Mr. Troxler and the GMO's

My recent post on pesticides and State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler's role in blocking protections for agricultural workers reminded me of another story about Steve Troxler from way back in 2005.

Here's the gist of it:

A bill likely will pass in the legislature this session that will stop local governments from banning genetically modified crops, as three California counties have done. The bill, requested by the Department of Agriculture [emphasis added], passed in the Senate on Friday, the last major hurdle to its success. The House, which passed the bill in May, must agree to a few changes to make it final. . .

Troxler said the Agriculture Department asked for the bill, which is similar to those being floated in several other states. It would give the state Board of Agriculture, which Troxler chairs, sole authority to outlaw plants. He said the push comes at the request of seed dealers, farmers and agribusiness companies that were concerned about what they saw in California and New England - where "genetically engineered free" movements have gained steam.

In a nutshell, what happened was that Monsanto and some other companies saw local governments (in California, Maine, and Vermont) banning GMO crops, and took action.

The bills are not a home grown initiative, but part of a nationwide agribusiness effort. Similar bills, containing identical language, have cropped up in at least nine other states as part of an orchestrated campaign by industry to prevent citizen initiatives . . .

“These bills represent a pledge of allegiance to Monsanto,” said Hope Shand, Research Director of ETC Group in Carrboro, “and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture was quick to take the pledge, followed by their friends in the General Assembly. But what’s good for Monsanto isn’t necessarily what’s best for local communities.”

North Carolina's organic farmers agreed with this assessment, with Tony Kleese of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association telling the Raleigh News and Observer:

allowing local governments to create zones where genetically engineered crops aren't allowed could protect organic crops from being contaminated by wind-blown pollen.

"Now, that right will be taken away . . . The more of these kind of laws that go into effect, the more the balance tips to genetically engineered crops."

In the end, the bill died in conference, perhaps because after the public outcry legislators were happy to give it a quiet death - or perhaps because the vague language of the bill, which cleverly managed to omit any mention of GMO's, meant that local communities couldn't take action against any invasive or noxious plant without a go-ahead from Steve Troxler.

So what's my point? I mean, besides the fact that Monsanto has already given Steve Troxler $1000 this cycle?

Well, two things: first, note the creative use of preemption - the process by which the state legislature tells cities and counties they simply can't regulate in a particular area. Democrats use this tool as well - Troxler's bill, after all, had Democratic sponsors in the House and Senate - and there's a payoff in having some laws and regulations uniform across the state.

But two of the most pernicious legacies of 1994 (when Republicans won control of the state house) involve preemption. School systems that want to use a sex-ed curriculum that moves beyond abstinence have to jump through a lot of hoops to prove that they're not offending anyone. And North Carolina's cities and counties are powerless to regulate guns according to the standards of their communities, thanks to Republicans who were taking their marching orders from the gun lobby.

Second, national issues aren't only addressed in D.C. In fact, had Monsanto gone to Congress and asked them to pre-empt the power of states to regulate GMO's (say by arguing that the transmission of pollen involved interstate commerce), you can bet that there would have been an outcry and probably a lot of bad press. So Monsanto turns to the state legislatures and to people in obscure offices like the Departments of Agriculture. If the bill passes, great - they can move on to the next state - if not, then nobody's going to notice or care all that much.

Using state governments to stay under the radar has, in fact, become a favorite tactic of corporate conservatives. Which, again, is another effect of the failure of media to cover state and local politics.

Endorsement process for local, state legislative, and statewide general election candidates

In January, our members voted to support local and statewide candidates who sought our help. We endorsed five great candidates in the primary, and now we're looking to endorse even more great candidates for the general election. So starting today, Asheville Democracy for America invites candidates running for office in Buncombe County, for the North Carolina state legislature, and for statewide offices to apply for our endorsement. The process will follow these steps:

1. DFA Asheville will not formally invite anyone to start the endorsement process. Instead, candidates must seek our endorsement, though individual members may encourage their preferred candidates to apply. Candidates seeking our endorsement should contact Doug Gibson as soon as possible.

