Lawmakers hear pros and cons of state essential worker pilot program proposal

Washington Ag February 13, 2009 One of the top priorities of the Washington State Farm Bureau is legislation that would create the Washington state essential worker pilot program to provide agriculture and other industries that rely on seasonal workers with a stable, legal labor supply. House Bill 1896 proposes to do that by having the state seek federal waivers and was the subject of a hearing this week before the House Committee on Commerce and Labor. Josh Temple who operates a family operation near Cashmere made this plea to the committee. Temple: “I just wish we would quit using federal inaction as an excuse not to do something at the state level and I would wish that our leadership at the state level would do something that the rest of the nation could follow.” Opponents of HB 1896 like Jeff Johnson of the Washington State Labor Council questioned the need for more workers. Johnson: “There is no appreciable labor shortage in this state. There are localized labor shortages.” That brought this response from Dan Fazio of the Washington State Farm Bureau. Fazio: “ESD has certified there is a shortage. They certified it 40 times last year. Every time someone files an H2A application the Employment Security Department certifies that there are an insufficient number of domestic workers.” Critics of the essential worker pilot program questioned whether the state has the authority to do what is proposed lacking congressional action. Supporters said Colorado recently enacted a similar law and Texas and Arizona are introducing similar legislation. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.