September 17, 2021
Newsletter for September 17, 2021
This Issue:
  • Nevada Farm Bureau Represented For Brand Inspection Regulatory Hearing
  • New Drought Related Matters
  • A Work In Progress…
  • County Farm Bureau Annual Meeting Schedule Taking Shape
  • Special Nevada Legislative Committee On Innovation Zones To Meet September 21
Nevada Farm Bureau Represented For Brand Inspection Regulatory Hearing
On September 9th, Nevada Farm Bureau was the public entity to participate in the on-line, virtual regulation hearing that was held by the Nevada Department of Agriculture.  As a result of the hearing Nevada Administrative Codes (NAC) 564 and 565, dealing with regulations for the livestock brand program were adopted.

During the presentation leading up to the final determination for the regulations, we were able to learn a couple of important new elements, which Nevada Farm Bureau commented about, noting favorable thoughts regarding the new elements.  First, the presentation indicated that along with the plan for 5 full-time brand inspectors and 30 seasonal brand inspectors, there will be arrangements for “Interim contract employed inspectors” included.  Nevada Farm Bureau’s Board of Directors had noted concerns about the anticipated level of staffing for the program going forward and wondered whether this sized crew would be able to handle the busy times of the shipping season.  Doug Busselman, Nevada Farm Bureau Executive Vice President commented during the hearing that this additional back-up staffing was a good idea.

A second favorable element involves there being portions of the proposed regulatory changes for NAC 565 will be going to the Nevada Board of Agriculture for their consideration.  Nevada Farm Bureau has not made it a secret that organizational policy calls for more final authority going to the Board of Agriculture.  The portions of NAC 565 being considered by the Board of Agriculture is a positive improvement in how at least some of the regulatory changes being considered will be dealt with.

The sections of the proposed regulation to be weighed by the Board of Agriculture, at their December meeting includes…

Sec. 2. NAC 565.220 is hereby amended to read as follows: 

565.220 1. The Director may issue special permits in the following specific instances: 

(a) Horse permit: The Director may make available an annual or lifetime permit for the movement of any horse that may be used in lieu of a brand inspection if the permittee: 

(1) Completes an application on a form provided by the Department . [; and]
(2) Pays for each horse: 

(I) A fee of [$25] $35 for an annual permit; or 
(II) A fee of [$50] $75 for a lifetime permit. 

(3) Pays a $35 travel fee.

NAC 565.220

2. The State Board of Agriculture [Director] shall establish a reasonable fee for the issuance of a special permit and shall post the amount of the fee on the Internet website maintained by the Department.
New Drought Related Matters
Last week’s newsletter included the announcement that the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF’s) economic team is now launching a second iteration of the “Assessing Western Drought” survey. 

We’re hoping that Nevada Farm Bureau members will contribute their input to this survey and hope that you will Click Here to participate in the survey.  The survey deadline is September 29th.

Danny Munch, AFBF Associate Economist recently reported on the latest changes associated with states connected to the Colorado River
A Work In Progress…
Thankfully the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) lobbying crew is staying on top of the developments working through a rather intense process of legislative sausage making, attempting to craft a budget program of $3.5 trillion and the necessary tax increases and other funding mirages to cause it to be believed that the spending is offset with the resources to not have the check bounce.  Keeping up with whatever is going on in the majority party’s game of running over whoever doesn’t agree with them is far to challenging to understand all the nuances that are unfolding, but at this point here are a few highlights that we’ve learned from those who are closely watching…

September 15th concluded with all of the House Committees, who are involved in stitching together their respective markups for the Fiscal Year 2022 Spending Package, concluding their respective proposals and sending these to the Budget Committee.  The same day, the U.S. House of Representative’s Ways and Means Committee transmitted their portion of the Fiscal Year 2022 reconcillation legislation that increases spending and taxes to the House Budget Committee.  This bill contains $2.1 trillion in tax increases, $800 billion in budgetary offsets and an estimate of $600 billion in Gross Domestic Product growth to bring together the matrix that says that the $3.5 trillion in spending is covered.

This budget resolution with reconciliation instructions provides for a straight-shot, expedited process to consider legislation that will change current law to move the puzzle pieces in unison to impact current spending, the debt limit, deficits and tax revenue.  It also creates a special type of legislative vehicle that only requires a majority vote in the Senate and is not subject to a filibuster.  In the actions by the House Ways and Means Committee, after the four-day markup was carried out, all of the Republican proposed amendments were rejected on party-line votes.  Ramming the $3.5 trillion tax and spend measure through the process is not based on any pretension that those who are not members of the majority party matter.

On a positive side (so far and not guaranteed when it’s all said and done) there has not been changes proposed to the current stepped-up in basis and there have been no changes to 1031 like-kind exchanges, according to AFBF.  Potentially other tax increases could gouge whatever positive benefits have been provided, but we’re likely a few weeks away from being able to understand all of the consequences of a possible conclusion.

Thanks again for Farm Bureau members who have sent their emails to Washington, D.C.
County Farm Bureau Annual Meeting Schedule Taking Shape
The Farm Bureau annual cycle moves forward into the fall process of Farm Bureau members gathering in their County Farm Bureau annual meetings.  From the grassroots level of members proposing policy resolutions and forwarding their ideas to the state Farm Bureau and American Farm Bureau Federation annual meetings, organizational direction takes form, representing those who participate in expressing policy positions on the issues they deal with.

At this point, these are the preliminary dates and times for the County Farm Bureau annual meetings that we’ve been made aware of:

Churchill County Farm Bureau – September 21 – 5 p.m. Dinner at the Rambling River Ranch near Fallon
White Pine County Farm Bureau – October 7 – Starts with annual tour which kicks off at 11 a.m. at the Border Restaurant in Baker
Lyon County Farm Bureau – October 13 – Policy meeting starts at 4 p.m. and followed by dinner at the Lion’s Club House in Yerington
Clark County Farm Bureau – October 19 – Ag Farm in Logandale, starts at 6 p.m.
Special Nevada Legislative Committee On Innovation Zones
To Meet September 21
The “Special Joint Committee to Conduct a Study Concerning Innovation Zones” has announced that they will hold their second meeting on Tuesday, September 21, starting at 8:00 a.m.  This meeting will be a “virtual” meeting.  The study process the committee is working through, considering whether to give an ultra-rich tech company their own county, was set up by Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 11.

Nevada Farm Bureau policy doesn’t currently speak to the consideration of whether Nevada should create a county-like system for a wealthy tech company to establish and operate, but there are concerns about the potential for water inter-basin transfers to be configured to deliver the necessary water resources to this new high-tech settlement that might be located within what is now Storey County.  Farm Bureau continues to monitor the study committee’s progress as they move forward in deciding what their recommendations to the next Nevada Legislative session might be.
Have a great weekend!