Today, Nicole Berg, a farmer from Benton County, a past president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers and vice president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, testified in a House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee hearing on SB 5172, a bill concerning the retroactivity of overtime in agriculture. Here is her full testimony: Good morning Chair Sells, Ranking Member ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Today marks the 69th day of the 2021 Legislative Session. The Legislature is busy meeting in policy committees, holding public hearings and voting on bills that the opposite chamber approved. Bills need to pass out of their respective policy committees by March 26 to continue to advance through the legislative process. Several major issues must ... Read More »
Jim Moyer, a grower from Columbia County and a WAWG board member, testified in front of the Senate Ways and Means Committee on SB 5126, a Climate Commitment Act (implementing a cap and trade program), and SB 5096, a capital gains tax. Here is his testimony: SB 5126 Good morning Chair Rolfes, Ranking Member Wilson and members of the Committee: ... Read More »
Yesterday marked the 63rd day of the 2021 Legislative Session. On Tuesday, March 9, the Legislature reached a milestone—the deadline to pass bills out of the house of origin which means House Bills must be voted out of the House and Senate Bills must be voted out of the Senate. Bills that did not meet that deadline are considered dead ... Read More »
Ryan Poe, president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, testified today in support of HB 1199, compensation for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources terminating agricultural leases early, in a hearing in the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources and Park Committee. Here is his testimony: Good morning Chair Van De Wege, Ranking Member Warnick and members of the Committee: For ... Read More »
Michele Kiesz, a grower from Adams County and a Washington Association of Wheat Growers board member, testified this morning in front of the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee against E3SHB 1091, a bill that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the carbon intensity of transportation field (a low carbon fuel standard, or LCFS, bill). Here is her testimony: ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Thursday marked the halfway point of this year’s 105-day regular legislative session, which is scheduled to end on April 25. Lawmakers in both chambers have been debating and taking votes on dozens of bills in lengthy day and late evening sessions for the past two weeks. Unless considered Necessary to Implement the Budget, all bills ... Read More »
Ryan Poe, president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers testified today in a hearing in the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee on SB 5373, a carbon tax bill. You can watch the hearing here. Below is Poe’s testimony. Good morning Chair Carlyle and members of the committee: My name is Ryan Poe and I am a fifth generation ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Monday, Feb. 22, was the second legislative deadline, when all bills must have been voted out of their respective fiscal committees to remain “alive.” Since then, the Legislature has mostly ceased committee action and is focused on floor action for the time being, which entails the entire chamber (either the House of Representatives or the ... Read More »
By Trista Crossley Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), and Josh Tonsager, vice president of policy and communications for NAWG, joined growers on a webinar last month to discuss the issues NAWG is working on for the wheat industry in the other Washington. The session was part of the 2021 Agricultural Marketing and Management Organization’s ... Read More »
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