If the Wisconsin governor and state legislature were to be honest, they would correctly frame this issue. They are not, in fact, asking state employees to make a larger contribution to their pension and benefits programs as that would not be possible- the employees are already paying 100% of the contributions.
How can this be possible?
Simple. The pension plan is the direct result of deferred compensation- money that employees would have been paid as cash salary but choose, instead, to have placed in the state operated pension fund where the money can be professionally invested (at a lower cost of management) for the future. (etc. – really worth reading all of it.)
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The first public school in America was established by Puritan settlers in 1635 in the home of Schoolmaster Philemon Pormont and was later moved to School Street. Boys from various socio-economic backgrounds attended Boston Latin School until 1972 when girls were also accepted.
A portrait statue of Benjamin Franklin overlooks the former site of Boston Latin School which Franklin, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock once attended. Franklin’s place of birth was just one block away on Milk Street, across from the Old South Meeting House.
The Boston Latin School is now located in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood.
Below is a list of 100 entries from a google search about property tax increases from 2000 – 2009 out of 70,500 entries – the property taxes and re-assessments / appraisals of property values have been hiked every single year across America – how could the school budgets have any problems whatsoever? (my note, cricketdiane)
Mar 31, 2000 – Though it is the second-highest real estate tax hike in DuPage County in the last six years, the increase continues the trend of relatively … Last year, the average property tax bill increase in DuPage County was 3.9 percent. Since the cap was imposed, annual increases have ranged …
Apr 29, 2000 – Stafford Schools Still Short After 10-Cent Tax Hike; Some Supervisors Call Increase A Compromise in Polarized Fight … find The Washington Post articles. After weeks of debate marked by emotional appeals from Stafford County residents, the Board of Supervisors voted Thursda…
May 5, 2000 – Jordan District residents have had two tax increases in three years. Last September, the school board voted to hike property taxes $48 a year on a $100000 house to keep three new schools up and running and shore up a $6 million maintenance and operation deficit incurred by opening …
Jun 13, 2000 – People who rent their homes, for example, won’t be affected by the property tax increase. But they’ll have to pay more for their sewer and water use. City officials say the water and sewer rate hikes are needed to pay for more than $116 million in repairs and upgrades to the water and …
Jul 18, 2000 – Sarasota’s top administrator proposed a 10.6 percent city property tax increase Monday, the largest in more than a decade, on the eve of a crucial vote today on … A portion of the tax hike also would be devoted to covering the deficit stemming from the city’s fiscal 1999-2000 budget. …
Aug 8, 2000 – 8–FORT WORTH, Texas–Tarrant County property taxes could increase for the first time in seven years under a proposed $279 million budget … If commissioners adopt the increase, the property tax rate would go up 5 percent to 27.9 cents from 26.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. …
Sep 7, 2000 – The property tax hike will fund a variety of projects after it goes into effect Oct. 1. By Kevin mcquaid . The city of Sarasola plans to buy and renovate the Federal Building replenish its financial reserves and lay out redevelopment plans for Newtown with the money collect ed from a …
Oct 18, 2000 – THE MANDATE FOR change given to Nassau County Democrats by voters never included a confiscatory increase in county property taxes. … They have to rethink the liberal direction of a double digit property tax increase and recognize that this kind of proposal is reckless and …
Nov 17, 2000 – Property owners whose homes have risen greatly in value now must face tax increases as a result. The Ontario Property Assessment Corporation says house values across Toronto have risen on average by 22 per cent between June, 1996 and June, 1999, hiking the average value to $268400 from …
Dec 1, 2000 – day on Mayor Tom Murphy’s pro posed million city budget for next year, which is largely counting on a million jump in property tax collections to stay in bal ance. The increase comes in the wake of the reassessments, which ac cording to Murphy have raised property values by 76 per cent …
Mar 30, 2001 – She calculates that her tax bill will increase by approximately $220 if the property tax increase passes. … The revenue generated by the 75-cent property tax increase is primarily assigned to provide a major increase in salary and benefits for all employees of the district. …
Apr 12, 2001 – “Until the cap on educational cost sharing dollars is fully lifted in 2003-04, property taxes in the town will continue to increase to fund education,” Larson said in his annual budget message. “At a time like today, the demands on our educational system and our community have never …
May 3, 2001 – That hike alone results in an $87 increase for a home with the average assessed value of $261047. The city estimates the property tax rate for education purposes, to be announced by the province next week, will add another $77 for a total general tax increase of $164 on the average …
Jun 27, 2001 – One mill equals $1 in tax for every $1000 in taxable assessed value. Homes are taxed at 9.15 percent of their market value. Here’s a forecast of how much money would be raised for roads and bridges if El Paso County voters approve a proposed property tax increase. …
Jul 24, 2001 – Driving the increase in residents’ property taxes is a 10.8 percent rise in city property values between 2000 and 2001. Ahnell’s proposal would actually lower the tax rate from $3.63 to $3.57 per $1000 of taxable property value, a drop of 1.5 percent. “Our goal right now is to maintain …
Aug 17, 2001 – “I’m putting together an organization dedicated to fighting property tax hikes,” said Renna, whose taxes have increased by $410 this year. Note. Cambridge accountant Fernando Renna wants to wage a full-fledged tax revolt. He’s calling on all Cambridge homeowners to band together and …
Sep 18, 2001 – Earlier yesterday, county legislative officials predicted Gulotta’s spending plan for next year would include a 5 percent increase in the county’s property tax, which legislative and administration officials had agreed upon tentatively. Legislative officials also said they expected …
Oct 12, 2001 – For the third straight year, Plantation elected officials voted to approve a tax hike for property owners in the city. And for the third straight year, that spending was questioned by two council members, though only one, Jerry Fadgen, voted against the tax increase this time. …
Nov 5, 2001 – The [Richard Daley] administration has all but ruled out a property tax increase to balance the city’s 2002 budget in favor of deep spending cuts and a limited menu of fee increases, City Hall sources said Sunday. The Daley administration has all but ruled out a property tax increase …
Dec 2, 2001 – If approved by the County Legislature in December, it would be the first property tax levy increase of Mr. Spano’s tenure. During the previous three years, Mr. Spano, a Democrat, has reduced the property tax levy by 7.8 percent. ”This is directly related to Sept. 11,” Mr. Spano said. …
Jan 31, 2002 – The district will ask voters in March for an increase to 25 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation in the tax rate charged for the district’s operations and … If the tax increase is approved, the owner of a $150000 house in Cook County would pay an additional $78 a year. …
Feb 22, 2002 – The Evanston City Council will consider a budget proposal Monday that calls for a 7.2 percent property tax increase. It would mark the fourth consecutive tax hike in as many years and only partially cover a $4 million deficit. The council this week rejected alternative ways to raise …
Mar 8, 2002 – Average annual property taxes will rise by $79- shaving $5.50 from the projected tax hike agreed to on Monday- in a deal that boosts services for children and seniors. However, Toronto City Council’s decision last night not to increase the Toronto Transit Commission’s $152 million …
Apr 2, 2002 – The figures, released Monday by DuPage County Clerk Gary King, show the increase is less than the previous year’s 5.4 percent average property tax hike, but is still among the highest county residents have seen since the property tax cap law was imposed in 1991. …
May 21, 2002 – A lame-duck Lake County Board member has gone to court to roll back recent property tax increases that he claims are illegal. Larry Leafblad, a Republican from the Grayslake area, says in a lawsuit that his property taxes should have gone down for the 2001 tax year but were raised …
Jun 26, 2002 – Duncan Proposes Tax Hike For Roads; Transit Included In $1 Billion Plan … find The Washington Post articles. … In his two terms in office, Duncan (D) has never before proposed a property tax increase, and he has campaigned on his efforts to cut income taxes. …
Jul 18, 2002 – The court action challenges the practice of “recapture” a method used by county assessors statewide to increase property values when slumping real estate markets recover. Recapture can lead to property value hikes well in excess of the 2 percent limit outlined in the state’s …
Aug 28, 2002 – YORK York residents could— see an 8 mill increase in property taxes and a 15 percent hike in garbage collection fees this year if city leaders are not able to cut expenses. During a workshop Tuesday, City Council members ironed out the proposed million budget for 2002-2003 That budget …
