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March 2010 |
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| Grange Leaders Commend Texas Voters Who Lead the Way in Rational Eminent Domain Reform |
National Grange President, Ed Luttrell, and Texas State Grange President, Jack Smithers, addressed property rights issues during a press conference held at the historic Davy Crockett Grange in Elmendorf, TX on February 1, 2010.
In Texas, Proposition 11, which was overwhelmingly adopted by the voters of Texas, amended the state constitution last November to limit the taking of private property by eminent domain. Proposition 11 was a reaction to the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2005 case Kelo v. City of New London, involving the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another for the purpose of economic development. Proposition 11 specifically prohibits the taking of private property to give to another private entity for the purpose of economic development or enhanced tax revenue. Proposition 11 limits the use and ownership of property taken by eminent domain to either the state or the public at large. Proposition 11 requires new entities seeking the power of eminent domain to be approved by a two-thirds vote of the legislature. Proposition 11 also requires the government must determine if each property in a neighborhood is blighted before deciding if the neighborhood itself is blighted.
The Grange believes other policy issues that are central to the appropriate use of eminent domain authority in Texas were not addressed by Proposition 11 such as: 1) Reform of measures of compensation for property owners who have had their property or access rights taken by eminent domain, and 2) Additional rights of former property owners to regain ownership or use of their property taken by eminent domain if and when that property is not used specifically for the original purpose the property was taken for, must be recognized.
As a footnote to the original Kelo case, today, the land where Suzette Kelo's home had once stood is now an empty lot. The proposed hotel-retail-condo "urban village" to be constructed on that site was never built. The promised 3,169 new jobs and $1.2 million a year in tax revenues for the city of New London never materialized. That is because in November 2009, (after Texans cast their votes in favor of Proposition 11 at the polls) Pfizer Inc. announced that it is closing its $350 million pharmaceutical research center in New London that was to be the anchor for the New London redevelopment plan that Kelo’s property was to be used for. So not only will Suzette Kelo’s property probably never be developed for the purpose it was taken for, an additional 1,500 good paying jobs at the Pfizer facility will also be leaving the city as well.
Jack Smithers commended the voters of Texas for their leadership in adopting Proposition 11 by a margin of 81% to 19%. “Texans value their land and their right to own it and live on it. That’s why this state was quick to pass legislation protecting individual property rights after the Supreme Court’s poorly reasoned decision in Connecticut,” declared Texas State Grange President, Jack Smithers. “Local and state officials do not have the wisdom nor the right to take private property based on their own economic forecasts, which may be influenced by developers. We have protected the Suzette Kelos of Texas and we will see to it that those who do have to give up their land for the public good are properly compensated,” Smithers assured the audience. Luttrell concluded by pledging that the National Grange will continue to advocate for eminent domain reform until all 50 states, all U.S. territories, and the Federal Government adopt meaningful reform of eminent domain abuse.  |
| South Carolina State Grange Calls for Greater Cell Phone Regulations |
National Grange President, Ed Luttrell, and South Carolina State Grange President, John Hammett, met with members of the local media to express Grange concerns related to the unrestricted us of cell phones while driving, on March 6, 2010 in Batesburg/Leesville, South Carolina.
Grange members across the nation at the state and national levels have increasingly raised concerns that use of cell phones while driving is fast becoming one of the greatest threats to motor vehicle safety in the United States because of the near ubiquitous presence of cell phones in our society. The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that at least 1.6 million crashes, 28 percent of all crashes, are caused by drivers talking on cell phones (1.4 million crashes) and text messaging (200,000 crashes). Studies show that 73 percent of drivers talk on cell phones while driving. Cell phone use was highest among young drivers, statistically our most at risk drivers. Motorists who use cell phones while driving are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.
The Grange believes that motorists driving in farming and rural communities are especially vulnerable to the dangers of using cell phones while operating a motor vehicle. Nearly 65 percent of all traffic fatalities in the U.S. already occur on rural two lane roads. Attempting to use cell phones while operating a motor vehicle in rural areas is especially distracting and dangerous to drivers because of incomplete cell service coverage in many rural communities that can cause calls to be unexpectedly dropped or that require multiple attempts to establish service to make a call or send a text.
South Carolina State President Hammett called for state legislation prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving. He pointed out that the National Safety Council estimates that at least 1.6 million car accidents per year, 28 percent of all yearly car accidents, are caused by drivers talking on cell phones. “At least seven states and the District of Columbia have laws banning the use of hand held cell phones while driving. It is time for South Carolina to get on board and prohibit the use of cell phones as well,” Hammett declared.
