FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS THE LEADING GROWER REPRESENTATIVE IN WASHINGTON D.C.
SUPPLY CHAIN Western Growers has been fighting to improve conditions at the West Coast ports. Shipping issues have hampered – and at times crippled – our members’ exports and we have joined efforts to relieve those backlogs, such as the Port of Oakland pop-up container yard. Critically, Western Growers is pushing to ensure these crippling port issues do not arise again in the future. To that end, Western Growers helped secure final passage and enactment of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act. This new law will help crack down on harmful ocean carrier practices and help prevent the sort of unreasonable shipping conditions that we saw during the height of the pandemic.
Western Growers continues to lead legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts on behalf of the fresh produce industry.
IMMIGRATION Western Growers pushed the U.S. Senate on agricultural immigration reform by working to make improvements to the U.S. House-passed Farm Workforce Modernization Act. Some key improvements sought were a better wage requirement outlook for employers and expanded access for year-round temporary workers. Senate action was targeted for the lame duck session at the end of the year, but unfortunately was unsuccessful.
WATER As was the case last year, Western Growers has been busy in the water space. During the summer, Western Growers was part of a handful of groups that called upon Congress to provide additional resources to Western states facing catastrophic drought – especially resources for the Colorado River basin. In August, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act and that bill included billions of dollars of additional resources for drought, most of which are targeted at helping the Colorado River basin.
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