Sep 6, 2002 – While increased property taxes are not the only revenue source option township officials are considering to close an estimated $3 million to $4 … While their township property taxes haven’t increased for nine years, their school district property taxes have gone up substantially – a …
Oct 29, 2002 – Traditionally, it has been difficult for school districts to get voters to back tax–hike requests. No one likes to have his or her property tax bill increase, especially those who do not have children attending public schools. However, school officials say they have no other option. …
Nov 28, 2002 – “New Yorkers won’t leave town due to a tax increase,” the mayor said, defending the property tax hike he once opposed. “But they will if services are cut.” The city can raise property taxes on its own, but the balance of Bloomberg’s bailout plan hinges on legislative proposals that …
Dec 19, 2002 – Another tax hike of some kind is highly likely in the 2004 budget. On single-family homes assessed at the township average of $330000, the 22 percent increase approved last night will increase the current municipal annual tax bill of about $870 by about $191. Municipal property taxes …
Jan 30, 2003 – Defeats Tax Hike … find The Washington Post articles. Faced with one of the nation’s deepest fiscal crises, Oregon voters have defeated a … The Washington Post; April 3, 1996 ; 700+ words … … and voted to oppose any real estate tax increase after deciding that the county’s …
Feb 22, 2003 – A $64 million cash infusion from the Ontario government should allow Toronto to limit its residential property tax increase to 3 per cent this year. … council be allowed to debate adding up to $1 million in spending, which would bump the tax hike to 3 per cent from 2.9 per cent. …
Mar 22, 2003 – General Manager Steven Werbner on Friday proposed a town budget for 2003-04 that would increase taxes by almost 5 percent. … Since the town has already raised service charges and fines, the only other place from which to get additional revenue is property taxes, the chart shows. …
Apr 17, 2003 – Critics Pounce When Steele Muffs Governor’s Stance on Tax Hike [Corrected 04/29/2003] … find The Washington Post articles. Lt. Gov. … As for the property tax increase, Steele told the panel it had been “under consideration by the governor. But when it became very, very clear that …
May 4, 2003 – Article: Budget proposal eyes 4.9% property tax hike Evanston Review (IL); January 8, 2009 ; 508 words … … in the city’s share of property tax and looks to reserve funds to balance an estimated … deficit. The 4.9 percent property tax increase would generate roughly … said. …
Jun 25, 2003 – Leawood’s proposed 2004 budget calls for a property tax increase to pay for work on city parks. If the spending plan is approved, … 1.25 mills is equal to about $704000 in funding to the city, and the council would have to approve any increase in property tax with the 2005 budget. …
Jul 6, 2003 – The bottom line is this: The state’s new property tax assessment system, along with local government spending increases, means tax hikes for more than six out of every 10 homeowners. The average annual property tax bill in Marion County has gone up $186, or 17.4 percent, according to …
Aug 13, 2003 – While many city, county and state governments face budget shortfalls, tax increases and layoffs, San Antonio’s Northeast suburban cities are faring better, with only one considering a tax hike and none planning staff reductions. In fact, a number of the suburbs are cutting tax rates …
Sep 10, 2003 – Ramsey County: Less to cost more; Board sees 6.4% tax hike, more cuts.(NEWS) … find Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) articles. … The plan, proposed by County Manager Paul Kirkwold, includes a 6.4 percent increase in the property tax levy, much of which will be used to offset costs …
Oct 31, 2003 – 1 holds the line on the county’s portion of the property tax levy but still represents a 4.3 percent increase over current spending, … The sales tax hike would only generate an estimated $11 million in 2004 because it would not take effect until July 1 and there’s a 90-day collection …
Nov 19, 2003 – The bottom line at this point is a 4.5 percent tax increase, which means that for a home assessed at the county average of $184812, annual county real estate taxes will rise from $605 to $632, a $27 hike. Hidden in that number is the possibility for shuttered libraries, fewer beds for …
Dec 21, 2003 – Following an exhausting, all-night bargaining session, the state Senate yesterday approved a $1.3 billion tax increase — including a 10 percent income-tax hike — but was unable to fashion a deal that would have brought slot machines to the state’s racetracks, big cities and resorts. …
Jan 27, 2004 – A 35 percent assessment hike–the median for all city properties- -would translate into a 15 percent property tax increase, or about an additional $219 for the owner of a home with a market value of about $135000, if Houlihan’s estimates of key data used in calculating bills are …
Feb 18, 2004 – If history is an indicator, the tax hike referendum items on the March 16 ballot could face stiff resistance from voters, many of whom think they already are paying too much in property taxes. The increases being sought include 8 cents for each $100 of equalized assessed value in Homer …
Mar 16, 2004 – “This will give municipalities the ability to share the burden of any municipal tax increases while continuing to reduce the municipal taxation gap between business and residential property taxpayers,” Sorbara said. Business leaders were quick to warn any property tax hike could drive …
Apr 23, 2004 – A soaring police budget is largely responsible for Halton homeowners getting hit with a 3.9 per cent hike on the regional share of their property taxes this year. The increase, about $46 on the average home with a June 30, 2003 market value of $250000, was approved by council yesterday …
May 24, 2004 – 3 for a 39-cent increase in its property tax rate, 10 cents more than voters rejected on April 6. The school board voted 6-1 Thursday night to place the issue on the ballot. Board member Pat Nasi, who cast the dissenting vote, said the timing was wrong to ask for an increase. …
Jun 30, 2004 – The hike, which takes effect Thursday, means a $1.33 in increased property taxes for the owner of a $100000 home. As before, council members John Gettys, Jim Reno and Kevin Sutton voted against the property tax increase. Sun City Carolina Lakes has won the first of three approvals it …
Jul 18, 2004 – In many parts of the country in recent years, strapped local governments have imposed big increases in property–tax rates, … Earlier this year, voters in Oregon recalled an $800 million tax boost, which included increases in property taxes, passed by the state legislature last August …
Aug 11, 2004 – GRAPHICS 2; City schools budget Chicago Public Schools proposes a $5.05 billion budget, which would increase property taxes in fiscal year 2005. PROPERTY TAX INCREASES In yearly taxes per $100000 in market value 2001 $18 2002 $18 2003 $20 2004 $9 2005 $14.5 Note: Numbers are adjusted …
Sep 9, 2004 – St. Paul council approves tax hike; Mayor Kelly says he’ll veto a 2% increase in the property tax levy.(NEWS) … find Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) articles. Byline: Jackie Crosby; Staff Writer In bold defiance of a certain veto from St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly, the…
Oct 28, 2004 – School superintendents say they are struggling with rising enrollment, state-imposed caps on property–tax increases and higher costs for employee health insurance. Across Illinois, 82 percent of all school districts spent more than they took in during the 2003 budget year, forcing them …
Nov 11, 2004 – All homes in Merrimack are being assessed at market rates, and rising property values have compounded the effect of increases in the tax rate. According to the assessor’s office, a single-family home valued at $300000 without any capital improvements will incur approximately $6700 this …
Dec 21, 2004 – Property taxes are expected to increase by 1.2 mills next year, in part to help aid the struggling township volunteer ambulance and fire companies. The tentative spending plan totals $1438975. The budget failed to pass at a supervisors’ meeting last week. Three of the five supervisors …
Jan 23, 2005 – Homeowners’ property taxes in the vast majority of Massachusetts cities and towns will continue their upward climb in 2005, with double-digit percentage hikes in Boston, Cambridge, Everett, and at least 40 other cities and towns, and smaller increases in Newton, Somerville, and Milton, …
Feb 12, 2005 – City Council push for a citywide property tax increase. The Mayor’s Advisory Task … ing residents to approve a property tax hike. The recommendation comes … Aroner, a task force member. The tax increase would cost the average Berkeley … …
Mar 15, 2005 – A bill calling for a 2 percent increase in the state income tax that would reduce property taxes and allow the state to cover 51 percent of the cost … Without a 51-cent rate increase and approval to hike its bonding authority, officials say they may have to ask the state to take over …
Apr 4, 2005 – Voters control the purse strings 37 bond issues, 58 property tax hikes on Tuesday’s ballot … find Chicago Sun-Times articles. … In addition to the bond issues, 58 property tax rate increases are being proposed. And several towns are asking voters to endorse sales or real estate …
May 4, 2005 – Mayor Rocky Anderson’s proposed $639 million budget for 2005-06 calls for a property–tax increase to hire police officers, for nonresidents to … He isn’t calling for a tax hike, but “if we’re going to increase taxes, let’s do the right thing with it” by raising pay for all officers. …
