07/18/06 Shifting gears on I-933

Washington Ag July 18, 2006 Washington Farm Bureau President Steve Appel told members attending the organization's summer conference in Kennewick last week the top issue for the Farm Bureau this year is Initiative 933. The assumption is that with about 318-thousand signatures turned in, and only about 225-thousand valid signatures needed, the Property Fairness Initiative will be on the November ballot. Appel says that means it's time to shift gears. Appel: "So we are in a campaign mode a campaign mode at this point in time. Running an initiative on the ballot is just like running a candidate and you go through all the same things. You have to do fund raising, do publicity, and you have to make your case to the voter. We think we have a very strong case to make. We will be doing that over the next four months and hopefully we can talk about it the day after the election, about our success." Another major item for the Farm Bureau this year is its new headquarters building in Lacey and Appel told the summer conference they will be moving in August. Appel: "It is going to be a fantastic for our office to be. It is going to be a statement quite frankly for the Washington Farm Bureau." Look for an open House September 14th. I'm Bob Hoff.