Jim Hodges on Jobs Former Democratic SC Governor

Full review of farm policy; more state flexibility.

The National Governors Association supports a comprehensive review of agricultural policy to ensure that farm programs incorporate the most efficient means to promote a healthy and prosperous economy for America’s farmers and ranchers.

Attached is NGA’s statement [in which] we provide our comments to the Draft Farm Bill Concept Paper and the general recommendations of the Governors on the 2002 Farm Bill. They include:
• support for farmer assistance programs that provide the maximum amount of flexibility to producers and that include counter-cyclical assistance;
• recommendations to include incentives for working lands conservation and to strengthen states’ role in the delivery of resource conservation dollars;
• simplification of state level program operations of the Food Stamp Program; and
• recommendations to the rural development programs within the farm bill.

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.