process works, once a person is expelled, the committee has five days to submit names to the supervisors. The supervisors then appoint the person to replace them. It was very quick considering there were only five days. I received the phone call saying they wanted me to go forward and put my name up. At the time, we were in the middle of spring crops which meant I could not walk out on my responsibilities at our grain company. My father came out of retirement to tend to our seed and wheat crops so I could transition into this position. What are your legislative priorities in the house? One of my top priorities is water. We’re in the middle of working on the Drought Contingency Plan, drafting contingency plans for Arizona to work with the seven states on the lower basin. There are ongoing meetings happening in order to get stakeholders to come together and consider ways to prevent the water levels [in Lake Mead] from going below 1075. When the water level drops to a surface elevation below 1075 feet, there will be mandatory cuts for the Central Arizona Project and central Arizona. When you take mandatory cuts for central Arizona agriculture, there’s a big part of the economy at stake, so how can we do some things to keep that agriculture going? For the state of Arizona, one thing to note is that we are one of only a few states that charges a tax on fertilizer. That puts us at a disadvantage. We addressed this with the committee last year, though we didn’t have a bill in place, talking and discussing to try to get to some level playing field. It was in statute before, but the Department of Revenue has a different version on what should and should not be taxed, so that will help all of agriculture if we could get that out. There are also a few bills we’ve been working on; nothing major as far as revamping things. The department is moving our agriculture lab so we’re having a discussion on what that is going to look like because we need to make sure we don’t do anything that’s going to hurt our economy in Arizona. Sometimes our agenda needs to be keeping people from messing up what is going right. I believe we should not pass bills just to pass bills, which is something I’ve said before and will continue to say. Any last remarks? I encourage everyone to make sure they are engaged, not only with their association but creating their personal relationships
with their representatives. Although as representatives we believe we understand the needs of our constituents, I would encourage people to make sure they build those relationships because you’re not always going to agree on everything, and often we just don’t understand where you’re coming from. But this is a great opportunity for me to represent agriculture at the state Legislature and I appreciate the support.
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JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2019
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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