Jun 23, 2005 – The 1-cent increase will bring the city’s property tax rate to 49 cents per $100 valuation, raising annual taxes on a $150000 house from $720 to … Standridge said he was against a property tax increase, especially after the county commissioners approved a “rather zealous” 3.5-cent …
Jul 9, 2005 – 9–Chicago Public Schools officials proposed a $5 billion budget Friday that, for the seventh year in a row, seeks the maximum increase in property taxes allowed by state law. The budget–essentially flat from a year ago–includes a 1.9 percent property tax hike, or $7.61 per $100000 …
Aug 13, 2005 – The city of Dallas’ $2.18 billion budget proposal includes a modest property tax increase and service fee hikes but is designed to aggressively improve public safety and foster economic development, City Manager Mary Suhm said Friday. The proposed tax rate increase is 2.7 cents per …
Sep 8, 2005 – A higher sales tax hike, he said, would ease the pain of a property tax increase. Raising the sales tax to 8.5 percent still would require a 20 percent property tax increase, while taking it to 8.75 percent would mean only 3 percent to 7 percent property tax boost. …
Oct 26, 2005 – A $2.6 million increase in the levy for 2006 is the maximum allowed by the Illinois real estate tax cap statute, Schillerstrom said. Even with the increased levy, the county’s tax rate would drop slightly because the total assessed evaluation of property in the county has increased, …
Nov 16, 2005 – A DuPage County budget plan providing for a real estate tax increase for the first time in 10 years was tentatively approved Tuesday by the County Board’s Finance Committee. Though the increase is modest, estimated to be about $7 a year on the average single-family residence in DuPage, …
Dec 23, 2005 – Property owners in Kitchener should not see their 2006 taxes increase by more than three per cent. Hopefully the hike will be even less than that, says Coun. Berry Vrbanovic, who chairs the city’s finance committee. “Personally I would like to see us do a little bit better than that if …
Feb 23, 2006 – Mayor Donald Peloquin has told City Council members they will have to ask residents for a property tax rate increase to maintain city services at current levels. … Peloquin said incremental increases in property and sales taxes have not kept pace with the rising cost of city services.
Mar 22, 2006 – Tax hike, school bonds gain. … find Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL) articles. Byline: Mary Ann Fergus and Jamie Francisco Mar. … 22–Facing massive budget cuts, voters in Community Unit School District 300 appeared to be supporting a property–tax increase to save sports, …
Apr 28, 2006 – Legislation approved by the House on an 82-57 vote would increase the cigarette tax a dollar a pack to $1.41 for the roughly one in five … The measure now moves to the Senate as part of a package of tax hikes that would be used to decrease school property taxes by up to one-third. …
May 18, 2006 – Last year the commissioners voted 3-2 in favor of a budget that increased property taxes by 10 cents per $100 valuation. The county’s property tax rate rose from 53 to 63 cents per $100, which translates to $150 a year for the owner of a $150000 home. The increase was the county’s …
Jun 16, 2006 – Property taxes in the South Western School District will rise by 6.22 percent next year. By a vote of 7-2 vote Wednesday, the school board adopted a final budget for the 2006-07 school year. Board members Robert Williams and Vanessa Berger voted against the budget. …
Jul 6, 2006 – But the state Assembly balked, as its Democratic leaders remembered the debacle 15 years ago when another tax hike led voters to toss them from … understand the state is in dire fiscal straits, and will tolerate a sales tax increase if it’s tied to an effort to lower property taxes. …
Aug 3, 2006 – Article: Daley Won’t Rule Out Property Tax Hike Chicago Sun-Times; June 21, 1995 ; 700+ words …Mayor Daley said Tuesday that he … refused to rule out a property tax increase to finance … annual $650 million property tax levy or the rate of … whichever is less. …
Sep 13, 2006 – 13–The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday to a 6.2 percent property tax increase, a last-minute jump above the amount first … Carter said Tuesday’s vote merely “preserve(s) the option” of a 6.2 percent increase. Despite the hike, spending in the county’s $529 …
Oct 18, 2006 – Property owners in Edmonton could be facing an average $88 tax increase next year, in part to cover the rising cost of keeping city staff on the … 6.2 per cent tax hike proposed by the city administration, but when council finished examining the budget the increase was only 3.4 per cent.
Nov 2, 2006 – Vote no on their 10-year, 0.25-mill property tax increases for operating and maintaining an “older persons’ building. … Vote no on creating a 10-year, 0.5-mill tax increase for city recreational programs for youngsters. Vote no on a 0.5-mill tax hike to provide services for senior …
Dec 29, 2006 – The district lowered the property tax rate, but the reassessment still would have meant a tax hike for the average homeowner. Under the reassessment, the average single-family home in the city would increase in value from … …
Jan 20, 2007 – The tax increase on commercial property put forth by the Virginia House and Senate Republican leadership would have a direct, and possibly negative, impact on the business community, analysts say. The proposal calls for an increase of 30 cents for every $100 of assessed value on …
Feb 7, 2007 – More than 337000 senior citizens who qualify are already receiving the property–tax rebates; the governor’s proposal would increase that number by 419000. The average property–tax cut for everyone else under the new plan: $170 per household — except for Philadelphia. …
Mar 30, 2007 – But the scuttlebutt Thursday was that increases in the general four-per-cent range are a distinct possibility. “I think you’re close,” Coun. Terry Hincks said in a telephone interview, in response to a specific question about a possible four-per-cent tax hike. A property tax increase …
Apr 1, 2007 – With little relief anticipated from Beacon Hill, 50 Massachusetts towns are considering property tax hikes to close budget holes brought on by increased health insurance premiums, special education costs, government salaries, and other local expenses. Voters this month will be asked to …
May 27, 2007 – At least 54 Massachusetts communities have scheduled ballot measures this year seeking permission to permanently increase the local property tax levy, under the state’s Proposition 2 1/2 law, which limits tax increases. Seventeen towns won approval for the tax–hike requests, 23 failed, …
Jun 28, 2007 – BASD approves 2.68% tax hike: Increase is same for Lehigh, Northampton sections of the district. … find Morning Call (Allentown, PA) articles. … 28–Residents in the Bethlehem Area School District will see their property taxes go up by an average of $59 next year under a $170 …
Jul 1, 2007 – “We rely on property taxes more than any other state in the nation to fund local services.” The Haddon Heights hike has sparked such … Heppe said the reassessment wasn’t the only reason for the tax hike. Haddon Heights’ school and municipal budgets each increased by more than …
Aug 1, 2007 – 1–Sounding a familiar refrain, Mayor Richard Daley said Tuesday that a property tax increase remains on the table as his administration considers … Asked about a property tax increase, Daley said: “You can’t rule anything in or out. If you do, you basically are kidding yourself. …
Sep 13, 2007 – Council approves property tax hike: Increase could be less than proposed 14.6 percent, but members concede it’s unlikely. … find Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN) articles. Byline: Jason Hoppin Sep. 13–ST. PAUL — A divided St. Paul City Council on Wednesday approved M…
Oct 29, 2007 – The upcoming assessment hikes will be a rude awakening, and they will now take place on a four-year cycle thanks to Queen’s Park. Increases will be phased in over the subsequent four years, which simply means that you will be able to pay your property tax increases in installments. …
Nov 14, 2007 – 1, includes the biggest property tax hike of Daley’s 18-year tenure as well as higher taxes on beer, wine and liquor, a new 5-cent tax on bottled water and increased water and sewer fees. The most controversial item was the $86 million property tax increase, which passed on a vote of …
Dec 6, 2007 – Residents saw their last tax increase two years ago when council raised the rate from 4.75 to 4.95 mills. Before that, the property tax had remained the same for 11 years. The average resident in Glendon will pay $38.85 more, based on a property assessed at $37000. …
Mar 21, 2008 – According to a report in The Toronto Star, the previously announced 3.75 per cent property tax increase in the current budget has to be raised to almost 4.08 per cent to make up for an overlooked tax break for small businesses. The city has been gradually shifting the burden away from …
Apr 1, 2008 – In Randolph, voters approved a multi-million dollar property tax increase to help the town’s troubled school system. But voters in neighboring Holbrook and in Chelmsford rejected proposed property tax increases. The town of Harvard also weighed tax hikes yesterday. …
May 7, 2008 – MIDVALE — Midvale is considering a property tax increase that would add about $35 to the average household’s annual bill. The 12 percent increase would help fund services that will be needed in the Bingham Junction development, being built on a former Superfund site to the west of town …
Jun 19, 2008 – A 35-cent rate hike would increase taxes on a $250000 home by $66 a year. But given anticipated costs and the poor economic forecast, some council members considered raising taxes by the maximum 5 percent allowed under the state’s cap on property tax increases. …
