11/30/2016
SAF Signs on to Immigration Letter
The Society of American Florists
Although the issue of immigration reform received a lot of attention during the election campaign this year, Congress didn’t act in any meaningful way.
To ensure that immigration reform remains in the forefront, SAF and many other members of the business community sent a letter to Congress immediately after the election underscoring the urgent need for action on immigration reform:
Dear Members of Congress,
The business community has long advocated for Congress to address the many problems posed by our defective immigration system. Our Nation’s immigration laws fall far short when it comes to promoting economic growth, job creation, respect for the rule of law and meeting our homeland security needs. It is long past time for Congress to act and institute meaningful reforms that restructure the U.S. immigration system to increase security and promote our economic well-being. This letter makes clear our collective commitment to immigration reform. It is time for the Congress to act.
While there’s universal agreement that America’s immigration system is broken and needs to be reformed, no one agrees on what “reform” means.
The broken immigration system has had a devastating impact, specifically on the agricultural sector. Agriculture contributes more than $100 billion each year to the U.S. economy, thanks in large part to immigrant farm workers. Because of the lack of a reliable immigration system, growers have been forced to scale back or cease production, or even move operations offshore. Localized and costly labor shortages have been a major problem for years and will only worsen going forward unless the situation is addressed by Congress.
House Approves Legislation to Delay Overtime Rule
Two bills have been introduced in Congress to delay implementation of a new rule that will change overtime regulations.
The Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act (S. 2707 and H.R. 4773) has been introduced by Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI) and John Kline (R-MN). The legislation would require the Department of Labor (DOL) to conduct an economic analysis on the impact of mandatory overtime expansion before implementing a change to the exemptions. It would also eliminate the regulation’s every-three-year automatic update provision.
This past May, the DOL finalized a rule that will make an additional 4.2 million to 10 million workers eligible for overtime pay.
The rule changes the salary threshold for activating overtime from the current $455 per week (or $23,660 annually) to $913 per week (or $47,476 annually) and makes future increases automatic rather than requiring congressional or administrative action, as has been the case since the inception of overtime regulations. The rule was scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016.
In addition, the Overtime Reform and Enhancement Act (H.R. 5813) was introduced by Representative Kurt Schrader (D-OR). The bill would phase in the DOL’s new salary threshold over three years, starting with a salary threshold increase to approximately $36,000 on December 1, 2016 and the rest going into place over the next three years, with the final installment taking effect December 1, 2019.
The legislation also prohibits the final rule’s automatic increases to the salary threshold and specifies that any future changes must be made through the customary notice-and-comment process.
EPA Issues Guidance on WPS Compliance
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued guidance material on its website to help growers comply with its revised 2015 Worker Protection Standard (WPS).
This “how to comply” manual includes:
* Details to help growers determine if the WPS requirements apply to them.
• Information on how to comply with the WPS requirements including exceptions, restrictions, exemptions, options and examples.
• A “Quick Reference Guide,” which lists the basic requirements.
• New or revised definitions that may affect growers’ WPS responsibilities.
• Explanations to help growers better understand the WPS requirements and their practical application.
The manual was published in conjunction with the Pesticide Education Resources Collaborative (PERC). PERC is a new cooperative agreement between the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs and University of California—Davis Extension, in collaboration with Oregon State University. (You can read more about it on page 66.)
In addition, the revised WPS includes a little-known provision that allows a person who’s a “designated representative” of a worker or handler to request pesticide hazard information and/or pesticide application information on their behalf. This new provision opens the door to third-party organizations potentially using proprietary information for nefarious reasons in an attempt to harm the growing operation.
SAF recently participated in a meeting with other agricultural groups to discuss this issue, which is set to go into effect on January 1, 2017. While the EPA hasn’t committed to delay implementation of the provision, officials expressed an interest in continuing a dialogue on the issue and finding solutions that still maintain the intent of the provision.
USDA Posts Quarantine Fee FAQs
In response to questions about new user fees for agricultural quarantine inspections (AQI) released last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has published a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on its website (www.aphis.usda.gov) to help importers better understand the new fee structure.
Part of the new structure includes a fee for having APHIS personnel oversee phytosanitary treatments conducted
on imported flowers and data analysis to confirm the effectiveness of the treatment.
Most important for certain growers is understanding the treatment monitoring user fee. According to the FAQs, the forms of treatment covered by the fee include fumigations and cold treatments monitored by APHIS that are generally conducted at U.S. ports of entry or on board ships while they’re traveling to the U.S. The fee doesn’t apply to treatments conducted by an exporting country or treatments applied to U.S. exports.
The new fee is charged on a per-treatment basis per enclosure, container, tarp or chamber. The fee structure, shown below, began on December 28, 2015 and is being phased in over five years.
First Year $47.00
Second Year $95.00
Third Year $142.00
Fourth Year $190.00
Fifth Year $237.00
“SAF in the Lobby” is produced by the Society of American Florists, www.safnow.org. For more information on legislative issues, contact the Government Relations Department.