Exempt Fuel Bill

From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. Washington farmers and other groups who shouldn’t be paying increased fuel prices related to the Democrats' Climate Commitment Act could be getting some help under a bill that is currently making its way through the state Senate.

The “cap-and-tax” program, as it was written, includes exemptions for farmers and others from paying the increased fuel prices, an additional tax that, by some accounts, is as high as 40 cents per gallon.

Senator Mark Schoesler says, based on the intent of the new law, this should have never happened …

SCHOESLER … “We were told that agriculture, barge traffic, the marine fleet would have five years of exemption from cap and tax payments.”

Senator Perry Dozier says after it passed, there was never a system put in place to grant those exemptions, angering farmers and others who expect to, and should, benefit from them …

DOZIER … “In agriculture, we’re all price takers. A lot of these added costs get passed down on us. I can’t say, you know, I want another $2 a bushel on my grain to offset the increase that I got. No, I get what the market is dictating.”

The two Republican senators, who also happen to be farmers, are sponsoring a bill that aims to fix that, by developing a process to make sure those exemptions are granted and the farmers, and others who shouldn’t be paying the higher fuel prices, aren’t charged at that level in the first place.