Nov 13, 2008 – Seeking property–tax increases as the economy tanks is a sign of how desperate things are in many district headquarters — and how fearful educators are about the … But he won’t seek a similar property–tax hike here, given voter approval of a sales tax for facilities in 2002. …
Dec 23, 2008 – If the value of a property went up higher than the average increase, that owner gets an assessment-related tax hike. CAPTR calculates that if the average assessment increase in a municipality is 20%, then a home whose value went up 35% would see a 12.5% increase in property taxes …
Mar 13, 2009 – NEW DELHI: Friday’s standing committee meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will consider a proposal for a whopping 24% increase in property tax. The impending Assembly elections, sources say, are likely to put off the hike for the moment BJP is already in denial mode …
May 30, 2009 – HUBLI: Here comes a shocker to the property owners of the twin-cities in the form of a hike in property tax. The HDMC has increased the property tax by 15% with effect from April 1, much against the earlier stand of mayor Veeranna Savadi that taxes would not be hiked. …
Jun 24, 2009 – Earlier, a 40 percent property–tax increase was proposed to cover the shortfall. But after approving the city’s budget in a 3-2 vote Tuesday, … But councilmen Larry Shingleton and Doug Hammond, who cast the dissenting votes, raised concerns that a property–tax hike would be a further …
*** from google search – the first 100 of over 70,500 entries ***
My Note –
Aside from the increase in property taxes everywhere across America every year since 1970 something – there have been continuing re-appraisals of homes and businesses which have never gone down, not even now . . . These funds were intended for education, the lotteries were intended for education, the billions upon billions from a multitude of funding sources were intended for education, the businesses and corporations donated money for education systems, the non-profits donated money to education, the trusts and endowments placed money into budgets for education, the international and United Nations communities have been putting money into education systems even in the United States, the federal stimulus funds have come into states already for the education systems – what is wrong with these people that they think we don’t know what they are doing?
We can track those funds and among our entire population, we can find what has happened to them and what is happening to them now. Together, believe me – this will be sorted out. There are laws about how these funds can be used. There are laws that determine how these were to be used. And, there are most certainly trails to explain what has happened to them. Our nation’s people will join and find it as well as how these funds for education resources have been diverted and are being diverted now. The trail is there.
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The first public school in America was established by Puritan settlers in 1635 in the home of Schoolmaster Philemon Pormont and was later moved to School Street. Boys from various socio-economic backgrounds attended Boston Latin School until 1972 when girls were also accepted.
A portrait statue of Benjamin Franklin overlooks the former site of Boston Latin School which Franklin, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock once attended. Franklin’s place of birth was just one block away on Milk Street, across from the Old South Meeting House.
The Boston Latin School is now located in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood.
(2) In case an individual who is an executive officer of a bank is
also a director or executive officer of a company, the company is
deemed to be a related interest of the individual for purposes of the
referenced sections of Regulation O except subdivision (c) of
Section 215.4. However, this paragraph shall not apply to an
extension of credit by a bank to any of the following companies:
(A) A bank holding company of which the bank is a subsidiary.
(B) Any subsidiary of the bank holding company.
(C) Any nonprofit company engaged in religious, charitable,
educational, scientific, literary, social, or recreational purposes,
provided that the individual whose position as a director or
executive officer of the company at issue does not receive
compensation in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000) per year for
serving as a director or executive officer of the company.
(etc.)
786. A bank may make a loan, otherwise complying with the
provisions of this division, for the benefit of a trust,
notwithstanding that the bank or any one or more executive officers
or directors of the bank are trustees of the trust.
787. Any bank that makes an extension of credit in violation of
this article is subject to a civil penalty pursuant to Section 216.3.
Any person, other than the bank making the extension of credit, who
knowingly makes or procures an extension of credit in violation of
this article is guilty of a felony.
(from)
CHAPTER 6. RESTRICTIONS AND PROHIBITED PRACTICES
Article 1. General .............................................. 750-769
Article 2. Loans to Insiders .................................... 780-787
Article 3. Banking Business by Unauthorized Persons ............. 790-795
of California Code - Financial Code - (found here)
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=fin&codebody=&hits=20
(My Note - there's a lot of good stuff in this law that directly applies to the uses of funds
during the last fiscal nightmare. - cricketdiane - I'll keep working to find the substance of
the trail that shows what was done with property tax moneys and education funds . . . )
***
States and Education budget decision-makers do not understand protests, nor signatures on petitions nor grass roots movements. They act as though they think these are to be mocked and held in contempt, with no decisions impacted as a consequence. The only thing that states, education departments, school systems and district budget decision makers do understand, are lawsuits. Intentional economic exclusion being perpetrated by the state budget comptroller’s office, state legislatures, state governors’ administrations and department of education decision-makers is illegal and that is actually what they are doing.
(my note, cricketdiane)
***
The Georgia Lottery Corp. today announced record first-half profits for education. Georgia Lottery profits for the first half of fiscal year 2010 totaled $429,754,000, surpassing the previous record set last fiscal year by more than $8.49 million.
This collection relates to the California Post-Secondary Education Commission (CPEC) collected by the Chancellor’s Office of the California State University. Mostly consists of CPEC reports (1976-1994), but also includes minutes, agendas (1975-1980), correspondence and other materials. Reports cover all…
My Note –
In 1975, there was a law made in California insuring that every student, resident, adult and post-secondary candidate would have a right to receive tuition-free or tuition-subsidized education at the state college of their choice provided that they passed the admissions process. Although amendments to that law were made, it still stands and guarantees a right to a higher education for all the citizens of the state of California – It was one of the few states to do it as a response to the system in Norwegian and Scandinavian countries, if I remember correctly, to make freely available higher education available to all in their countries and Canada’s free tuition post-secondary education system which was put into place a little later (I’ll have to look it up – so if this isn’t entirely accurate, please forgive me). To go back on that now, and intentionally exclude thousands of students from that mandate by raising tuitions to non-recoverable rates, is against the law. The comptroller’s office is working with funds that are fungible.
Fungibility is the property of a good or a commodity whose individual units are capable of mutual substitution. (from wikipedia)
They literally determined to not make available the funds to pay teachers and support education budget needs to use the access to the stimulus funds and other emergency funds to cover it. Then they took cuts in all sorts of programs intending to access funds that would later cover those costs. Then, at the same time, they paid off losses with the money that was originally intended to cover those teachers, education systems, state colleges, schools systems and education budget needs. That is because those funds are literally being used in a shell game to pay off losses that were incurred as a result of plowing money into the stock market, hedge funds, credit derivatives, leverage and other fiscal mismanagement techniques such as putting liabilities on off-balance sheet accounting as if it would not undermine funds coming in the front door.
Now what? There have to be lawsuits and class action suits made to force records to come out of the closets and so that the moneys raided from lotteries and stimulus funds intended for education will have to be brought into line with their original purposes. Without the lawsuits, the state governments, budget offices, endowments, trusts and department of education budgets decision-makers will simply snicker at the protests and do nothing any different. Lawsuits and class action suits made en masse across every state can change this – nothing else will. (The money is there if they choose to use it appropriately. The endowments should be taking the losses themselves and rebuilding their trusts over time from these losses – they have no rights to steal from the schools, colleges and university budgets to do it in the shortfall.)
