LEGISLATIVE UPDATES from AmericanHort New USDA Grant Program Targets Agriculture Workforce Challenges
Pushing Back on the New Overtime Rule By Matt Mika
AmericanHort joined the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO) and over 80 organizations representing private, public, nonprofit, and educational entities in letters to House and Senate lawmakers requesting they urge the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to withdraw its proposed overtime pay regulations. The Department has proposed to increase the minimum salary level that an employee must receive to be exempt from federal overtime pay by an overwhelming 70 percent and has additionally proposed to increase the salary level every three years automatically. This proposal comes despite the Department updating the minimum salary level just four years ago in 2019, and the new proposed salary level is effectively 154 percent higher than the threshold in place before that 2019 update.
By Matt Mika
House Republicans Urge Speaker to Move a Farm Bill
USDA has launched a program allowing up to $65 million in grants to address labor shortages, improve working conditions for foreign workers, and support lawful migration for workers traveling from Northern Central America (NCA). The Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program (FLSP Program) is open to agricultural employers who meet all Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security requirements for the H-2A program. The FLSP has three award levels based on how much employers commit to improving labor conditions through pay benefits and worker protections. The minimum award is $25,000, and the maximum is $2 million. Employers who attempt to find workers from NCA but are unsuccessful are still eligible. Any new benefits offered through this grant must be implemented for all employees in the same role. The 2023 FLSP grant application period closes on November 28, 2023, but the USDA recommends you start the process two weeks in advance for this competitive grant. Join upcoming webinars (https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/flsp/assistance) from the USDA to learn more, or learn about the application process here: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/flsp
Sixty-one House Republicans pressed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) for speedy passage of the 2023 Farm Bill despite a grim outlook for the legislation due to limited floor time. Ahead of his election as speaker last week, Johnson circulated a priority list that included a December vote on a Farm Bill. “Begin negotiations as soon as possible” with the Senate on a final version of the bill, he wrote. The letter was led by Rep. Brad Finstad (R-MN-01), who is one of 27 Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee to sign the letter. House Agriculture Chair GT Thompson (R-PA-15) and Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK-01), the No. 2 Republican on the committee, did not sign the letter. Agriculture Committee Chair Thompson recently stated he has had good conversations with the Speaker about moving a Farm Bill this year and sees a path forward.
AmericanHort Joins over 220 Groups on Herbicide Letter to EPA
National Meeting to Plot Strategy for Boxwood Tree Moth
By Matt Mika
By Michael Martin, Ph.D. and Craig Regelbrugge
AmericanHort joined like-minded trade organizations in a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its recently proposed herbicide use strategy to protect endangered species. The letter highlights concern with the complexity of the proposal, the lack of compliance options for producers/applicators, the financial cost of proposed conservation practices, the anticipated harm the proposal will inflict on producers, agricultural communities, and the environment, as well as ESA and FIFRA statutory concerns with the proposal. We urged the EPA to use better data upfront as opposed to relying on overly conservative assumptions, which would help alleviate jeopardy risk concerns for species so that the agency may better work with stakeholders to develop more reasonable solutions for those species genuinely of concern.
The National Plant Board convened a late October meeting in Cincinnati, OH, to discuss boxwood tree moth status and next steps. Given Ohio’s central location, two areas of known BTM infestation, and great, industry-leading nurseries, Dan Kenny, the Plant Health Division Chief from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, offered to host this meeting, pulling it together in just over two months. Participants included state and federal plant protection officials, researchers, and industry. Bennett Saunders, Michael Martin, and Craig Regelbrugge attended to provide a U.S. horticulture industry perspective. At our suggestion, Jamie Aalbers from the Canadian Nursery and Landscape Association also participated and provided a Canadian update. It is quite clear that this pest will continue to
8 • VNLA News • Winter 2023
By Matt Mika