2. All candidates seeking our endorsement must a) contact Doug Gibson by midnight on Monday, August 25, b) complete and return a brief questionnaire by midnight on Monday, September 1, and c) attend, or send a representative to, our September 9th meeting (meeting details to come). Due to the variety of offices under consideration, questionnaires will be tailored to each applicant, and will be sent via e-mail to candidates expressing interest.

3. We also encourage candidates to prepare a brief (2-3 minute) video appeal for those members who can't make the September meeting and wish to participate online. We ask candidates to make them available as YouTube videos (and send us a link) several days before September 9th so we can post them on our group blog.

4. A separate vote will be taken for each candidate seeking our endorsement. Only DFA-Link members who joined by August 25, 2008 will be able to vote. Members will be able to vote at the meeting and then via e-mail for a week afterward.

5. To receive our endorsement, a candidate must receive at least 3/5 of the total votes cast at the meeting and via e-mail.

What Local Elections?

When you see this picture, and then read this -

Two field workers who gave birth to deformed babies were illegally exposed to pesticides more than 20 times each while they picked tomatoes in Eastern North Carolina, N.C. Department of Agriculture data show.

A third worker, who spent most of her pregnancy working in Florida, was exposed four times during the less than six weeks she worked in North Carolina, the data show.

All worked for Ag-Mart, a Florida-based tomato grower, and they were illegally exposed to a host of chemicals as often as three times a week, the documents show. Three of the 15 chemicals are linked to birth defects in lab animals.

The agriculture records show that Herrera, whose boy was born in December 2004 with no arms and legs, started working in North Carolina in mid-April. During her first trimester, when a baby's limbs form, she was illegally exposed on 11 different days, the Agriculture Department data shows.

Then read this (about Governor Easley's task force on pesticide exposure) -

"Only one of the recommendations brought by farmworker advocates, a provision that would outlaw retaliation against workers who report workplace safety problems, was adopted by the Task Force."

"One Task Force member in particular, Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler, was extremely effective in preventing the Task Force from taking up several of the reform measures they discussed." [emphasis added]

It's hard to believe this -

In the month leading up to Election Day 2004, viewers of local news in 11 media markets saw nearly four and a half times more stories about the presidential campaign than they did stories about all other political races combined, a new Lear Center study has found.

Only one-third of all campaign stories focused on issues.

Ninety-two percent of the 4,333 regularly scheduled half-hour news broadcasts studied contained no stories at all about local candidate races, which include campaigns for the U.S. House, state senate or assembly, mayor or city council, law enforcement posts, judgeships, education-related offices and regional and county offices.

But I'm sure this year will be different, right?

(Cross-posted at Scrutiny Hooligans)

A month? Really?

It's hard to believe, but it has been a month since our last post. The primary season kept us very busy, and so it has taken a toll on producing new content. We'll be back very soon!

Candidate Questionnaire: Wayne Goodwin, candidate for North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance

Assistant Commissioner of Insurance and former state representative Wayne Goodwin is seeking our endorsement in the Democratic primary for Commissioner of Insurance. Below are his answers to our candidate questionnaire, with our questions in bold.

For more about Wayne's campaign, visit his website.

1. Why are you running?

In short, I am running to continue the consumer advocacy that has been the hallmark of Insurance Commissioner Jim Long’s 24 years in this position.