– cricketdiane
**
These entries about California Post-Secondary Legislation as possible places to find the law are from –
California State University Academic Affairs Office RecordsCSU Chancellor’s Office division responsible for academics. Includes correspondence relating to educational support and research and development, UC and CSU projects, and material from the Student Affairs Office relating to Title IX. Also includes campus surveys relating to Title…
Transcripts and cassette tapes of oral history interviews with various individuals involved in the formation of the California State University system.
Chancellor’s Office Collection consists of the administrative records of the Chancellor’s of the California State University System. The Chancellor is the administrative head of the system reporting to the Board of Trustees. This collections consists of the records mostly…
Minutes, agendas, and related items of the California State University Chief Administrators and Business Officers group (1993-2001). Topics covered in minutes include budget process, environmental health and safety issues, integrated technology strategy, collaborative management systems, and audit planning
Collection of memoranda created by various offices and divisions of the Chancellor’s Office of the California State University (1960-2002).
***
A number of states sold the electorate on paying for education by installing state lotteries. Supposedly these funds from the sales of lottery tickets would make sure that every adult, every high school student and every person of college age who wanted to go to college could go to college with tuition supported by the lottery. The funds from the lottery were also supposed to be used to underwrite the school systems and department of education budgets. Now, in the last few years, including in 2010, the proceeds from these lotteries have reached record levels and their profits are excessive and monumental. But, for some reason budget cuts are happening in every state that uses the state-run lottery to support education – are they only using 10% of the proceeds for education and the rest is given to what? Where is it going?
Why did the legislatures in these lottery states break the law that originally established these funds and lotteries. There is intent to mislead the public when they were voting for these lotteries because those funds have not allowed every student to access higher education and huge restrictions on which students and under what conditions could have access to those tuition supports. It is ridiculous in an age and time when America must compete in a world whose educations are broader, more provided, more extensive, higher, better and available to more of their populations.
It isn’t without reason that Microsoft and other large corporations needing expert knowledge are insisting on access to individuals from other countries as new hires rather than from the United States. (check H1B Visas – I think that’s the one and the hearings where Bill Gates and others said that if those weren’t made more available – they would take their companies out of the United States.)
– cricketdiane
**
ATLANTA – The Georgia Lottery Corp. today announced record first-half profits for education. Georgia Lottery profits for the first half of fiscal year 2010 totaled $429,754,000, surpassing the previous record set last fiscal year by more than $8.49 million.
The Georgia Lottery is the only traditional lottery in the U.S. to experience 11 consecutive years of growth in profits.
those are the profits . . .This is what they are doing . . .
In Georgia, a legislative committee proposed $300 million in cuts to the state’s college system, on top of $100 million cut in the past two years, University of Georgia President Michael F. Adams wrote in an open letter to students, faculty and staff.
(from article below -)
**
Students, professors to protest education cutbacks
State funding for the California State University system was reduced by nearly $1 billion for the academic years between 2008 and 2010. Schools have responded by increasing fees, canceling classes, cutting student support programs and furloughing professors. Fees have increased 182 percent since 2002.
The only thing that states, education departments, school systems and district budget decision makers do understand, are lawsuits. Intentional economic exclusion being perpetrated by the state budget comptroller’s office, state legislatures, state governors’ administrations and department of education decision-makers is illegal and that is actually what they are doing.
(my note – cricketdiane)
***
California State University Foundation RecordsSmall collection of records of the California State University Foundation. Includes development award materials, brochures, pamphlets, news releases, and celebration of teaching programs.
California State University Extended Education CollectionCollection includes a variety of CSU offices and commissions relating to extended or continuing education programs in the CSU. Offices or commissions include: Advisory Committee on Continuing Education (1968-1977); Commission on External Degree Program (1969-1977); Continuing Education Department (1963-1983);…
CHECK HERE –
California State University Government Affairs Office RecordsCSU Office of Government Affairs records (1960-1991—mostly 1960s, 6 ft) deal with the State College and University systems interactions with the California State Legislature regarding legislation, college sites and controversial issues. Subjects include college sites, campus unrest, buildings and…
CSU Office of Government Affairs records (1960-1991—mostly 1960s, 6 ft) deal with the State College and University systems interactions with the California State Legislature regarding legislation, college sites and controversial issues. The former Government Affairs office is currently called the Office of Advocacy and Institutional Relations.
Subjects include Board of Trustee Actions, production of the play “The Beard” at Fullerton; college name changes; Association of Student Body Presidents; buildings and grounds; architects; proposed college sites; Les Cohen speeches; campus dissent; Vandenburg Air Force Base; individual campus issues; correspondence with Chancellors, legislators, Governors including Ronald Reagan, and Lt. Governors; possible Ventura County campus sites; Dow Chemical/Anti-war demonstration; joint doctoral degree programs; John Gilbaugh correspondence with chancellor; legislative progress reports; State Technical Services Act; faculty recruitment; labor unions; grievance procedures; faculty staffing formula; faculty research; bond issues; nudity; nursing program; “pornography;” R.O.T.C.; George Murray, National Defense Student Loans; weekly briefing, student admissions; Vietnam Moratorium Day; year-round operations; San Francisco State crisis (1968-1969); remedial education; and many other issues.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
College buildings
College campuses
Censorship
Student movements
Personal Names
Reagan, Ronald
Murray, George
Corporate Names
California State University
California State University. Office of the Chancellor
California State University Government Affairs Office RecordsCSU Office of Government Affairs records (1960-1991—mostly 1960s, 6 ft) deal with the State College and University systems interactions with the California State Legislature regarding legislation, college sites and controversial issues. Subjects include college sites, campus unrest, buildings and…
Almost half of the 91 colleges surveyed by Banks and Railsback offered special programs to encourage women and/or minorities to enroll in science and math programs and help them succeed. The literature indicates that such programs tend to focus on one or more of the following goals:
*ensuring that students have the basic skills needed for success in college-level math and science courses
*providing social and academic support networks
*helping students and their families afford the costs of college through scholarships, financial aid, savings programs, and other means
*providing women and minority role models and mentors from within the college and the community
*altering pedagogical approaches and curricula to accommodate students’ learning styles better.
For example, Washtenaw Community College in Michigan has implemented a program to upgrade the basic skills of women and minority students and provide the academic support needed for them to succeed in high technology occupational training programs (Leach and Roberts, 1988). Counseling, peer support, financial aid, and student advocacy are important components for ensuring student persistence.
Devarics, Charles. “Occidental Program Promotes Science for Community College Students.” Community College Week; v2 n7 p11 November 13, 1989.
Leach, Juliette D.; Roberts, Shirley I. “A Soft Technology: Recruiting and Retaining Women and Minorities in High Tech Programs.” Community, Technical, and Junior College Journal; v59 n2 p34-37 Oct.-Nov. 1988.
Lee, Beth S.; And Others. MESA/MEP at American River College. Year One Evaluation Report. Sacramento, CA: Los Rios Community College District, Office of Planning and Research, 1990. 45 pp. (ED 319 472)
McDonnell, L.M.; Oakes, J.; Shavelson, R.J. Indicators for Monitoring Mathematics and Science Education: A Sourcebook. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corp., 1989.
National Science Board. Undergraduate Science, Mathematics and Engineering Education. Washington, DC: Author, 1986. 67 pp. (ED 272 398)
Task Force on Women, Minorities, and the Handicapped in Science and Technology. Changing America: The New Face of Science and Engineering. Final Report. Washington, DC: Author, 1989. 47 pp. (ED 317 386)
Williams, Ronald A.; Cox, Mary Anne. “Minority Student Recruitment: A Connecticut Model.” New Directions for Community Colleges; v19 n1 p39-46 Summer 1991.
My Note – I updated this to include the above information from ERIC digest – to express that they’ve always known what the problem is and why America’s education system is critical to the survival and prosperity of the United States over the last twenty years and certainly over the next twenty years or hundred years and especially over the course of the immediate five years . . .