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| National Grange and Tennessee State Grange Raise Concerns Regarding Internet Regulation and Deployment of Broadband in Rural Areas |
At a Sunday news conference held in Knoxville, TN on March 8 th, National Grange President, Ed Luttrell, and Tennessee State Grange President, Judy Sherrod, addressed the Grange’s concerns with proposals by the Federal Communications Commission to impose burdensome regulations on companies that provide broadband internet service to rural subscribers. Instead, the Grange leaders called on the FCC to focus its attention on expanding the deployment of high speed, broadband internet service to all Americans, regardless of their geographic location.
President Luttrell scolded the FCC on its approach to broadband regulation in rural America. He described a recent Grange letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Julius Genachowski, expressing deep concerns that the Commission’s policy focus is shifting from developing a National Broadband Plan encouraging universal deployment and adoption of broadband services to underserved rural, farming, and tribal communities, to a policy focused on regulating broadband network management practices. Luttrell stressed that the Grange believes deployment of broadband across the country and especially in rural America should be the Federal Government’s number one communications priority. He stated that the Commission should not be burdening “….technology that it has little first had knowledge using” with unnecessary management regulations.
Luttrell noted that he has made rural access to affordable, reliable, and competitive telecommunications technologies a priority of his tenure as president of the nation’s oldest general farm and rural public interest organization. “Rural Tennessee, as well as all of rural America, needs and deserves the same access to new telecommunications technology as our urban neighbors. The Grange believes national, state, and local laws that govern these technologies should remove the regulatory uncertainty that has deterred advanced telecommunications investment in rural America,” he stated.
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| Grange Leaders Confront Extreme Animal Rights Agenda in Ohio |
National Grange President, Ed Luttrell, and Ohio State Grange President, Gary Brumbaugh, spoke on Grange efforts to confront advocates of extremist animal rights agendas during a press conference held March 12 th at the historic Friendly Hills Grange Camp in Zanesville, OH. In November 2009, the Ohio State Grange strongly supported passage of ISSUE 2, a referendum before the voters of Ohio to amend the Ohio state constitution to establish an Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. ISSUE 2 passed by a greater than 2 to 1 margin. Subsequently, House Bill 414, introduced in this session of the Ohio State Legislature, and strongly supported by the Ohio State Grange, would establish the specific requirements and responsibilities for the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board in terms of animal care in the state of Ohio. According to Brumbaugh, “Bill 414 upholds the values set forth by the Grange founding fathers some 142 years ago.”
The Grange leaders denounced the group Ohioans for Humane Farming, an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States, for submitting a petition in January 2010 for yet another ballot referendum for later this year that would overrule the decision of the Ohio voters on ISSUE 2 in November of 2009 and require the establishment calling for a completely different set of animal care regulations, without substantial input from Ohio’s family farmers and ranchers. Ohio State Grange President Brumbaugh stated, “We do not support the proposed 2010 ballot referendum as petitioned by the group Ohioans for Humane Farms. Now it seems that the Humane Society of the United States, an extremist animal rights organization, and its Ohio front group are telling Ohio voters ‘We will not accept your decision and we are prepared to bring our substantial national financial backing to Ohio to force you back to the ballot box to vote on this issue again!” The petition submitted by Ohioans for Humane Farms was only signed by a little more than 1,000 Ohio voters. “In contrast,” Braumbaugh pointed out, “millions of Ohio voters voted in favor of ISSUE 2 last November.”
Braumbaugh and Luttrell urged any groups or individuals with legitimate concerns related to the processes and methods for raising livestock on Ohio’s family farms and ranches “….to bring their concerns, their proposals, their best scientific evidence and their most persuasive arguments regarding commercial livestock care practices and air them out publicly before the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, once that body has a chance to constitute itself and begin operations.” The Grange leaders also reached out to the extremist animal rights community and challenged them to “… abandon their deceptive and misleading public relations strategy of portraying a climate of intense political conflict between consumers asking legitimate questions regarding scientifically-based and humane treatment of agriculture animals and our family farmers of Ohio.” Instead, the Grange leaders proposed that these extremists should work cooperatively with agriculture interest groups in Ohio on developing and implementing scientifically based livestock best management practices through the mechanism of the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. “This will improve the welfare of our commercial livestock and reduce livestock production costs, enhance the reputation of Ohio-produced livestock products among consumers, and strengthen the competitive position of Ohio livestock producers in local, national, and international markets,” the Grange leaders concluded.
