WESTERN GROWERS OFFICERS – 2019
RON RATTO, Chairman RYAN TALLEY, Senior Vice Chair ALBERT KECK, Vice Chair CAROL CHANDLER, Treasurer VICTOR SMITH, Executive Secretary THOMAS A. NASSIF, President DIRECTORS – 2019 GEORGE J. ADAM Innovative Produce, Santa Maria, California KEVIN S. ANDREW Vanguard International, Bakersfield, California ROBERT K. BARKLEY Barkley Ag Enterprises LLP,Yuma, Arizona STEPHEN J. BARNARD Mission Produce, Inc., Oxnard, California BARDIN E. BENGARD Bengard Ranch, Salinas, California GEORGE BOSKOVICH III Boskovich Farms, Oxnard, California NEILL CALLIS Turlock Fruit Company,Turlock, California DON CAMERON Terranova Ranch, Helm, California EDWIN A. CAMP D. M. Camp & Sons, Bakersfield, California CAROL CHANDLER Chandler Farms LP, Selma, California LAWRENCEW. COX Coastline Family Farms, Salinas, California STEPHEN F. DANNA Danna Farms, Inc.,Yuba City, California JOHN C. D’ARRIGO D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of California, Salinas, California THOMAS DEARDORFF II Deardorff Family Farms, Oxnard, California FRANZW. DE KLOTZ Richard Bagdasarian Inc., Mecca, California SAMUEL D. DUDA Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Inc., Salinas, California CATHERINE A. FANUCCHI Tri-Fanucchi Farms Inc., Bakersfield, California DAVID L. GILL Rio Farms, King City, California BRANDON A. GRIMM Grimmway Farms, Arvin, California JOHN JACKSON Beachside Produce, LLC, Nipomo, California A. G. KAWAMURA Orange County Produce, LLC, Irvine, California ALBERT KECK Hadley Date Gardens,Thermal, California FRED P. LOBUE, JR. LoBue Bros., Inc., Lindsay, California FRANK MACONACHY Ramsay Highlander, Inc., Gonzales, California JOHN S. MANFRE Frank Capurro and Son, Moss Landing, California STEPHEN MARTORI III Martori Farms, Scottsdale, Arizona HAROLD MCCLARTY HMC Farms, Kingsburg, California TOMMULHOLLAND Mulholland Citrus, Orange Cove, California ALEXANDERT. MULLER Pasquinelli Produce Co.,Yuma, Arizona DOMINIC J. MUZZI Muzzi Family Farms, LLC, Moss Landing, California MARK NICKERSON PrimeTime International, Coachella, California THOMAS M. NUNES The Nunes Company, Inc., Salinas, California STEPHEN F. PATRICIO Westside Produce, Firebaugh, California RON RATTO Ratto Bros. Inc., Modesto, California CRAIG A. READE Bonipak Produce, Inc., Santa Maria, California JOSEPH A. RODRIGUEZ The Growers Company, Inc., Somerton, Arizona WILL ROUSSEAU Rousseau Farming Company,Tolleson, Arizona VICTOR SMITH JV Smith Companies,Yuma, Arizona KELLY STRICKLAND Five Crowns, Inc., Brawley, California RYANTALLEY Talley Farms, Arroyo Grande, California BRUCE C.TAYLOR Taylor Farms California, Salinas, California STUARTWOOLF Woolf Farming & Processing, Fresno, California ROBYRACEBURU Wonderful Orchards, Shafter, California
TOM NASSIF | PRESIDENT AND CEO, WESTERN GROWERS PRESIDENT’S NOTES
What To Expect From A Divided Congress If the recent, record-setting partial government shutdown is any indication, it may prove difficult to achieve much in the way of policy substance during the 116 th Congress. Despite President Donald Trump’s call for an end to the “political stalemate” in his State of the Union, there is likely little chance of that happening in advance of the 2020 elections.
President Trump faces a divided Congress— in which the House and Senate are controlled by different parties—a phenomenon that occurs less frequently than one might think. In the 230 years since George Washington first took the oath of office, Congress has been divided just 44 of those years. Historically, a divided Congress has produced a unique brand of conflict. A brief examination of several past examples may foreshadow the strategy of the House Democrats over the next two years. Twice before, in 1890 and 1910, Democratic majorities in the House were effective in blocking the Republican agenda and producing presidential victories for their party in the ensuing elections. Benjamin Harrison was ousted by Grover Cleveland in 1892 and Woodrow Wilson upended William Howard Taft in 1912. Based on this obstructionist model, the House Democrats have very little incentive to grant President Trump any significant legislative victories prior to the 2020 elections. If Democrats can successfully neutralize President Trump’s agenda, they stand a greater likelihood of retaking the White House (and possibly the Senate) in 2021. For this reason, House Democrats are unlikely to accept any legislative proposals that contain less than their full policy objectives. But beyond seeking to thwart President Trump at his every turn, House Democrats may also employ another strategy used by the Republican Party when they wrested control
of the House in 1858. With the presidency of James Buchanan already under intense public scrutiny, House Republicans immediately began investigating alleged wrongdoings of Buchanan and his administration, which included bribery and patronage. While House Republicans were not able to uncover enough evidence to impeach Buchanan, they inflicted enough damage to pave the way for Abraham Lincoln’s victory in 1860. Likewise, while the House Democrats of today may not have the power to push their agenda past the Republican-held Senate, they certainly possess the authority to investigate President Trump, and may do everything they can to undermine his bid for reelection in 2020. In what is shaping up to be a contentious political environment over the next two years, the question becomes: will there be any windows of opportunity to achieve legislative success on issues of importance to agriculture and Western Growers members? The short answer is… possibly. The truth is, Democrats and the President have similar motivation to work together (at least in some areas)—they need to get reelected. Contrary to public perception, Democrats won the House not on a wave of leftists in the mold of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, but because they took a number of purple districts, like those in the rural Central Valley of California. It is here, in these mixed rural and suburban districts, where Democrats need to see some bipartisan success to maintain control of their seats. So let’s identify three policy areas where we
4 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com MARCH | APRIL 2019
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