When I learned on very short notice that Commissioner Long had chosen not to run for re-election after all, I decided that it was vital that someone with my background, qualifications, and personal philosophy sought to succeed him. (See my answer to Question 5, below.) Also, just as many others have expressed since February 29th (the date that Commissioner Long decided not to run), there are grave concerns that the insurance industry is salivating over the prospect of taking the post of Insurance Commissioner this election. In fact, the insurance industry has two candidates running against me in this race: First, the other Democrat is a long-time employee of and attorney for the health insurance industry (he’s now the President-elect of the Health Insurance Underwriters Association of NC), while the Republican is taking marching orders from a perennial opponent of Jim Long’s. I am running because of my being the only person presently able to fend off those two candidates and stand up for keeping the Insurance Commissioner’s post one that is principally about consumer protection. I’m running to keep it the Department of Insurance, and not make it the Department for Insurance.

As for specific goals, I have pledged the following to North Carolina citizens:

I pledge to keep forever focused on the dual commitment of a Commissioner of Insurance: recognizing the need for low, fair and reasonable insurance rates for consumers and businesses alike, and the necessity of a competitive insurance market in North Carolina;

I pledge to be an impartial and hard-working member of the Council of State, fully committed to the duties of Insurance Commissioner and State Fire Marshal;

I pledge to continue giving firefighters and all first responders a stronger voice in State government;

I pledge to strongly support the mission of the Safe Kids program, promoting safety in the home, on the road, at school, and in the community at large;

I pledge to continue to support the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program’s (SHIIP) mission to provide Medicare education in all 100 counties; and,

I pledge to protect the public and businesses by fighting insurance fraud, and including cracking down on unlawful harassment by collection agencies (another group the Insurance Commissioner regulates) of folks harmed by the home mortgage insurance crisis, etc.

2. What are the three most significant ways you would use the office of Insurance Commissioner to improve the lives of the people of North Carolina?

• To always strive for low, reasonable and fair insurance rates – and keeping a strong check and balance on the regular attempts by the insurance industry to raise rates unnecessarily, an act by the insurance industry which hurts working families and average North Carolinians rather harshly in the pocketbook. This mission has a corollary: It also helps the consumer for the Insurance Commissioner to strive for a competitive insurance market in North Carolina. A competitive market gives consumers a choice, and that often translates into discounts on insurance rates. (By the way, in the last 2 years I have already helped beat back attempts by the insurance industry and a couple of legislators to strip the Insurance Commissioner of his authority to be a strong consumer advocate in regulation of insurance rates. As the only candidate who can continue to do so, it would certainly improve the lives of North Carolinians to fend off future attempts to weaken the office.) This goal affects the lives of every person in North Carolina.
  
  
• To promote further expansion and scope of the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) that is within the Department of Insurance. SHIIP relies on a small staff of State employees and 900+ volunteers across North Carolina, touching every county. As more and more Tar Heels must navigate the maze that is the federal government’s Medicare Part D, it is vital that SHIIP be there to provide expert guidance on how to choose the very best prescription drug plan for each senior citizen. This goal affects the lives of every senior citizen (and his or her adult children) in North Carolina.
  
  
• To advocate every day – as State Fire Marshal, a role the Insurance Commissioner also has – for ways to protect, promote, and sustain our volunteer fire departments and rescue/EMS services in the State. Work of the Insurance Commissioner ensures grant funds annually to most of the 1,500 departments; these grant funds help pay for costly rescue equipment and supplies. Because departments are rated according to their equipment and response times, etc., the continued provision of these grants from the Insurance Commissioner ensures both that the departments are rated well and – to the surprise of most people – a connection to keeping homeowners’ insurance rates low! (The insurance industry determines the homeowners’ insurance rates for a community based, in part, on the fire district within which a person lives.) This goal affects the lives of every person in North Carolina because every community relies upon first responders and public emergency services workers.

3. Why should voters in western North Carolina support your candidacy?

There are several reasons why voters in western NC should support my candidacy.

First, as Assistant Commissioner of Insurance over the last three years, I have supervised the Western Regional Office (WRO) of the Department of Insurance, located in Asheville. That means I had a direct role in the provision of services to approximately 31 counties in western NC. I am the only Insurance Commissioner candidate who has that credential.

