Rick Perry on Jobs Republican Governor (TX)

More R&D & tax incentives for small farmers.

Resolved, That the Southern Governors’ Association, with respect to the 2002 farm bill, urges Congress and the Administration to:
• Create a major funding research and development block grant initiative to state departments of agriculture and other appropriate state entities which could work with universities and non-traditional research entities to spur value-added processing;
• Discourage, eliminate and prosecute “insurance farmers” under the crop insurance program and require coverage of farmers for disaster relief payments eligibility;
• Urge the U.S. Justice Department to review the implications of the consolidation of agricultural businesses with respect to the Sherman Anti-trust Act and assign a senior level Justice official to this task;
• Support programs that will sustain small farms;
• Invest in our infrastructure and transportation network to assure that agriculture and other producing and consumer interests are well served;
• Encourage new farmers to enter agriculture production with incentives and other programs such as capital gains taxes, new tax-deferred savings accounts and deferred loans;
• Discourage dual marketing systems for biotech and non-biotech products, maintain the current regulatory system on labeling of biotech foods, and pass legislation to protect against crop destruction aimed at academic research institutions and biotechnology companies

Repeal the federal unemployment "temporary surtax".

• Whereas, the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) was enacted over 60 years ago to guarantee financing for a national employment security system’s federal-state partnership; and,
• Whereas, the “temporary surtax” of 0.2%, enacted in 1976, is still being collected today despite a $24 billion surplus in the trust funds; and,
• Whereas, over the past several years, the return of taxes paid from states to fund important employment services has decreased to an average of only 51%, with some states receiving back as little as 32%, causing them to raise taxes to compensate for the unutilized federal funds; and
• Whereas, over the same period, the ability of states to fund essential unemployment insurance and employment services has suffered; and,
• Whereas, states are better equipped to collect the employer-paid tax and to provide local services to its unemployed citizens; now, therefore, be it
• Resolved, that the Southern Governors’Association calls on the United States Congress and President to pass employment security financing reform which includes repealing the FUTA surtax, increasing state flexibility and eliminating inefficiencies in FUTA tax collection while maintaining the trust funds on the unified budget.

Create block grants for Agricultural Stewardship.

• The WGA would like to join the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) in proposing a new concept, one that NASDA has dubbed “A New Vision for Agricultural Stewardship.” The NASDA concept calls for the creation of a state block grant program, designed to allow states the flexibility to target resources to their specific conservation and environmental needs. Under the plan, the state departments of agriculture, in conjunction with state and local agriculture and conservation partners, develop priorities to be addressed under their block grant umbrella.
• The NASDA block grant proposal promotes broad flexibility in this development, noting that the block grant can be used to address threats to soil, air, water and wildlife; or be used to meet state or federal environmental regulations; or make “beneficial cost-effective changes to cropping systems, grazing management, manure, nutrient, pest, or irrigation management, land uses, or other measures needed to conserve and improve soil, water, and related natural resources.” The intent is to not duplicate existing programs, but to give states the ability to address areas of specific need. The funding could even be designated for use in existing state conservation or environmental programs, should a state find that’s where the most need rests.
• Under the Agricultural Stewardship Program, the states would enter into cooperative agreements with USDA on an annual basis and issue annual reports to USDA regarding the progress to date and future intentions.
• While Western Governors feel the program outlined above is extremely important, it must be defined broadly so that Governors may designate a lead state agency, and it must be weighed in conjunction with the need for improvements and adjustments to existing conservation and environmental programs.