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Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sen. Ashley Moody aims to roll back 60s-era citrus regulation as growers face mounting challenges
The Brief U.S. Senator Ashley Moody has sponsored legislation aiming to roll back a longstanding citrus regulation. The "Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act" aims to lower the sugar standard in orange juice. Growers are facing mounting challenges, including greening and hurricanes. LAKE WALES, Fla. - Polk County is one of the top producers of orange juice in the state, and its citrus growers have faced numerous challenges, including government over-regulation, which U.S. Senator Ashley Moody says she is fighting to change. During a press conference at Florida's Natural Growers Visitor Center on Tuesday morning, Moody announced that she is sponsoring the "Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act," which would roll back a regulation from the 1960s. Dig deeper The act would lower the Brix standard from 10.5% sugar content to 10%, which won't affect quality or taste. "As if greening wasn't enough and the storms weren't enough, our growers are now forced to fight our own federal agencies and regulations that make absolutely no sense," said Moody. Proponents say it will affect how many citrus growers rely on foreign fruit. As storms and diseases have affected the natural sugar content of their fruits, farmers have had to import juice to create a blend that meets the standard. Lowering the standard would better reflect the natural makeup of today's crop and give producers a more competitive advantage. "We've seen a reduction because of stress in regard to quality, so in order to be able to assist these producers, growers need a lower standard to be able to accommodate what quality they do have because that quality is diminished," said Jeb Smith, the president of the Florida Farm Bureau. Local perspective Florida's Natural Growers, headquartered in Lake Wales, supports the legislation. It's a 90-year-old citrus juice co-op, which means hundreds of citrus farmers own it. "We have a legacy of overcoming agricultural challenges with resilience and care," said CEO Christopher Groom. "Our mission is to support farmer-owners while also delivering high-quality, great-tasting juice to consumers across the country." The legislation is a simple fix that proponents say offers growers a lifeline. U.S. Representatives Scott Franklin and Debbie Wasserman Schultz have sponsored this bill in the House. The Source FOX 13's Carla Bayron collected the information in this story. WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sen. Moody, growers say this change could help save the citrus industry
LAKE WALES, Fla. (WFLA) — Sen. Ashley Moody (R – Florida) visited Lake Wales Tuesday, advocating for a bill she introduced to lower federal sugar standards for pasteurized orange juice. Polk County remains one of the top citrus growing counties in Florida. Polk County citrus grower swaps crop to avocados 'If we're going to give them a chance to survive, a chance to stay afloat, we've got to cut off those weights,' said Sen. Moody. Moody, Florida's Attorney General turned U.S. Senator, said this is why she likes working in Congress. 'I used to litigate against this nonsense. Now, I get to actually have a voice in calling it nonsense and trying to do something about it,' she said. She and Sen. Rick Scott (R – Florida) have re-introduced the Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act. It would lower the federally required sugar level in pasteurized orange juice, known as the Brix level, from 10.5% to 10%. 'It is nonsense. It does not affect quality. It does not affect taste. The only thing it does is kneecap our Florida citrus growers,' said Sen. Moody. Growers said the devastating greening disease and hurricanes have ravaged citrus groves and altered the sugar levels in Florida oranges. In order to meet the required Brix level, growers have to blend their product with imported juice from other countries. 'This act will protect our growers in Florida, make sure we don't have to rely on foreign interests and foreign companies and ship their product in here,' said Sen. Moody. 'To comply you have to compromise that product. At this point, it would make producers here have a much better and easier advantage,' said Jeb Smith, president of the Florida Farm Bureau. Smith said the current state of Florida's citrus industry is 'dismal' but has hope it can rebound. 'The citrus industry is still in a decline but as I say, the land's still there. The growers' are still there. They're just looking for an answer and if they can find a cure or some way to combat that they will be able to continue in the industry,' said Smith. Smith said dropping the Brix standard by half a percentage point would mean growers would have to import less juice from other countries. This comes at a time when imported produce could be subject to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Smith said there are pros and cons to tariffs for Florida citrus growers, which could incentivize purchasing Florida-grown oranges. As with all agriculture sectors, growers need potassium to grow their crop, which comes from other countries, including Canada, in the form of 'potash.' 'We import a tremendous amount of potassium into this country which is a macronutrient which is necessary for production of anything. Most of that product, that mineral, are outside the boundaries of the United States,' said Smith. Representatives Scott Franklin and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, bipartisan members of Florida's congressional delegation, have introduced the Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act in the House. A version of the bill has been introduced in Congress since at least 2023. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
30-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Want to make less money? Florida GOP undermines voters with minimum wage scheme.
