Texas House moving slowly
                Eminent Domain
                TxDOT Sunset bill passes out of Senate committee
                Texas Department of Agriculture Sunset bill passes House
                Mexico and Canada file WTO complaints regarding COOL
                Livestock Marketing Fairness Act unfair to livestock producers
                Cap-and-trade showdown
                            

Texas House moving slowly
If things go as originally planned in the House tonight, we could see action on a few big bills over the weekend including eminent domain (SB 18) and the voter ID bill (SB 362). However, judging by the events in the House over the past few hours, what will actually happen on any weekend planned bills is still up in the air.

Here is what is going on as of this afternoon. The House Calendars Committee has scheduled the voter ID bill, SB 362, as the first bill on the calendar for Saturday. There are 235 bills on today's Local Calendar. Normally, those bills would be passed quickly, without opposition. If a member wants to contest a bill on the Local Calendar they are allowed 10 minutes to ask questions. After ten minutes the bill is withdrawn from the calendar and not taken up by the House at that time. Opponents to the voter ID bill are taking up to 10 minutes on each of the 235 bills.

It is the strategy of those opposing the voter ID bill to debate each bill on the House Local Calendar, which would require 39 continuous hours to complete the Local Calendar on second reading. At the conclusion of the Local Calendar the House would adjourn and reconvene to take up the bills on third reading which would, again, provide an opportunity to talk an additional 39 hours.

After that, the House would still have to take up pending business, postponed business, and bills on the Major State Calendar ahead of the voter ID bill. By continuing to talk for hours nd hours, opponents to the voter ID bill can kill it because they will run out of time.

Representative Sid Miller (R-Stephenville) raised a point of order against the entire House Local Calendar, but later withdrew it to allow local bills the opportunity to pass. If he calls for a point of order again and it is sustained, the remaining bills on the Local Calendar will die and the House will move on with its major business. If this happens we could expect movement on the following bills sometime this weekend.

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Eminent Domain
The highly anticipated eminent domain bill (SB 18) could be voted out of the Texas House and be on its way to the Governor as early as Saturday. The bill is scheduled for second reading today, which means it will be read on third reading Saturday while the House is in session.

Earlier this week, the House Land and Resource Management Committee voted the bill out of committee with a few amendments. All provisions critical to property owners were left intact.

TSCRA supports the bill as reported and would urge Governor Perry to sign the bill once it reaches his desk.

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TxDOT Sunset bill passes out of Senate committee
The TxDOT Sunset bill, HB 300, was voted out of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee this week. The committee tacked on 33 amendments including an amendment to leave the five-person Governor appointed commission intact, but reduce the terms to two-years.

The provision to permanently repeal the Trans-Texas Corridor remains in the bill.

Senator Glenn Hegar (R-Katy) continues to lead the charge on this bill and could bring it to the Senate floor as early as Saturday.

This legislative session, TSCRA has supported bills that would repeal the Trans-Texas Corridor, reform the Texas Department of Transportation, fight off toll roads, and reform the eminent domain laws to level the playing field for property owners. These are all priority issues for TSCRA.

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Texas Department of Agriculture Sunset bill passes House
The TDA Sunset bill was approved by the Texas House and now heads back to the Senate for final consideration before heading to the Governor. The bill would continue TDA until Sept. 1, 2021, and includes a number of programmatic changes.

The bill would continue the Prescribed Burning Board and make it subject to future sunset review concurrently with TDA. All professional burn managers would have to be certified and insured. The bill would change the number of years burn manager certifications were valid from five to two. The bill would allow a certified and insured prescribed burn manager to conduct a burn in a county declared to be in a state of emergency, unless the declaration prohibited burns.

The bill would require TDA to set up a comprehensive complaint process and penalties for prescribed burn manager violations. Complaints would be filed in accordance with TDA's general complaint guidelines. Penalties would be based on the severity of the violation. TDA also would be able to request court injunctions and to suspend certifications of prescribed burn violators.

Also included in the TDA Sunset bill are technical clarifications to the state law governing the beef check-off program to make it consistent with the current federal law.

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Mexico and Canada file WTO complaints regarding COOL
In formal complaints filed last week with the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mexico and Canada claim that the U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law appears to be inconsistent with U.S. obligations under the WTO. TSCRA is extremely concerned about the impact of COOL on our relationships with our top two trading partners. Beef trade with Mexico was worth nearly $1.4 billion in 2008, and trade with Canada came in at $716 million. Together, the markets account for 58 percent of our beef export trade.

In addition to potential trade impacts, we're also concerned about the rule's economic consequences. We've seen indications of drops in feeder cattle prices at our border to the north and south, which is impacting all segments of our industry.

It is important to understand that COOL is purely a marketing tool that provides consumers with information on the origin of beef products. It is not a food safety tool. All beef consumed in the U.S. is subject to rigorous health and safety inspections-regardless of its origin.

COOL became mandatory on Sept. 30, 2008. The final rule went into effect on March 16, 2009. Over the next few months, TSCRA will be closely monitoring the implementation of COOL and its effects on domestic beef demand and international trade.

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Livestock Marketing Fairness Act unfair to livestock producers
Senators Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would severely hinder the ability of the U.S. cattle industry to compete in a free marketplace. The so-called "Livestock Marketing Fairness Act" (S. 1086) would impose dangerous government intrusion on the livestock industry-potentially destroying the value-added marketing alliances that the U.S. cattle industry has worked hard to establish.

It is important that cattle producers are in tune with their consumers' preferences when it comes to the retail meat case. This focus on consumer preferences has led to many innovative marketing programs that have improved the quality of beef, given the consumer what they want, and made many of America's ranchers more profitable and efficient. These marketing arrangements offer producers the freedom and flexibility to market their cattle in ways that provide the best return on their investment.

The Packers and Stockyards Act (PS&A) has been successful in combating anti-trust, collusion, price fixing, and other illegal activities that damage the viability of the market and interfere with market signals. At the same time, it preserves producers' rights to market their cattle in a way that ensures the highest quality product to meet the current consumer demand. The Livestock Marketing Fairness Act would take away that right by amending the PS&A so that it limits producers' opportunities to participate in alternative marketing arrangements-such as forward contracting-and negotiate private business transactions. Producers would thus lose the ability to compete in the free-market system which is fundamental to U.S. entrepreneurship.

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Cap-and-trade showdown
The House Energy and Commerce Committee adopted climate change legislation this week. By a vote of 33 to 25, H.R. 2454, "The American Clean Energy and Security Act," was adopted amid growing opposition from the agricultural sector and others. The legislation requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator to develop performance standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, which will likely include the livestock operations. Some farm organizations announced opposition this week to the bill since it does not establish an effective carbon sequestration program benefiting agriculture and because of the significant increase expected in fuel, fertilizer and other input costs as a result of the legislation. TSCRA is working alongside NCBA to review the nearly 1,000-page bill during the Memorial Day recess next week.

Representative Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee is seeking to have full jurisdiction authority over the bill in order to adequately address the concerns of the agriculture industry.

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