Second, for many years – as Assistant Commissioner of Insurance, as Chairman of the Platform and Resolutions Committee of the NC Democratic Party, as State Representative in the North Carolina General Assembly, et al. – I have regularly worked with and spent time with voters in western North Carolina. I assure you that I am the only candidate who has visited every county in western North Carolina and do so regularly. Just recently I met with voters west of Murphy, North Carolina (yes, to the surprise of folks in eastern NC there is a small area actually west of Murphy) immediately adjacent to the NC-TN state line in Cherokee County. We need an Insurance Commissioner who, like me, recognizes and respects the fact that western NC extends well beyond Hickory and Asheville, and has a track record of working with western North Carolina leaders in solving problems. (I have done so as Assistant Insurance Commissioner and as a state legislator.)

Third, legislators and leading local officials in western North Carolina have endorsed my campaign for Insurance Commissioner. They include Sen. Martin Nesbitt, Rep. Bobby England, Register of Deeds Otto DeBruhl, et al. Those endorsements and relationships will prove vital to western NC if I am elected Insurance Commissioner because they will help me best represent you.

Fourth, though all three candidates for Insurance Commissioner originally hailed from a small town, I am the only candidate who still lives in a small town in rural North Carolina. (Go to www.waynegoodwin.org for details.) The other candidates live in Durham and Raleigh, respectively. With much of western NC considered rural in nature, I am the only candidate who best understands your concerns.

4. Often members of the council of state can exert their influence to pass legislation affecting their office or the areas they regulate. What legislation would you most like to see passed regarding insurance in this state? What would you like to see the Insurance Commissioner be able to do that he can't do now?

I would support legislation that makes health insurance more accessible and more affordable for North Carolinians. We’ve made some strides in the State already (most recently with our work on the High Risk Insurance Pool in 2006-2007), but we obviously need to do more.

As for doing something that he cannot do now, the Insurance Commissioner already has rather broad authority. I will need to continue my conversations with the citizens of North Carolina and with my current colleagues in the Department of Insurance to determine what new duties I would propose, if any.

5. What about your background and experience makes you qualified to be a candidate and to serve?

First of all, unlike anyone else in the race for Insurance Commissioner, I have already been a regulator of the insurance industry for North Carolina: I have served as Assistant Commissioner of Insurance for the State for the last 3 years. In that position I have held hearings, written administrative orders, handled complaints against both insurance companies and agents, and resolved a multitude of matters for consumers in most counties. Working alongside long-time Insurance Commissioner Jim Long – one of the strongest consumer advocates that Tar Heels have ever seen – I have learned firsthand what a regulator is to do.

My other duties as Assistant Insurance Commissioner have been to advise and counsel the Commissioner on legislative, political and administrative matters; draft legislation; consult with technical experts regarding insurance matters; negotiate agreements; manage 40% of the Department myself with approximately 125 of 405 Dept of Insurance employees reporting directly to me; and overseeing the Office of State Fire Marshal, the DOI Eastern Regional Office in New Bern, and the DOI Western Regional Office in Asheville.

Additional primary qualifications include: My eight years of elected service as State Representative, where I regularly worked on insurance-related legislation and stood up for consumers and a competitive insurance market; as well as my 13+ years working as an attorney in private practice representing individuals, working families, and small businesses who had been erroneously denied service or coverage by insurance companies. Furthermore, I also worked for a time as the Assistant General Counsel for the Department of Insurance. (Coincidentally, in that role several years ago I issued a seminal order against a client of one of my primary opponent.)

In sum, I am the only candidate in this race to have experience as an insurance regulator, and certainly the only one to have qualifications that are tempered by having served in State public office and in private legal practice. Unlike others in this race, I have not and do not work for the insurance industry but have a balanced view that more than anything will always defer to the public interest and the consumer.