Consequently, to cut these universities’, community colleges’, high schools’, post-secondary education resources’ budgets and the budgets of education systems throughout the fifty states is to destroy AMerica’s capacity to succeed now and in the future. At a time when our country needs even more education across every level of our society, including in those who have higher educations – (considering that most of our economic crisis has occurred because many in Wall Street, Harvard, business schools, investment firms, banks and government economic bureaus did not understand the basic laws of physics – that what goes up will come down), the mismanagement of educational financial resources in school systems, colleges, university systems, state budgets, state departments of education, and in other financial decision-making affecting them cannot be tolerated.
Please note that this site is privately owned and is in no way related to any Federal agency or ERIC unit. Further, this site is using a privately owned and located server. This is NOT a government sponsored or government sanctioned site. ERIC is a Service Mark of the U.S. Government. This site exists to provide the text of the public domain ERIC Documents previously produced by ERIC. No new content will ever appear here that would in any way challenge the ERIC Service Mark of the U.S. Government.
ERIC Identifier: ED329807 Publication Date: 1991-00-00 Author: Imel, Susan Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education Columbus OH.
ERIC and the Adult Education Act: 25 Years of Collaboration. ERIC Digest No. 107.
In 1966, two events of significance for the field of adult education occurred: Congress approved the first adult education act in the Nation’s history and the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system was established. Although these were independent events, it was fortuitous that the passage of the Adult Education Act and the launching of a national education information network occurred during the same year. It meant that at the same time monies to support adult education research and delivery systems became available, there was a mechanism in place to collect and disseminate the results of these activities. This ERIC Digest highlights the 25-year collaboration between the Adult Education Act (AEA) and the ERIC system.
Brief descriptions of both the AEA and the ERIC system begin the Digest. Next, using ERIC to locate AEA-related resources is discussed. Information about making contact with appropriate ERIC components and the U.S. Department of Education’s Division of Adult Education and Literacy concludes the DIGEST.
THE ADULT EDUCATION ACT
The Adult Education Act is the major piece of federal legislation providing funding for adult education programs serving educationally disadvantaged adults. Currently administered by the U.S. Department of Education’s Division of Adult Education and Literacy, this act distributes funds to the states for adult basic education programs offered in a variety of institutions–local education agencies, community colleges, community-based organizations, workplaces, and correctional institutions (Crandall and Imel 1991).
Although it has its origin in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, adult basic education was established as a distinctive program with the passage of the Adult Education Act of 1966 (Parker 1990). This historical piece of legislation established the authorization for the Adult Education program in the Office of Education, expanded the program to include adults with limited English proficiency, and authorized grants for special experimental demonstration projects and for teacher training. Since 1966, the AEA has been amended many times, most recently in 1988. These amendments have expanded the scope of the act to include adult school completion, a competency-based approach to assessment and programming, and workplace literacy programs (Division of Adult Education and Literacy [1990]). When reauthorized in 1991, it is expected that the Adult Education Act will provide greater support for and coordination of adult basic education and adult literacy initiatives at local and state levels (Crandall and Imel 1991).
The enlarged scope of the act has been accompanied by an increase in both enrollees and financial support. The number of persons served by the act has grown from a half million adults in 1968 to more than 3 million in 1988. Although the amount of federal funding for the act has increased–from $30.6 million in 1968 to $238.8 million in 1991–it has been the increase in state and local support–from $9.6 million in 1968 to $510.5 million in 1988–that is an indication of widespread support for the act and its purposes (Division of Adult Education and Literacy [1990]).
ERIC–THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER
ERIC–the Educational Resources Information Center–is a federally supported educational database that currently receives its funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. Designed to put the results of educational research and development in the hands of researchers, practitioners, administrators, and policymakers, ERIC consists of a central unit in Washington, DC, and 16 clearinghouses located throughout the country, each focusing on a specific area of education.
Each clearinghouse is responsible for acquiring and processing information in its assigned area in order to build the ERIC database. The database, which can be accessed through printed index, by computer, or in CD-ROM format, consists of two types of literature. The first is the document literature, sometimes known as “fugitive material” since it would not be readily available unless selected and included in ERIC. Recently completed research reports, curriculum and instructional materials, teaching guides, descriptions and evaluations of exemplary programs, and other documents are examples of the types of materials that are announced in ERIC’s monthly document index, “Resources in Education” (RIE). ERIC also includes journal literature. Each month articles from more than 700 education-related journals are annotated and included in “Current Index to Journals in Education” (CIJE).
In addition to building the database, ERIC Clearinghouses provide reference services to their client groups by answering questions, making referrals to other agencies, and providing searches of the ERIC database. They also develop and disseminate products–such as this ERIC Digest–that provide information on high-interest areas within education and that review and synthesize material in the database.
USING ERIC TO LOCATE AEA-RELATED RESOURCES
For the past 25 years, the ERIC system has been collecting and disseminating materials related to the Adult Education Act. These materials can be classified into two categories: those that are about the act and those that are results (i.e., curricula, project reports) of projects and research funded by the act. Each of these categories is described, including information on terms (ERIC descriptors or identifiers) to provide access to the materials.
MATERIALS ABOUT THE ACT
Over the years, there have been a number of items written about the act itself. Some of these pieces are analyses of the act, some are evaluations, and some recommend changes in the legislation. The earliest ERIC report about the Adult Education Act is “Adult Basic Education. Program Summary” (Office of Education 1967) that provides a brief description of the federal adult basic education program for fiscal years 1965, 1966 and estimates for 1967. Other examples of materials in this category are “An Assessment of the State-Administered Program of the Adult Education Act. Final Report” (Young and others 1980), “The Adult Education Act: Issues and Perspectives on Reauthorization” (Taylor 1983), “State of the Art in Adult Basic Education” (Delker 1984), and “Promoting Innovation and Controversy in Adult Basic Education: Section 309 of the Adult Education Act (Radwin 1984). Materials about the act can be retrieved using the identifier “Adult Education Act.”
INFORMATION ABOUT PROJECTS FUNDED UNDER THE ACT
Reports and products produced by projects funded with AEA monies constitute most of the AEA-related information in ERIC. The majority of these resulted from special research and demonstration projects funded through Sections 309, 310, and, most recently, 353 of the act. Although there is a large collection of materials in this category, it is not complete because many reports were never submitted to ERIC and some that were did not meet the ERIC selection criteria. Unfortunately, it is not as easy to retrieve materials in this category from the database. Since 1983, projects funded under either Section 310 or Section 353 of the act have been cataloged with the identifiers “310 Project” or “353 Project.” To retrieve materials prior to that, it is helpful to know the institution where the project was conducted or some other identifying information such as the name of the project director.
Catalogs of AEA-funded projects included in the ERIC database can be used to locate information about specific projects. Examples of these include “Clearinghouse ADELL’S Catalog of Adult Education Projects, Fiscal Year 1978,” funded under the Adult Education Act Sections 306 (A) (4) and 309 (1) and (2) (Clearinghouse ADELL 1978); and “Catalog of Adult Education Projects, Fiscal Year 1982” (Office of Vocational and Adult Education 1982).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Further information about ERIC and AEA-related materials in the ERIC database can be acquired by contacting the ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education (ERIC/ACVE) 1900 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1090 or the National Clearinghouse on Literacy Education (NCLE), Center for Applied Linguistics, 1118 22nd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037. NCLE is an adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse that collects literacy materials for adults and out-of-school youth with limited-English proficiency. Both ERIC/ACVE and NCLE produce Digests and other free or low-cost materials on topics related to adult literacy and basic education.
Further information about the AEA can be obtained from the Division of Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL), Office of Vocational and Adult Education, USDE, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20036.
REFERENCES
Clearinghouse ADELL. Clearinghouse ADELL’S Catalog of Adult Education Projects, Fiscal Year 1978, Funded under the Adult Education Act Sections 306 (A) (4) and 309 (1) and (2). Rockville, MD: Clearinghouse ADELL, 1978. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 158 017).
Crandall, J., and Imel, S. “Issues in Adult Literacy Education.” The ERIC Review 1, no. 2, (March 1991): 2-8.
