Washington Legislative Session Already Challenging For Ag

The Washington legislative session is just a few days old, but lawmakers in Olympia already have farm country nervous. 

7th District Senator Shelly Short said several bill are targeting the agriculture industry.

“When you want to make Ag labor have the ability to collectively bargain, I think that shuts down agriculture in the state of Washington," Short said.  "I look at my district with our orchards, with the crops that are produced and needing that Ag labor, it just decimates it.”

Short said it’s regulation and the cost of doing business that’s hurting producers in the Evergreen state.

And she said that’s not just her opinion; the Washington State Department of Ag and Washington State University have already made presentations regarding how difficult it is statewide, and the impacts these bills are having on farms of all sizes.

To counter that, Short said Senate Republicans plan on introducing legislation that address the costs and mental toll of these burdensome regulations.

“It's really making agencies more cognizant of what they're doing to agriculture and that they should really work to minimize those impacts," Short said.  "We need agriculture. It's a huge, huge part of our state, all of our communities. You know, the food and the products that come from Ag, we just need to make sure that we're not losing an iconic industry in the state of Washington."

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