foreign interference.
• Fixing partisan gerrymandering.
• Promoting digital ad transparency.
• Forcing disclosure of dark money.
• Reining in lobbyist influence.
• Enforcing ethics and conflict of interest rules for all government officials.
Please visit https://democracyreform-sarbanes.house.gov/sites/democracyreform.house.gov/files/TWO-PAGER_H.R.%25201-Policy-Fact-Sheet_FINAL.pdf online or more information about H.R. 1.
—Submitted
