1/23/04

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1. Action Alert: Ask President Bush to Fund Farm Conservation!
2. Omnibus Appropriations Passes Despite Objections Over COOL
3. Senators Call for Revised CSP Rule
4. Alaska Voters Want Recall for Coal Bed Conflicts of Interest

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1. ACTION ALERT: ASK PRESIDENT BUSH TO FUND FARM CONSERVATION! 

In Tuesday night's State of the Union Address, President Bush promised to send Congress 
"a budget that funds the war, protects the homeland and meets important domestic needs, while limiting the 
growth in discretionary spending to less than 4 percent." Absent from his address was any commitment to 
promoting voluntary conservation by fully funding the conservation title of the 2002 Farm Bill. 

On February 2, Mr. Bush will unveil his proposal for fiscal year 2005. Given that the FY 2004 omnibus 
shortchanges conservation by $242 million (see Rural Updates, Dec 4, 2003 and January 7, 2004), it is 
critical that Mr. Bush set a better standard for conservation funding for 2005. Please contact the White 
House at 202-456-1414 and urge the President to live up to the promises he made when he signed the 
farm bill, by proposing a budget that fully funds farm bill conservation programs. Read a transcript.

2. OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS PASSES DESPITE OBJECTIONS OVER "COOL" 

The Senate passed the $328 billion fiscal year 2004 omnibus appropriations bill on Thursday, 
after failing to do so on Tuesday. Passage was originally blocked by Democrats who opposed provisions 
in the bill that would delay implementation of country of origin labeling (COOL) and relax overtime rules for 
many white-collar workers. The bill passed after lawmakers "conceded they could not sustain a filibuster" 
with over $6 billion in funding for new projects in all states on the line. 

According to the Washington Post, another factor that moved the bill forward was that "Republicans who 
favor country-of-origin food labeling said Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) 
promised to deal with the issue -- which gained traction after the discovery of a case of mad cow 
disease in a Washington state herd -- in the first appropriations bill for the new fiscal year." Read more.

3. SENATORS CALL FOR REVISED CSP RULE 

One of the highlights of the just-passed omnibus appropriations bill is that it lifted the funding 
cap on the Conservation Security Program. The program will receive $41 million this year but 
will have full entitlement status in subsequent years. In light of the change, Senators Tom
Harkin (D-IA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) issued a press release calling on the USDA to revise
its proposed rule implementing the CSP to reflect the full funding. The program's current
rules, drafted under the assumption of a funding cap,  restrict enrollment and payments 
to producers. Harkin stated, "There is now no basis for the Administration to go ahead with
proposed CSP rules that would take potentially billions of dollars away from producers for 
conservation, deny thousands of farmers and ranchers participation in CSP, and severely reduce 
compensation for the few who are allowed to enroll." "This is too good a program to shortchange," 
said Smith. "We have the opportunity to help farmers in their efforts to protect the environment,
and we should be doing all we can to realize its full potential." 

4. ALASKA VOTERS WANT RECALL FOR COAL BED CONFLICTS OF INTEREST 

In Alaska, an effort is underway to recall state senator Scott Ogan for what some residents are calling a 
conflict of interest over coal bed methane drilling. Ogan,a Republican from Palmer, resigned in October from 
a position as a consultant for Evergreen Resources, the same company that is proposing coal bed methane 
exploration on more than  300,000 acres in Alaska. Five years ago Ogan passed a bill through the Alaska legislature  
that encouraged coal bed methane mining and last year limited public input on methane operations.  
Recall advocates say that his dual jobs as legislator and consultant make it impossible for him to act in the best 
public interest. According to the Alaska state Division of Elections there are four grounds for recall: lack 
of fitness, incompetence, neglect of duties and corruption.  Residents are accusing Ogan of all four. Read more.

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Rural Updates!
Scotty Johnson and Aimee Delach
National Rural Community Outreach Campaign
sjohnson@defenders.org