6. Would you call yourself a progressive?

I call myself a progressive because of certain vibrant areas within my own personal political canon. Among them are: electoral reform, campaign finance reform, environmental conservation, pollution control, universal health care, social justice, affordable housing, a viable Social Security system, renewable energy, “smart growth” urban development, a living wage, safe workplaces, and pro-union policies. I also believe that there should be effective regulation of certain types of corporations, especially those that have almost a monopolistic stranglehold over citizens. My legislative record over eight years and the product of my chairing the Platform and Resolutions Committee of the NC Democratic Party strongly underscore my identification as a progressive.

Candidate Questionnaire: Dan Besse, candidate for Lieutenant Governor

Environmental champion Dan Besse is seeking our endorsement in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. Below are his responses to our questionnaire, with our questions in bold.

For more about Dan's campaign, visit his website.

1. Why are you running?

I'm involved in politics, and have served in appointed or elected office since 1985, because I am passionate about using public service and the democratic process to work for environmental stewardship, and for equal opportunity for all.

I'm running now for Lieutenant Governor because we have the opportunity this year to bring a major shift toward progressive policies and vision for our state. For the first time, a majority of North Carolina voters clearly understand the urgent necessity of implementing wise long-term management of our limited natural resources (water, air, forests, land) and managing our growth in a sustainable manner.

North Carolina voters are also anxious for us to address the persistent gaps in equal opportunity in our society. These include equity in educational opportunity, economic development which meets the needs of lower-income families and communities, and action to deal with the crisis in health care costs and coverage.

I have the experience and commitment to use the office of Lieutenant Governor effectively to pursue these goals.

2. What are the three biggest challenges facing North Carolina, and, briefly, how would you use your position as lieutenant governor to address them?

a) Twin challenges of booming growth in our urban regions, and continuing economic decline in many rural areas. I will use the "bully pulpit" independent voice of Lieutenant Governor to inject into state policy debate that critical understanding of how these challenges intertwine, yet require different tools and approaches. Areas stressed by rapid growth must have stronger growth management tools, from better stormwater management to transit/land use planning, and the means to require new development to pay for itself. Areas in continuing economic decline must receive focused efforts to help them share in the economic benefits of our booming regions. Statewide, we require better planning for our stressed water resources, improved conservation of our forests and farmland, protection of clean air, an energy policy which relies on efficiency and renewables, and reform of our transportation system.

b) Health care. Skyrocketing costs of coverage for everyone, and the complete lack of coverage for over 1.4 million of our people, have created a crisis in both economic and human terms. I will use the Lieutenant Governor's roles as presiding officer of the State Senate, and as a working member of the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission, to press for affordable health care coverage for all. There are immediate steps which our state can take to guarantee affordable coverage for all children, bring the costs of coverage down for high-risk adults, and assist small employers in obtaining affordable group coverage. In the medium run, we should commit to a system of universal coverage. This can be achieved best through participation in a national program. However, if that is not under implementation within two years, we should develop and implement our own state-level program.

c) Educational equity. I will use the Lieutenant Governor's position as a working member of both the State Board of Education and the State Board of Community Colleges to press for equal educational opportunity for all. In particular, we must address the resource gaps that keep too many of our poorer school systems and communities from meeting their students' needs. We must also move away from the disastrous over-emphasis on standardized testing, which drains resources, strangles creativity, and further disadvantages children from minority communities.

3. Why should voters in western North Carolina support your candidacy?

You'll get a working Lieutenant Governor who grew up in western North Carolina, still has family there, and has a strong feel for the needs of the people of our foothills and mountains. I know the region and understand both its environmental and economic challenges.

When I was a young child, my family lived on the edge of a mill village in Hickory. I went to sleep listening to the hum of the hosiery mill on the next block. Most of my family worked at the furniture plant down the street. One of my earliest memories of my father was of watching him head off to his second-shift job at the transformer plant, where he worked while he and my mother were putting themselves through school. The problem is that none of those plants is still operating today. I understand that we have to do a better job of meeting the challenges of our changing economy, because I grew up in a working family. I won't forget that.