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| National Grange Commends the FCC for Promoting Broadband Coverage for Rural Areas |
On March 16, The National Grange commended the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on their release of the National Broadband Plan. The development of a comprehensive plan to assure that all Americans could have access to advanced, high speed internet connections was set forth by Congress as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Grange hopes that the FCC’s National Broadband Plan will become the basis for a comprehensive public/private partnership that will finally assure that the benefits of broadband technology are available to every home, farm, and small business in America, regardless of geographic location.
It is evident from the FCC’s recent study on broadband adoption that rural America still lags behind urban and suburban communities in home, farm, and small business broadband connections. Of non-adopters in rural areas, one in ten say they cannot get broadband where they live – more than double the national average. Rural Americans stand to benefit from online applications like telemedicine, distance learning, and telework. The entire nation stands to gain from the economic and environmental benefits that integrating national, high-speed internet with farming, tribal, and rural communities will bring. It is time for all Americans to have access to these life-changing opportunities, and the National Grange hopes that the National Broadband Plan will make this possible.
The National Grange thanks President Obama and Congress for their efforts to ensure that all Americans will, some day, live in a fully digitized, connected society, regardless of their geographic location. We also appreciate the FCC’s recognition of the importance that private sector investment must play when developing the National Broadband Plan. Such investment will be necessary to bring broadband to every corner of the country. The National Grange looks forward to working together with both public and private sectors to make sure that the ambitious goals outlined in the Plan become a reality.
National President Luttrell expressed his gratitude that the FCC was finally listening to broadband deployment proponents such as the National Grange. In meetings and briefings with local media across the nation this year, Luttrell has been critical of the FCC and its regulatory agenda. At these media conferences, Luttrell described a Grange letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Julius Genachowski, expressing deep concerns that the Commission’s policy focus appeared to be shifting from developing and implementing a national broadband plan encouraging universal deployment and adoption of broadband services to underserved rural, farming, and tribal communities, into a policy focused on regulating broadband network management practices. Luttrell stressed that the Grange believes deployment of broadband across the country, and especially in rural America, should be the Federal Government’s number one communications policy priority. He stated that the Commission should not be burdening “technology that it has little first had knowledge using” with unnecessary management regulations. Luttrell concluded by saying that the release of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan means that the Commission can be held directly accountable for the “…responsibilities assigned to them by Congress, for implementation of the ambitious goals laid out in their Plan and for the clear expectations of the American people that 100 percent access to advanced telecommunications services regardless of geographic location is the number one national telecommunications priority in the United States.”
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| Legislative Round-Up |
The Wisconsin State Grange Supports Improved Telecommunications
The Wisconsin State Grange recently wrote to members of their state legislature in support of legislation aimed at maintaining and improving telecommunications services in rural Wisconsin. The bill will encourage additional investment in broadband and other advanced telecommunications services in rural Wisconsin. Wisconsin State Grange members are concerned that failure to modernize their laws will hinder additional, vital telecommunications investment in rural parts of the state. The bill would bring regulations governing many rural telecommunications providers into line with the levels of regulation their competitors face while at the same time retain the many important consumer protections in place at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection. They want rural telecommunications providers to invest in new infrastructure and equipment rather than spend their resources on complying with outdated regulations.
Help Stop Invasion of Asian Carp
By Jeff Swainston, Michigan State Grange Legislative Director
As you may know, MI Attorney General, Mike Cox, is fighting Illinois and the Federal Government in the U.S. Supreme Court to force the closure of locks in Chicago waterways infested with Asian Carp. We’ve been joined by New York, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ontario. This invasive species could decimate our Great Lakes-based economy, valued in the billions, by ruining the ecology of our lakes and rivers. Anyone who has watched videos on Illinois rivers knows exactly what I am talking about.
Despite the clear evidence of an impending crisis, federal and state authorities in charge of the locks refuse to close them and are fighting us in court.
While we don’t know what the outcome of the suit will be, we can mobilize folks in order to send a message to the federal and local authorities in charge that they must act now to protect Michigan and the other Great Lakes states. Illinois accounts for only 63 of the 10,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, yet today they control the fate of the entire Great Lakes basin.
Attorney General Cox has created a website, www.stopasiancarp.com, for citizens to sign an online petition, the results of which will be used to show Illinois and federal authorities that they must look at the needs of the entire Great Lakes basin.
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