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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, June 3, 2007
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Agriculture Leaders Beg for Solution to Labor Crisis
WASHINGTON DC, (SLFP.com), June 3, 2007 - Leaders in agriculture on opposite coasts are reporting the same crisis: no workers. With the immigration reform debate about to pick up again in Congress, agriculture is begging for a solution to the labor crisis.
Too few American workers are stepping forward to do the tough and often seasonal jobs in agriculture. As a result, the workforce planting, tending, and harvesting America's agricultural bounty is mostly foreign born. And most are feared to lack legal status.
In a desperate move last week, the North Carolina Farm Bureau set up an employment hotline, (919) 571-5197, and initiated a state-wide media campaign in an effort to attract domestic workers to apply for available farm jobs. North Carolina needs at least 100,000 farm workers to keep their diverse agricultural industry from taking a $260 million hit. After the week-long blitz, a total of two callers had expressed an interest in seeking farm jobs, not nearly enough to tend the fields.
"If you like having to pay the high price for imported oil, you will love paying the price of imported food," said Larry Wooten, President of the North Carolina Farm Bureau. "We either import guest workers to work on the farm or we export the production of our food and fiber. It is that simple."
North Carolina is not the first state to mount such a recruitment campaign, only to face disappointment. Late last summer, as the Washington state harvest neared, apple farmers joined forces with the Washington State Department of Employment Security to design and implement a recruitment program. Orientation and job referral events were held in six towns in eastern Washington. The job opportunities were publicized by radio, newspaper, and television outreach. The results were described in a recent letter to Congress from Valoria Loveland, director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture. With an estimated 1,700 job opportunities, the orientations yielded only 40 potentially interested workers.
Immigration reform opponents blame these labor shortages on low wages in agriculture, which is simply not true. "The average hourly wage for a farm work in the U.S. is almost $10, well above the recently-passed federal minimum wage increase, and even higher than wages in some other labor-intensive industries," said Craig Regelbrugge, national co-chair of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform.
"Americans have so many opportunities that are full-time, year-round, out of the weather; they don't even consider working the fields anymore. If America is going to continue to enjoy a wholesome and stable food supply, agriculture needs a solution now."
Health Care Bill Designed to Help Lower Cost of Family Health Insurance
JEFFERSON CITY, (SLFP.com), June 3, 2007 -
Gov. Matt Blunt today signed legislation to expand health coverage for Missourians that includes a tax relief measure designed to help lower the cost of health insurance for families. House Bill 818 implements important provisions to help reduce the number of Missourians without insurance.
"This is a powerful bill that will enable more Missourians to access health insurance coverage," Gov. Blunt said. "More than 5 million Missourians have health insurance, but 700,000 are yet to be covered. This bill is a good step towards expanding access to care for Missourians currently without insurance. I am also very pleased we provided tax relief in the legislation by allowing Missourians to deduct the cost of their health insurance premiums."
House Bill 818, sponsored by Rep. Doug Ervin, works towards building a comprehensive program to expand access to quality health insurance and reduce the number of Missourians who lack coverage.
"I thank Governor Blunt for encouraging all stakeholders to come together and find a solution that will provide more Missourians access to affordable health insurance," said Rep. Doug Ervin. "This bill reorients our state's health care policy toward the objectives of the individual and away from the employer, the insurer, providers, and government through portability and equitable tax treatment among all consumers of health care goods and services putting the consumer back in the driver's seat to make their own health care decisions."
Provisions in the bill:
* Expand opportunities for Missourians who are defined as, "high risk", allowing them to more easily purchase health care coverage
* Provide a tax deduction for all Missourians for health insurance premiums included in their federally adjusted gross income
* Extend opportunities for coverage for young Missourians entering the workforce by expanding dependent coverage to the age of 26
* Self employed taxpayers may qualify for a tax credit
* Provide a tax-free option for employees to pay insurance premiums through cafeteria plans
* Allow employers to make a defined contribution towards the purchase of health insurance
The bill will make it easier for Missouri's workers and families to purchase health insurance through the opportunity for small employers to make a defined contribution to their employees to purchase insurance. The contribution would be tax deductible and could help families offset the cost of purchasing insurance.
The bill cuts taxes by allowing Missourians to deduct costs for health insurance premiums from their adjusted gross income even if they did not meet the minimum threshold to qualify for the federal deduction.
The legislation also ensures that self employed Missourians will receive a tax credit for federal taxes paid on insurance premiums.
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