Today, I serve in elected office in a growing urban region that (like much of western North Carolina) is still facing the loss of traditional industrial jobs, but is simultaneously wrestling with the stresses of booming population growth. I understand how we must deal with both sets of stresses and demands simultaneously.

4. Would you support public campaign financing in the lieutenant governor race?

Absolutely. I wish it were available this year. The endless money hunt by candidates permits big-money special interests to distort the democratic process far away from service to the public's interests.

5. What about your background and experience makes you qualified to be a candidate and to serve as lieutenant governor?

I have the combination of public service and practical experience required to understand the role of Lieutenant Governor and fully use its potential as an agent for positive change. I also know our state from the mountains to the sea.

I have hands-on experience in meeting the challenges of growth in one of our largest urban regions—Winston-Salem and the Piedmont Triad. At the same time, I have the practical experience of living and working in our small towns and rural areas. I grew up in Hickory and our foothills, and later spent a decade working as a Legal Aid attorney for poor families in rural counties of eastern North Carolina.

I have both local elected experience, and extensive public service in policy-making roles at the state level. These have been publicly accountable roles, not mere advisory positions.

I have been elected and re-elected to local office as a progressive Democrat in a Republican-leaning district of our state's fourth-largest city, Winston-Salem. I have also acted as my city's representative in effective regional efforts for both economic and environmental quality. I represent my city on the board of directors of one of our nation's ten most effective regional economic development organizations. I also led our effective regional effort to meet federal clean air standards for ground-level ozone.

At the state level, I have over 20 years of experience working on state policy-making boards (including the Environmental Management Commission). I have helped craft and implement state programs on air and water resources, land conservation, and emergency response. I understand in depth the workings of both the executive and legislative branches of our state government.

6. Would you call yourself a progressive?

Yes—in fact, I present myself in this race as "the progressive Democrat with the record to prove it".

Buncombe by the numbers: some good news, some bad news.

These figures are from the NC Budget and Tax Center, part of the NC Justice Center. They recently put out a series of fact sheets on employment, income, and poverty, and here are some interesting figures about our beloved Buncombe:

1. I don't know what to make of this, but median household income in Buncombe equaled $41,735 in 2006, slightly less than the statewide mhi (approx. $42,630). At the same time, though, per-capita income in Buncombe came in at $24,155, which is $1210 more than the statewide per-capita figure (or, for those of you who prefer percentages, about 5% over the figure statewide). I'm not sure what to make of those two bits of data, especially since we're talking household vs. individual income. It could mean that we have a higher than average number of single-earner households in Buncombe (which would depress our median household income), or it could mean that there's some sort of income inequality, i.e., that there are some very wealthy people at the top of the range who are pushing the average up some. And there could be any number of other things going on. I'd love to know more. On the whole, though, things could be worse. And I'm surprised to see that the "Asheville Tax" isn't bigger.

2. The report says that the average working family with children needs to earn $15.99/hour to cover basic living expenses in Buncombe. $16/hour sounds like a great job for Asheville. I'm guessing that if there were two wage-earners in the family, they could earn less per hour, but that doesn't mean that life would be easy: fully a third of Buncombe residents had incomes less than twice the federal poverty level.

3. Moreover, it's not a safe assumption that there would be two wage-earners in the family, and certainly not two full-time workers. In 2006, our unemployment rate was 3.8% (below the state average of 4.8%), but that was up from 2000. That's not a surprise, given that the county labor force had grown by 10% in that time.

4. From 2004 to 2014, we're supposed to see about a 50% increase in the number of jobs available (which is good news, given that our population is unlikely to grow proportionately). However, most of the jobs created, as you might expect, will be in service fields, and will offer low wages and few benefits.

So overall kind of a mixed bag. And of course, if you're coming here from somewhere out of state, you might get a shock when things here are just about as good as they are elsewhere in North Carolina.