By Jacob Villagomez, Director, Governmental Affairs
This past week, I attended the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The Meeting covered federal advocacy strategies for labor issues affecting H-2A users, including recent changes to Department of Labor (DOL) regulations made by the previous administration and new changes made by the new administration.
While there, I filled in the remaining time with Hill meetings to advocate for the Emergency Citrus Disease Research Extension (ECDRE), also known as the Citrus Trust Fund. This fund houses federal research dollars ($25M) committed to finding a cure for Huanglongbing (HLB) and helping the industry develop prevention strategies for the disease. The Citrus Trust Fund is considered an orphan program, meaning it must be reauthorized every 5 years through a Farm Bill and is not included in annual appropriations made by Congress. While the program was authorized in last year’s government extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, it did not come with the funding and suffered a cut.
CCM, along with our partners in Florida and Texas, are working to ensure that the ECDRE program funding is secured. The House and Senate Ag Committee staff are receptive to bringing funding back to find a cure to the effects of HLB.
I also had the opportunity to share this information with the offices of Representatives David Valadao, Jim Costa, Josh Harder, Vince Fong, and Ken Calvert. I expressed urgency, as well as the many challenges on the horizon – trade tariffs, federal staffing, immigration enforcement, and high operational costs.
CCM is nonetheless committed and stands firm in the face of these challenges. To move this forward, we will be working together with our friends in the Texas and Florida citrus delegations to put pressure on Congress to reauthorize the funding for the ECDRE and to pass a new Farm Bill.
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