Delker, P. V. “State of the Art in Adult Basic Education.” Paper presented at the National Adult Literacy Conference, Washington, DC, January 1984. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 241 698).
Division of Adult Education and Literacy. “Adult Education Act. Silver Anniversary 1966-1991.” Washington, DC: DAEL, U.S. Department of Education, [1990].
Office of Education. Adult Basic Education. Program Summary. Washington, DC: OE, DHEW, March 1967. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 015 380).
Office of Vocational and Adult Education. Catalog of Adult Education Projects, Fiscal Year 1982. Washington, DC: OVAE, U.S. Department of Education, 1982. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 228 379).
Parker, J. T. “Modeling a Future for Adult Basic Education.” Adult Learning 1, no.4 (January 1990): 16-18, 28.
Radwin, E. Promoting Innovation and Controversy in Adult Basic Education: Section 309 of the Adult Basic Education Act. San Francisco: Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development; Andover, MA: Network of Innovative Schools, December 1984. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 253 774).
Taylor, P. C. “The Adult Education Act: Issues and Perspectives on Reauthorization.” Lifelong Learning 7, no. 1 (September 1983): 10-11, 26-27.
Young, M. B., and Others. An Assessment of the State-Administered Program of the Adult Education Act. Final Report. Arlington, VA: Development Associates, July 1980. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 195 700).
When reauthorized in 1991, it is expected that the Adult Education Act will provide greater support for and coordination of adult basic education and adult literacy initiatives at local and state levels (Crandall and Imel 1991).The enlarged scope of the act has been accompanied by an increase in both enrollees and financial support. The number of persons served by the act has grown from a half million adults in 1968 to more than 3 million in 1988. Although the amount of federal funding for the act has increased–from $30.6 million in 1968 to $238.8 million in 1991–it has been the increase in state and local support–from $9.6 million in 1968 to $510.5 million in 1988–that is an indication of widespread support for the act and its purposes (Division of Adult Education and Literacy [1990]).
(excerpt from above)
Last night on bloomberg’s financial shows, there was a rolling clip played every so often of Bank of America’s Ken Lewis and his adjusted mathematics lesson.
And, maybe I’m not as sophisticated as those great financial geeks of Wall Street and in the corporate boardrooms of America, but even I know that you don’t use the numbers and facts from a time that was profitable to express the situation that currently isn’t.
It seems that “normalized numbers” is an expression to indicate using numbers from an earlier period (say, 2005) when the assets were performing and profits were evident to explain that a business is currently profit-making and performing well today.
And, then using those numbers from an earlier time, adding them or dividing them or otherwise manipulating them as if they happened this week, this quarter or in these last six months, to explain current profitability and to project future earnings, expectations, costs and profits.
Watching Ken Lewis in action, it is easy to see what the problem is. They think we are all stupid. And – maybe we are. We let this go on this way.
Yesterday, I created another glossary of terms, so I could keep up with them. Now, I’m going to have to add a whole other category to cover the bullshitus maximus of “adjusted mathematics” being used by Ken Lewis and other bankers, CEOs, CFOs, and public finance folks.
Glossary of specific terms, 02-25-09
Federal Reserve – access portal for free money from the government to use for covering bad bets.
stress test (for financial institutions) – figuring out how much money banks and credit card companies need and giving it to them.
legacy assets – worthless and nearly worthless toxic assets being purchased for above market rates in order to make it sound better and to make publicly traded profit-driven companies’ balance sheets look better.
stock markets – an elaborate poker game used to price things that are created in and based upon the imaginations and machinations of American financial engineers.
bond markets – a place to gamble on someone else’s bad debts – quite a thrill to get the oneupmanship of picking the one out of ten thousand that makes good on it.
financial news coverage – an entertainment akin to fantasy football based primarily on innuendo, rumor, gossip and “feel-good” reporting. Previously it was intended to do whatever it takes to make things look good in the stock market and in the corporate community such that people will stay in the “con game” of stocks, bonds, consumer credit and money market funds.
Securities and Exchange Commission – plum job with good pay and benefits provided you suit up, show up and don’t bother looking at anything in the stock market, bond markets or having to do with money or assets. A nice place to work for quick, free money, a pretty work environment and cheesecake benefits package plus perks working with old stock market and Harvard business school buddies.
Office of Thrift Supervision – something the Feds use to bully bankers with concepts about mathematics being used for other applications besides betting on the football pool or Las Vegas gambling. This includes using mathematics for accounting and adhering to other stupid regulations, (that bankers claim shouldn’t apply to them because regulators don’t understand “the necessities of business” in their opinion.)
From the lessons of watching “how its done” by bankers, investment bankers and other financial institutions – when the office of thrift supervision or other regulators of a similar authority are expected – leave town for a conference when they come by taking any file passwords with you and put all materials from them in file 86.
Explanation of a balance sheet –
> item
> 001 – (well that’s losing money, so don’t put it on this balance sheet.)
002 – (carry forward the numbers from 2005 when it was profitable)
003 – (that really doesn’t count here because private jets are advertising)
004 – (if we put that here, it would look like we are losing money.)
005 – (that increases shareholder value, so it isn’t really paid out against anything that comes in the door. We don’t count that.)
Here is why I say we are in a Depression – because sooner or later, everything will have to be re-valued based on real values rather than supposed values.
Let’s say we have corporation A. This corporation owns an office building which is 90% unoccupied. But on the books of corporation A, this office building is priced u as if it is fully rented. What asset value does that office building then represent? What happens when the market value of those office spaces devolves into a sub-value of what was expected and projected for its capacity? What happens to that asset value when the building and property itself cannot be sold in the marketplace or could only be sold for a value much lower than that paid for it? That is the situation now.
Further, let’s say that corporation A leveraged the asset value of the office building that they own at some time before today. That leverage occurred at an assumption of full or nearly complete occupancy, not at 90% empty. It also occurred at a property value based on expected returns in a marketplace at least 30% higher than it is now. But, the leverage was created based on the old values which no longer apply. Now, what is that asset worth? What value is it given when the leverage based upon it is greater than the value that could be brought from it based in reality?
On the balance sheet of corporation A, what occurs? Where is the actual values of properties owned and assets available against the borrowing and debt obligations that must be made on higher values than reality will bear?
To me, this means that sooner or later adjustments will have to be made in a downward direction. There is no doubt that other credit structures and derivatives were sold based upon the credit extended to corporation A and its assets and properties. Those also will falter in value. It isn’t possible for this system to represent real value nor to flex in accommodation of it, except for situations in which that value continues to increase. It has no flexibility going in the other direction – in a negative valuation event.
For that reason, above and beyond all others, I say that we are in a Depression economic situation and that is what is unfolding before us. The trade deficits that have been maintained over a period of years, the number of bankruptcies registered and administered over the last five years, the true unemployment figures from the US and around the world, and the basic insolvency of the credit based system that has been in use without restraint – all spell out a speculative environment of high-risk, highly leveraged institutions that are failing in light of reality.
I believe that the housing foreclosures are a symptom of the problem, not the cause – but are an indication of the very real fractures occurring in the system. It was never viable to use loans as assets to be traded, sold and used as leverage against asset purchases and obligations as if they were real money. They aren’t. These uses of credit, leverage and loans as a currency has falsified the actual values of everything they have touched and undermined the real values throughout the corporations and government systems that have used them.
The solutions that will work for this situation include putting the precise and appropriate regulations in place before valuing any more of the asset classes involved, placing standard accounting practices into use across the board (regardless of the type of fund, accounts or institution involved), and exchanging credit based assets back to real ones in the marketplace. It will also be a part of any viable solution to take apart the CDOs into their component parts and re-establishing their real values in light of the realities in the marketplace.
Currency and asset values must be re-asserted based upon relative comparisons from the real world and no longer based on credit, loans, leverage, guarantees, future earnings, future taxes, and pretend economics / make-believe accounting practices. When that happens, opportunity can open and be constructed that is available to all with potential for growth, strength and a foundation that is concrete and real to support it.
These and other similar measures must be done or we have nothing and everything that is touched by these eroding values will be worth nothing.
