Tag Archives: lance watson

Presidential Election Update

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February 2025 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

At high noon on January 20th, 2025, President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance took the oath of office and thus, the Trump 47 administration was off and running.

In his first week back in office, President Trump has taken significant actions through executive orders and key Cabinet appointments.

In his first week, President Trump issued 35 executive orders, 12 memoranda and four proclamations, addressing various policy areas.

Notably, he signed executive orders declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, ending the refugee resettlement program and attempting to restrict birthright citizenship, though the latter has been temporarily halted by a federal court.

Additionally, President Trump issued an executive order recognizing only “two sexes, male and female,” affecting various policies including passports and access to single-sex spaces.

As for cabinet confirmations, the Senate has confirmed several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees:

  • Secretary of State: Marco Rubio
  • Treasury Secretary: Scott Bessent
  • Secretary of Defense: Pete Hegseth (confirmed by a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Vance)
  • Secretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem
  • CIA Director: John Ratcliffe

Other nominees, such as Pam Bondi for Attorney General, Doug Burgum for Secretary of the Interior and Brooke Rollins for Secretary of Agriculture have completed their confirmation hearings and are awaiting votes.

The week of January 27th, confirmation hearings were held to examine the nominations of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kashyap Patel for Director of the FBI and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence.

These actions and appointments reflect the administration’s priorities in areas like immigration, national security and social policy.

The newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins sat for her confirmation hearing on Thursday, January 23rd.  In her hearing she highlighted:

  • Trade Tariffs: Rollins indicated a willingness to implement direct payments to farmers to offset losses from proposed tariffs, similar to strategies used during Trump’s first term.
  • Ethanol and Farm Subsidies: Rollins was questioned about her past leadership of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which opposed ethanol mandates and farm subsidies. She acknowledged these positions and discussed her current views during the hearing.
  • Wildfire Response: Rollins emphasized that responses to wildfires should not be influenced by politics and committed to deploying resources equally across all states.

Next, because U.S. Senator Marco Rubio was confirmed for his new role as U.S. Secretary of State, he resigned from his seat in the U.S. Senate. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Florida’s Attorney General, Ashley Moody to the vacant seat. Moody will be up for re-election in 2026 and again in 2028, if successfully re-elected.

Lastly, due to vacancies in Florida Congressional Districts 1 and 6, special elections were scheduled for the primary and general election. The primary took place on Tuesday, January 28 and the general election will take place on Tuesday, April 1.

President Trump endorsed Republican candidates Jimmy Patronis for Congressional District 1 and Randy Fine for Congressional District 6. Both are expected victors in those races.

Thank you to our Florida Farm Bureau members for their efforts and advocacy at the grassroots level.  The National Affairs office looks forward to welcoming members to Washington D.C., for the annual Field to the Hill trip, April 1-3, 2025.

 

New Heat Regulation to Protect Outdoor Workers

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August 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

On July 2, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a proposed rule which they believe will help protect workers from extreme heat. If the rule is finalized, the agency estimates it could help protect more than 36 million workers in outdoor and indoor settings and help reduce heat related injuries, illnesses and deaths in the workplace. 

This policy runs the severe risk of having a negative impact on the Florida agricultural community and its production.  

For instance, the proposed rule states that when an 80-degree heat index threshold is reached, employees must take mandatory breaks and when the heat index reaches 90 degrees, breaks of 15 minutes every two hours would be mandatory. With the high temperatures across Florida, this will impact constrained harvest windows for year-round specialty crops like nurseries, fruits and vegetables.  

“There are initial concerns over the breadth and depth of the rule,” said Lance Watson, Florida Farm Bureau Director of National Legislative Affairs. “We are reviewing and gathering feedback from our members before commenting.”  

Members can read about the proposed ruling here. Any questions or concerns can be directed to Lance Watson.  

FFBF Provides Comments on 2024 Water Resources Development Act  

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July 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Florida Farm Bureau Federation has submitted a letter to Chairman Sam Graves and Ranking Member Rick Larsen of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure regarding the markup to the bipartisan 2024 Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA).  