The minimum wage in Florida is under attack – and this time in a very dishonest way. After years of purposeful inaction by state lawmakers, Florida voters took matters into their own hands five years ago by passing a constitutional amendment that raised the minimum wage in the state. The voter initiative increased the then-paltry minimum wage of $8.65 per hour for nontipped workers, by putting it on a schedule of yearly increases that tops out at $15 an hour by Sept. 30, 2026. This year, the graduated minimum wage is $13 an hour in Florida. The constitutional amendment passed despite a well-funded opposition led by several business groups, including the Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida, the Associated Industries of Florida, the Florida Farm Bureau, the Florida Home Builders Association and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. And it didn't sit well with the Republican-led state legislature, either. GOP lawmakers apparently have decided to disregard the state's constitution and the will of the voters expressed through that referendum. It took them five years to find a new way to circumvent the voters' wishes. What they've come up with is a real doozy. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. A new Florida bill would let employers pay below minimum wage A bill (SB 676) working through the Florida Legislature this session rewrites labor laws in the state to allow workers to voluntarily request to get paid less than the minimum wage. Yes, I know. It sounds crazy. Who goes into a job asking to be underpaid? Or hopes to get a job that makes an instant pay cut sound like an exciting new opportunity? I guess the conversation will go something like this: 'Good news! You're hired. Now, just sign here on the line that says you have agreed to participate in our floor-sweeping apprenticeship opportunity at $7.25 an hour. 'If you do well there, you'll be eligible for a french fries work-based learning opportunity as soon as you complete your restroom internship.' Under this bill, reclassifying low-wage jobs as internships, apprenticeships or work-based learning opportunities would allow employers to sidestep the state's minimum wage law by hiring workers willing to sign away their absolute right to a minimum salary. The bill's sponsor in the Senate, Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, tried to make this Dickensian dystopia sound like a noble gesture by calling it 'trading pay for a marketable skill.' By Martin's reckoning, Florida is full of people who don't deserve to be paid a day's pay for a day's work. The bill doesn't define what a 'skill' is. There's also no definition in state law that defines an 'internship.' Tellingly, the bill purposefully allows the subminimum pay to apply to workers of all ages – not just teenagers. And it is being forwarded despite clear language in the Fair Labor Standards Act and Florida case law that employees can't waive their rights to minimum pay. We need fair wages. This is the opposite. In the end, this bill is just a legally flawed gift to businesses looking to cut labor costs at the expense of their poorest, unskilled workers. 'If we think that $13 an hour is what a bag boy at a grocery store should be making in rural Florida, then I think we have a misconception of either what's reasonable or we're not relating that to the cost of goods and services anymore,' Martin said. Reality check: A living wage in Florida for an adult with no children is $23.41 an hour, according to MIT's Living Wage Calculator. And there are about 1.5 million Floridians working in jobs that pay less than $15 per hour, according to data compiled by the Florida Policy Institute. The problem in Florida isn't that wages are too high and corporate profits are too low. This bill is a monumental step in the wrong direction. It lends a hand to those who need it least at the expense of those who are most in need. Here's how Jackson Oberlink, the legislative director for the social justice group Florida For All, put it. 'Let's be honest, no worker truly opts out of fair wages. There is zero protections in this bill against coercion, fraud, or employer intimidation, meaning bad actors can and will exploit it,' Oberlink told lawmakers at a committee meeting earlier this month. 'Under this bill," he added, "a fast-food worker, a grocery store cashier or a construction apprentice could suddenly find themselves reclassified as an intern and making far less than the legal minimum wage.' 'If this bill becomes law, it won't just hurt individual workers. It will drive down wages across entire industries as more and more businesses push workers into these bogus exemptions to cut costs,' Oberlink said. 'All we're asking for is fair pay for a hard day's work without loopholes, without carve-outs and without games,' he said. Is that too much to ask? We'll soon find out. Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, where this column originally published. He can be reached at fcerabino@
