Farm Bureau Policies 2022
No. 602 Health Care and Health Insurance Weareconcernedabout theadequatedeliveryof primaryhealth care and the reduction of health care costs. We encourage and support programs formedical school appli- cants who intend to practicemedicine in a rural area. Becauseof our concernabout themaldistributionof physicians in rural areas, we encourage the acceptanceof familynursepracti- tioners or physicians’ assistants, with propermedical supervision as an extension of qualitymedical care. Wesupportprograms toencouragedoctorsandnurses topractice inruralareas.Wesupport thecontinueddevelopmentanduseof tech- nologies, suchas telemedicine, topromotecontinuing theeducation of health care providers and for diagnostic purposes inCalifornia’s rural hospitals andcommunityclinics toassurequalityhealthcare. Rural access to telehealth services is necessary to ensurehealth equity. We support access to telehealth services. Preventive measures must be encouraged as a method of re- ducing health care costs including, but not limited to, improved personal health habits, safety and health education. Any legislation to require employers toprovidehealthcareben- efits to their employees shouldbeonauniformnational basis,with strict cost-containment provisions. We support actions necessary to assure the viability of strategi- cally located rural hospitals.We also support the retentionof basic medical care inCalifornia’s rural hospitals andcommunity clinics. State and federal mandated health care programs to the coun- ties shall be paid for by the mandating governmental agency in a timelymanner. Wesupportthecontinueddevelopmentanduseofparaprofession- alprograms inrural communitiesasanadjunct tolocalmedical care. We encourage donations of surplusmedical equipment tohelp supply rural health care facilities that otherwise lack sufficient resources. (Rev. 01/Rev. 2021) No. 603 Valley Fever Vaccine We support state funding for necessary research for the creation of a vaccine for Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever). (1998) No. 604 Cooperative Extension Cooperative Extension should continue as a non-partisan, non-political educational service agency within land grant col- leges, and in California, within the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources of the University of California. We strongly support an active and evolving role of Cooperative Extension in production agriculture. Since ongoing programs of the Cooperative Extension benefit the entire economy and population of California, its budget funds must be adequate tomeet the needs of suchprograms.We strongly urge county boards of supervisors to allocate the funds necessary to fulfill their portion of the county’s Cooperative Extension budget in order to continue these important programs, such as 4-H and farmadvisors. We support anon-feepolicy forCooperativeExtensionservices. CooperativeExtension should fill vacancieswithqualified can- didates as rapidly as possible to maintain continuity in research programs and extension efforts. We support efforts by Cooperative Extension to address the changing needs of agriculture, specifically inmechanization and evolving technology, toprepare our farmers andour labor force to fulfill agriculture’s present and future needs. (Rev. 2017) No. 605 Education A. School District Organization School districts should be large enough to provide personnel and financial resources adequate for aneffective district, yet small enough toassure reasonableparticipationand substantive control by citizens of the district. Minimum standards for any formof school district should rec- ognize thediversityof the stateanda single standard for all districts shouldbe avoided. The formof school district organization should be decided by local stakeholders. School district employees shouldnot serveonany school board because of the inherent conflict of interest. B. Finance School funding shouldbe adequate andpredictable to facilitate advanced planning and consistent programming to meet local needs. The formulas for local funding should be reviewed to best reflect the needs of all communities. State sales and income taxmoney shouldbe theprincipal source of funding public schools. We oppose a statewide property tax for schools or any other purpose. The entire cost of programs mandated by the state should be
No. 606 Educational and Training Programs
paid forby thestate. Likewise, federallymandatedprograms should also be fully supported by federal funds. We support the use of state lottery funds only for the purpose authorized in the original ballot initiative. We are concerned about the high cost of public education and urge thatmeasures be taken tomake the educational systemmore cost effective. All unnecessary or ineffective education programs and compliance and reporting requirements, which contribute to excessive school administration costs, should be eliminated. Amechanismshouldbeprovidedat thestate level tofundneeded building programs and deferred maintenance. This mechanism shouldbeexpeditious toenableschooldistricts toconstruct facilities needed to accommodate student growth in a timely manner and allowfor theconsiderationof projectedstudent enrollment growth. C. Teacher Credentialing We support theoriginal intent of teacher tenure toprotect teach- ers against political abuse, however, tenure shouldbe reformed so that it cannot beused toundulyprotect underperforming teachers. Single subject credentials create a hardship on small and/or rural school districtswhere teachers need tobe competent inmul- tiple subjects. Therefore, provisions should be made for multiple subject credentials. D. Curriculum Healthandnutritioneducation shouldbe givenhighpriority in the instructional programof every school district. We are concerned about the low achievement of students attendingpublicschools.Curriculumshouldstressbasiceducationin theprimarygrades.TheNoChildLeftBehindprogramandCalifornia’s educational achievement standards should be reviewed due to the implicationsof theprogramonchildren, familyandschool systems. We strongly urge that educational programs, especially those at the elementary level, be implemented so that all students can developanunderstandingof economics and the strategicnational importance of supplying our food, clothing, pharmaceuticals and other life-sustaining items. Weurgeeducators toemphasizeEnglish language instruction to rapidly assimilate the limited and non-English speaking students into the educational mainstream. Students should advance primarily with ability and achieve- ment, not age. E. Agricultural Literacy FarmBureaustronglysupports integratingthestudyofagriculture withsubjectscurrentlybeingtaught.Wealsobelieveagliteracyefforts should focus on three areas: teacher training, student programs