This letter was requested by Congressman Daniel Webster (R-FL, District 11).  The letter’s goal is to showcase a broad coalition of stakeholders who support WRDA before the June 26 markup. 

“In Florida, Everglades Restoration is a great example of collaboration and bipartisan cooperation,” said Lance Watson, FFBF Director of National Legislative Affairs. “Since its inclusion in the WRDA 2000, Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and Everglades Restoration projects have had staunch support from utilities, municipalities, environmental organizations, agriculture and other key stakeholders. The strength of Everglades Restoration has come through extensive local, science-based, inclusive planning efforts that yield project designs that are broadly supported. We greatly appreciate the agricultural community being considered and heard in the WRDA 2024.” 

The Water Resources Development Act is important to members for many reasons. It authorizes projects to improve inland waterway navigation, flood and storm protection, and other aspects of our water resources infrastructure. Additionally, it delivers regional and national benefits for strengthening our global competitiveness and supply chain, growing the economy, moving goods and allows our inland waterways to move products and commodities more efficiently to markets 

Florida Farm Bureau submitted a letter on June 17, 2024. Members are encouraged to contact Director of National Affairs Lance Watson, with any questions or concerns.  

U.S. Trade Deficit Set to Drastically Increase 

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July 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

The United States agricultural trade deficit is set to increase substantially to $32 billion in the 2024 fiscal year. This is a $1.5 billion increase from the February projection, according to the USDA Economic Research Service’s May 2024 Outlook. 

After learning of this concerning increase, the Florida Farm Bureau Board of Directors requested a draft letter be sent to U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai and the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. 

Members can read the letters here. Any questions should be directed to Director of National Legislative Affairs Lance Watson. 

 

FFBF Welcomes New Legislative Staff

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July 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Florida Farm Bureau welcomes two new staff members, Tripp Hunter and Lance Watson. Hunter is the Director of State Legislative Affairs and Watson the Director of National Legislative affairs. Both will be working out of the Tallahassee office. 

About Tripp Hunter 

Tripp Hunter was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, and has been immersed in agriculture from a young age. Growing up, he gained experience in various forms of agriculture, starting with the timber industry and later transitioning to the nursery production industry. He attended Auburn University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business and Economics. Hunter recently married his high-school sweetheart, Sarah, who is a second-grade teacher. 

After college, Hunter greatly enjoyed working in production agriculture where he was an Operations Manager for Simpson Nurseries. He it was a tough decision but when an opportunity to enter the Government Affairs world representing the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association arose, Hunter accepted.  

He hit the ground running learning about industry issues and the legislative process. His passion for representing agricultural interests led him to his current role as the State Legislative Affairs Director for Florida Farm Bureau. 

 

About Lance Watson 

Lance Watson was born and raised in Quincy, Florida and is part of a fourth-generation farming family. Watson is a proud two-time graduate of Florida State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and history and a master’s degree in public policy.  He has worked for U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, the Public Service Commission and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Watson is married and has one son, Sterling Lance Watson III. 

Farm Bill Update  

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July 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

On May 23, the House Agriculture Committee marked up their version of the Farm Bill during a debate that lasted 13 hours and contained many amendments. The bill passed out of committee with favorable votes from all Republicans on the committee and four Democrats. Florida Congresswoman Kat Cammack voted in favor and Congressman Darren Soto opposed the bill. 

Most of the Farm Bill priorities of FFBF are contained within the bill, including: 

  • Reference price increases and funding for other risk management tools
  • Funding for the specialty crop block grant program
  • Returning the Class I milk mover to the ‘higher of’ calculation
  • Codifying authority for USDA to utilize block grants for disaster funding, and
  • Continuation of the sugar policy

An amendment was offered to require a mandatory base update, but that amendment failed. 

The House has turned their attention to appropriations for the summer, so there will likely not be any more movement in the House until the lame duck session at the end of the year. The Senate has not advanced any form of the Farm Bill within the Senate Ag Committee yet. 

Director of National Affairs Lance Watson will keep members informed as more information becomes available.