Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, helped spearhead a bipartisan letter sent today to House leaders urging them to let taxpayer-funded ethanol subsidies expire this year.

The letter was signed by 30 Democrats – including Stark, George Miller, Jackie Speier, Mike Honda and Zoe Lofgren – as well as by 37 Republicans, and was directed to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco.

Here’s the text:

As the first session of the 112th Congress comes to a close, we urge you to allow ethanol subsidies set to expire to do just that and to resist calls to expand or create new ethanol subsidies in the eleventh hour.

The ethanol industry has benefited from a tax credit incentivizing production, an import tariff shielding it from competition, and a renewable fuels mandate creating demand. Both the volumetric ethanol excise tax credit and the prohibitive import tariff are set to expire at the end of this year. These benefits were not permanent in nature for a reason. Congress anticipated the ethanol industry one day being sufficiently mature to stand on its own. It is difficult to make the argument that this day has not arrived. With widespread concern across a spectrum of issues including anti-hunger, fiscal, environmental, agricultural, good governance, and others, extending a billion dollar ethanol tax credit would appear out of the question and the prohibitive import tariff should be allowed to expire as well.

In addition, we urge you to oppose efforts to create new or expand existing subsidies that benefit the ethanol industry in the waning days of this session. For example, there has been the suggestion that the renewable fuels standard be revised to allow corn-based fuels to qualify as an advanced biofuel. Taxpayers deserve to have the future of federal ethanol policy fully vetted under regular order, an opportunity that is unlikely in the last days of the session.

The House today voted 217-203 to pass H.R. 2112, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food & Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012, which Democrats say would cut 400,000 to 550,000 eligible low-income women and young children from the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.

No Democrats supported the bill; 19 Republicans opposed it.

Critics said the bill also would undermine food safety efforts, increasing the risk of food-borne illnesses, as well as risk another financial crisis and drive up gas prices by defunding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, the Education and the Workforce Committee’s ranking Democrat, issued a statement saying the bill “is harmful, ineffective and plays politics with our children’s health.”

“WIC is a necessity for thousands of moms and their children, and these cuts are a slap in the face to those who rely on these services to help feed their families. There is no place for partisan politics when it comes to the well-being of our children,” Miller said. “The Republicans also roll back important and historic substantive changes we made to the school meals program last Congress. For millions of children, the meals they eat at school serve as a nutritional safety net – denying these children healthy options at school is just another example of House Republicans choosing to prioritize oil companies and big business instead of the children who need our help the most.”

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Kent., said the bill “answers the call from Americans to reduce government spending while still providing for critical programs that keep American agriculture competitive in a global economy.

“The funding in this bill will help our rural communities to thrive, provide daily nutrition to children and families across the country, and keep our food and drug supply safe,” Rogers said. “This legislation will also help to put the Department of Agriculture, the FDA, and other agencies back on a sustainable budget path that is accountable to the taxpayers of this country.”

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, spoke against it repeatedly on the House floor:

More of Garamendi’s opposition to the bill, after the jump…
Read the rest of this entry »

Some California lawmakers want you to light a fire under the state’s economy by “eating local.”

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco; Assembly Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Livingston; and Foster Farms marketing director Ira Brill will be joined by other state lawmakers and agricultural leaders at a news conference tomorrow morning on the State Capitol’s steps to announce a resolution – ACR 42, introduced Monday – calling on Californians to prepare meals made exclusively from California-grown ingredients at least every Sunday.

Ma’s office notes that while California produces 400 commodities and a significant amount of food for the rest of the country, Californians still spend a tremendous amount on out-of-state foods; $210 million is spent on out-of-state poultry alone, from states such as Texas and Arkansas.

Dedicating just one day a week to eating only California-grown foods could represent a consumption increase of up to $15.6 billion in sales, according to the effort’s Facebook page.

Contra Costa County Supervisors Mary Nejedly Piepho of Discovery Bay and John Gioia of Richmond will introduce Tuesday a new ordinance called “Buy Fresh, Buy Local.”

They say it’s a “farming sustainability program connecting East County farmers and their locally grown produce with West County communities and urban schools.”

Piepho, Gioia and representatives from the Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust and the county’s Agricultural Advisory Task Force and local East County farmers will speak at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting at approximately 10 a.m. at 651 Pine Street in Martinez.

“The program will encourage public and private facilities in the county to purchase locally grown produce, improve access to West County communities and integrate the value of locally grown food and farm products into existing educational curricula,” according to a press release.

The pair said that “low income communities which have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables are at a higher risk of obesity and other health problems due to poor diet. Additionally, the new law would open opportunities for the Contra Costa Health Department to incorporate the importance of incorporating fresh locally grown produce into existing programs.”