and resourcematerial. F. Vocational and Career Agricultural Education There is aneed tocontinuallyupdatecourses to fill thedemands of developing agricultural technology. Vocational and career technical agricultural education such as farm related Regional Occupational Centers andFutureFarmers of America (FFA) is vital for development of talent and leadership needed in farming and agricultural service industries. Wesupport theuseofprovisions intheEducationCoderelatingto independent studyprogramsasameans for school districts togrant excused absences for students participating in leadershipdevelop- ment programs suchas4-H, FFAandapprovedag literacyactivities. Vocational and career technical education in our secondary schools and post-secondary schools should be strengthened and made more effective. Career education programming should be emphasized in the education system. Instructional programs in agriculture, business, home eco- nomics, and industrial education should be supported at the Department of Education and local school levels. Adequate financing should be provided for agricultural, voca- tional, and career technical education programs. We support active involvement in coalitions whose goal is to make sure schools provide a balanced education that includes challenging academic studies and career technical education for “hands on” learning—so our children are prepared for a career andhave the skills to succeed, whether they choose college or not. G. Community Colleges Support shouldbegiven to local communities’ specificneeds for occupational educationand trainingaswell as encouraginghigher education. Community colleges should work with the California State university system and the University of California system to provide educational programs and services suchas online classes, emerging agricultural technologies, and counseling while maxi- mizing opportunity for education. H. Contract Negotiations We support uninterruptededucational programs for childrenby opposing theuseof sanctions, boycotts, slowdowns, strikesorother techniques of withholding services by public school employees. Penalties should be imposed on those who fail to honor con- tracts. (Rev. 2019)
We support funding for development and expansion of educa- tional and training programs designed to improve the skills and opportunities of California agricultural employers, employees and their families. Public facilities shouldbe utilized toprovide practi- cal training for adults to increase both their resourcefulness and self-sufficiency while raising their standards of life. We support the use of public-private partnerships that provide incentives, funding, and resources for apprenticeship and work- force training programs to improve employee skills in emerging agricultural technologies. All federally sponsorededucational programs for the families of migrant agricultural employees should be administered through established school systems. All programs involved in manpower development training, education and referral (including related service programs in the povertyarea) shouldbe reviewedandevaluatedby theappropriate local governmental body, prior to funding approval. (Rev. 2020) No. 607 Fairs Fairs areoneof themanyways of tellingagriculture’s story to the public. Fairs canandhave served as an incentive for young people to pursue careers in agriculture. Fairs oftenserveas amethodof bringing closer contact between urban and rural residents. Methods for funding fairs must be studied with consideration given to current requirements and benefits to the public. We shouldassist in improvingandencouragingagricultural par- ticipation in fairs and appointment of agricultural representation on county, district, and state fair boards. (Rev. 1992) No. 608 Public Assistance Programs Themajorgoalofapublicassistanceprogramshouldbetorestore initiativeandproductivity tothe livesofneedy individualswhilepro- tecting the integrityof the family.Tofurther thispurpose,wesupport thework incentiveapproach. Thisallowsadultsof families receiving public assistance to retain a portionof their income and still receive public assistance payments up to a set income level, provided they continue to seek full-time employment and are registeredwith the EmploymentDevelopmentDepartment for that purpose. Publicassistancecostsshouldbetotally fundedby the federal and state governments. The highly transient nature of our population and rapid changes in local socio-economic conditions create great inequities and unjustified burdens on local government under the presentcost-sharingsystem.Local governmentshavenodirect input in determining the programs or program levels and should not be required to fundprograms of national or statewide concern. We also support the policy of requiring all members of fami- lies receiving public assistance who are able to work, except full- time students, to register for employment with the Employment DevelopmentDepartment; toacceptwork if available; or tounder- goappropriateavailable training for employment asdeterminedby the Employment Development Department. The Department of Social Services shouldrelinquish the responsibilityof trainingpub- lic assistance applicants toappropriate adult educationprograms. We support action that would be directed toward eliminating the substantial level of abuses of and fraud in public assistance programs. Theseabuses create theprobability that ultimately those individuals who are truly in need of assistance will suffer. Statutes relating to public assistance fraud should not dictate restitution alone in lieu of criminal prosecution. Publicassistancedepartments should report periodicallyand in writing all apparent excesses inpublic assistance grants that result from loopholes in theWelfare and Institutions Code. Public assistance payments should also be set to discourage recipients frommigrating to certain states and/or counties to take advantage of high payments relative to the cost of living. Thosewhoapply for government-fundedpublic assistancepro- grambenefits shouldbe required toshowproof of their legal status. Persons convicted of a crime should not be eligible for public assistance benefits or Social Security disability payments while incarcerated. (Rev. 2019) No. 609 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Thepurposeof theSupplementalNutritionAssistanceProgram (SNAP) should be to aid only those in need. Inaneffort tocurb the abuses andpromotenutritional health in the program, we recommend the following changes: (1) Only foods designatedby the secretary of agriculture canbe purchased. Thedesignationshouldbebasedonnutritional values; (2) The U.S. Department of Agriculture should promote the purchase of healthful food;
36 Ag Alert January 26, 2022
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