Gov. Gavin Newsom has selected Davina Hurt to serve on the Water Commission. She replaces Matthew Swanson, who runs a feed business and chaired the commission before stepping down last year.
In 2020 Newsom appointed Hurt to the Air Resources Board, where she served until February. She left CARB, as well as her post at the regional air district for the Bay Area, after losing her reelection bid for the Belmont City Council. The following month she appeared at the Capitol lobbying for the advocacy group Pacific Environment. It is unclear if Hurt will maintain her lobbying activities as a commissioner.
Judge halts Border Patrol raids
A federal judge has temporarily barred the U.S. Border Patrol from stop-and-arrest practices as she considers a lawsuit by United Farm Workers and local ACLU chapters. The preliminary injunction prevents agents from detaining subjects without reasonable suspicion they are in the country illegally and from warrantless arrests.
In January Border Patrol sent about 60 agents to Kern County to arrest alleged human traffickers and drug dealers. Yet the agents detained dozens of farmworkers and laborers. Some of the victims in the lawsuit claimed the agents wore masks and civilian clothes, without any visible badges. UFW estimates at least 40 residents remain in Mexico.
The arrests led to widespread concerns in the ag industry over a chilling effect compelling farmworkers to stay home rather than risk an arrest on the way to work. Yet the California Farm Bureau surveyed its 26,000 members and did not discover any widespread disruptions.
The injunction indicates the labor unions have a strong chance of winning the class action lawsuit. UFW President Teresa Romero charged that agents “can’t just wade into communities snatching up hardworking people without due process, just for being brown and working class.”
UC ANR launches new policy institute
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources is launching an institute to better connect university research to policy development. The center will serve as a liaison between lawmakers and UC ANR experts on agriculture, nutrition, pest management, water and other disciplines.
UC ANR Government and Community Relations Director Anne Megaro was named interim director of the Policy Institute. She noted that the institute will work to train academics on the legislative process and get involved in both Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
USDA invites producers to submit complaints on Biden 'lawfare'
USDA has launched a new effort to help farmers and ranchers who have been targeted by “unfair and politically motivated lawfare” allegedly carried out by the Biden administration.
The announcement came as Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins and lawmakers celebrated the dropping of criminal charges against a South Dakota ranch family.
Read our full report at Agri-Pulse.com.
Senate effort to scrap Trump’s reciprocal tariffs fails
A Senate resolution challenging the economic emergency declaration underpinning President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs failed on Wednesday evening in a tight vote.
Senators voted 49-49 on the resolution, led by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. Paul, Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski joined Democrats to back the effort.
Read our full report at Agri-Pulse.com.
New auto tariff carveouts ‘good sign’ for ag lobbyists
Lobbyists for agricultural interests see a positive sign in the tariff relief President Donald Trump is offering to U.S. auto manufacturers.
“Car manufacturers are really important,” a D.C.-based lobbyist said. “So is the domestic ag industry.” The lobbyist argued that the administration’s willingness to give at least some relief is a “good sign” for the U.S. ag sector, given its previous insistence there would be no carveouts.
The lobbyist added that administration officials have become more receptive to meeting with industry leaders, in part because hiring has allowed for more staff to hold meetings.
“There is a little bit more room for conversation,” the lobbyist said.
A second ag industry lobbyist said they were encouraged by the administration’s willingness to ease “pain points” following conversations with industry. “I think there's a lot of optimism to see in that,” they said.
Take note: Other industries may be able to piggyback on the relief given to the auto sector. As part of the effort to reduce tariff “stacking,” the administration said imports subject to the new duties on Mexico and Canada will not also face the additional steel and aluminum tariffs, if both are applicable.
Johnson still with Trump on tariffs, but says Congress can step in
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., says Congress shouldn’t step in to claw back trade policymaking powers at this time, but lawmakers could get involved if there becomes an “imbalance.”
“I think the executive has a broad array of authority that's been recognized over the years,” Johnson said Wednesday at an event hosted by Axios. “If it gets close to where the imbalance is there, then we would step in,” he added.
Before any legislative action, the speaker said he would first raise the issue with the president.
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“Right now, I think ultimately this policy is going to achieve the desired outcome,” Johnson added. “We’re applauding that.”
Take note: There is bipartisan legislation in both the House and the Senate to claw back congressional trade policymaking powers and give Congress a vote on new tariffs.
Former food leader at FDA responds to agency changes
The Food and Drug Administration’s Human Foods Program has undergone a few changes since former Deputy Commissioner Jim Jones resigned in February. On Wednesday he warned that some of those changes — largely cuts to communications and administrative staff — could seriously degrade the agency and efforts to respond to foodborne outbreaks.
Speaking at a food policy event hosted by the Institute of Food Technologists, Jones said he felt good about his decision to leave the agency after just 17 months. His departure was prompted by the termination of probationary employees, which he said put the program’sfuture at risk.
“The idea that I would spend 10 hours a day dismantling something I just built, to me was just not why I joined the FDA,” Jones said. “I think that what I expected was going to happen, has happened.”
What he’s seeing: Since his resignation, there have been further cuts at HHS and FDA through a broad reduction in force. The loss of the bulk of the FDA communications staff likely will hamper efforts to update and communicate with the public, which contradicts claims of “radical transparency” at HHS, he said.
Administrative staff handling human resources, union relations, contracts, budget and more were also cut from FDA, Jones said. This slows action on all these tasks. But it also means staff focused on core activities, with backgrounds in nutrition, microbiology and toxicology, will have to divert their time to complete the administrative activities.
His greatest concern: The biggest risk of all these changes, Jones said, is the impact on food safety. He said the food safety program relies on infrastructure that is being degraded. This could make it harder for the FDA to respond to outbreaks quickly.
Looking ahead: Jones said he’s concerned agency leadership will take resources out of the food safety programs to fund other priorities in chemical safety and nutrition. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary have been vocal about these issues but have yet to establish a vision for food safety.
Take note: Jones was skeptical that FDA’s plan to remove all synthetic food dyes will be successful. The move relies largely on food companies voluntarily cooperating with FDA to remove the chemicals.
Specialty crop groups urge USDA to continue pesticide residue data collection
Thirty-seven specialty crop groups have asked Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to keep funding pesticide residue data collection efforts.
In a letter to Rollins, the groups said the information collected through the Agricultural Marketing Service’s Pesticide Data Program helps the EPA assess dietary exposure to pesticide residues. It also assists the Foreign Agricultural Service’s international marketing efforts and informs FDA’s decision-making.
They said the data helps “reaffirm that the government’s restrictions involving pesticide residues and other food safety efforts are working well in protecting health." The groups include the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and the Western Growers Association.
USDA reaches deal with Mexico on screwworm control
USDA announced Wednesday evening that the U.S. border will remain open to Mexican livestock after Mexico agreed to end restrictions on USDA aircraft and waive duties on equipment needed for combatting the New World Screwworm.
Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins on Saturday demanded Mexico address USDA concerns about the eradication effort or face another suspension to livestock trade.
“This pest is a devastating threat to both of our economies, and I am pleased to work together with Mexico in good faith to protect the livelihoods of our ranchers and producers who would have been hurt by this pest,” says Rollins.
Final word
“That will destroy a farm bill. It’s the wrong way to go about it.” — Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., on Republican efforts to use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding to offset farm safety net provisions in a budget reconciliation bill.