A Georgia health inspector noted only two minor violations at the Peanut Corp. of America plant in October, and inspection reports indicate officials spent no more than a few hours inside the plant during visits there. But after the FDA became suspicious of the plant’s role in the outbreak months later, it found roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other sanitation problems. The federal agents spent days at the plant.
The FDA never followed up on the Georgia inspections because the problems discovered by the state “were considered to be somewhat resolved,” Michael Chappell, head of the FDA’s enforcement division, said during a congressional hearing last week.
The FDA relied on Georgia to inspect the Peanut Corp. plant in Blakely between 2006 and 2008, just as it relies on other states. But Georgia failed to identify problems, even as the company’s own internal testing repeatedly found salmonella in its products and Canada rejected a shipment of its peanuts because of metal contamination.
State investigators performed more than half the Food and Drug Administration’s food inspections in 2007, according to an AP analysis of FDA data. That represents a dramatic rise from a decade ago, when FDA investigators performed three out of four of the federal government’s inspections. The Agriculture Department is responsible for meat and dairy safety.
The number of federal field food inspectors dropped by more than 400 between 2003 and 2007, according to the FDA’s budget. But the number of businesses requiring oversight increased by 7,200 between 2003 and 2007, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
Excerpt from –
US relies on states for food safety inspections
BY SETH BORENSTEIN and BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE
AP, posted: 3 DAYS 4 HOURS AGO
“My 89-year-old mother and my 3-year-old grandson both enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” Bulloch said. “I wouldn’t be exposing either of them to anything I thought was remotely unsafe.”
** my note – where has this guy been lately – under a rock somewhere?
Despite peanut crisis, PB&J Day still a go at Capitol
Blakely’s state senator sponsors resolution commending state’s peanut industry
By MARY LOU PICKEL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, February 13, 2009
In these less-than-smooth days for the peanut industry, one state senator wants to remind everyone that the crunchy icon of Georgia agriculture has not been forsaken at the state Capitol.
Sen. John Bulloch (R-Ochlocknee) sponsored a resolution this week commending the state’s peanut industry and reminding everyone that Peanut Butter & Jelly Day will be celebrated at the Capitol on March 4.
“We’re promoting a great Georgia product, and that’s peanuts,” said Bulloch.
And next week, goober boosters will hold “Peanut Power Hour” at the Capitol, offering samples of a wide variety of peanut products with the aim of educating consumers about the safety and health benefits of peanuts.
The industry is acting in response to the nationwide salmonella outbreak in which tainted peanut products have sickened more than 630 people and possibly caused nine deaths.
Bulloch’s district includes Blakely, home to the Peanut Corp. of America processing plant now under federal investigation as the source of the salmonella outbreak. Bulloch has started to wear a peanut pin on his lapel, and recently, he held up a jar of peanut butter in the Senate chamber to remind his colleagues that it’s safe to eat.
Peanut plant shipped products it knew were tainted, FDA says
By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
The Associated Press
“Do not issue” was written Friday on a skid of meals intended for Kentucky storm victims. Authorities warned that the meals could include peanut butter recalled because of possible salmonella.
DANIEL PATMORE
Peanut Co. owner urged shipping tainted products
WASHINGTON | A Georgia peanut plant knowingly shipped salmonella-laced products as far back as 2007, according to inspection records released Friday.
At times it sent out tainted products after tests confirmed contamination, the records showed.
Food and Drug Administration officials earlier said Peanut Corp. of America waited for a second test to clear peanut butter and peanuts that initially were positive for salmonella. But the agency amended its report Friday, noting that the Blakely, Ga., processing plant actually shipped some products before receiving the second test and sold others after confirming salmonella.
Peanut Co. owner urged shipping tainted products
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE
Associated Press Writers
The owner of a peanut company urged his workers to ship tainted products after receiving test results identifying salmonella, imploring employees to “turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money,” according to internal company e-mails disclosed Wednesday by a House committee.
The company e-mails obtained by the House panel showed that Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell ordered the shipments tainted with the bacteria because he was worried about lost sales.
Stupak says he wants know how Peanut Corp. managed to sell allegedly tainted goods month after month without triggering action by state and federal health authorities.
The company, now under FBI investigation, makes only about 1 percent of U.S. peanut products. But its ingredients are used by dozens of other food companies.
Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could harm consumers’ health.
Peanut Corp.’s troubles mounted this week as the FBI raided corporate headquarters in Lynchburg, Va., as well as the Georgia plant. On Monday night, the company closed a second facility, in Plainview, Texas, after test results earlier in the day indicated salmonella was present in samples taken at the Texas plant. None of the products had been distributed to consumers, but the finding raised the prospect of a broader recall.
Further testing is needed to confirm the results, said Doug McBride, spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services.
FDA Honors IDFA, Others with Industry Collaboration Award
IDFA’s collaborative and successful efforts to extend the industry’s third-party international certification pilot program were recognized in June with an honor award from the Food and Drug Administration. As members of the industry team that worked on the pilot program, Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president, and Philippe Caradec of The Dannon Company received FDA’s Leveraging Collaboration Award “for precedent setting, collaborative effort in order to maximize federal and state resources while maintaining NCIMS standards for imported Grade A milk and milk products.”
As a result of industry teamwork, the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments agreed earlier this year to extend the Grade A International Certification pilot program to evaluate whether private certifiers can be used instead of state regulators to effectively inspect and rate dairy farms and plants against Grade A standards. A total of 19 team members, representing FDA, the Center for Food Safety and Nutrition, several state agriculture departments and the National Milk Producers Federation, received the award.
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January 4, 2008
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FDA Commissioner Names Directors to Food Safety and Veterinary Centers
Commissioner of Food and Drugs Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., is pleased to announce two major changes in the agency’s senior leadership team. Effective Monday, Stephen F. Sundlof, D.V.M., Ph.D., is moving from director of FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) to director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). Bernadette Dunham, D.V.M., Ph.D., who is deputy director of CVM, will assume directorship of CVM, also effective Monday.
“It is more important than ever that the American public feel confident in the safety of the food they eat and feed their loved ones,” said von Eschenbach. “Drs. Sundlof and Dunham are world class scientists and leaders, with the dedication, vision and expertise needed to tackle challenges and enhance the science involved in assuring the safety and nutritional value of something so vital to healthy life; namely our food.”
For over a decade, Dr. Sundlof has served as the director of CVM. In that capacity, with his background as a toxicologist, he has overseen the regulation of feed, including food additives, and drugs intended for animals. These include animals from which human foods are derived, as well as food and drugs for pets (or companion animals) and other non-food-producing animals such as zoo animals, parakeets, hamsters, and aquarium fish.
Dr. Sundlof has extensive experience in the food safety and protection arena, including service on numerous domestic and international committees on food safety, where he served as chairman and led the development of new international policies and safety standards. He also provided significant input into the development of the FDA’s Food Protection Plan issued in November 2007, a strategic and comprehensive approach to improve food safety and defense in the United States. He was instrumental in putting in place robust animal feed programs to prevent Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also called mad cow disease, from entering the U.S. feed system. There have been no cases of mad cow disease in the United States resulting from a failure of the feed system. This depth and breadth of experience makes him well suited to serve as director of CFSAN.
Prior to joining FDA, Dr. Sundlof served on the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, where he held the rank of professor of toxicology. He also has received many honors and awards as a leader in his field and has authored several scientific and technical papers. Since 1994 he has served as chairman of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods.
Dr. Dunham has worked closely with Dr. Sundlof in her role as deputy director of CVM since 2006. She has played a critical role, and provided executive leadership, in coordinating and establishing center policy in research, management, scientific evaluation, compliance, and surveillance. While serving as CVM deputy director, Dr. Dunham also was the director for CVM’s Office of Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Drug Development, the office that oversees drug development for minor species, such as zoo animals, ornamental fish, parrots, ferrets, guinea pigs, sheep, goats, catfish, and honeybees. That office also oversees drug development for uncommon diseases in major species, such as cattle, pigs, chicken, turkeys, horses, dogs and cats.
Before joining the FDA in 2002, Dr. Dunham served in several important leadership positions with the American Veterinary Medical Association and held faculty positions at several universities, including at the Department of Pharmacology at the State University of New York Health Science Center (SUNY-HSC) at Syracuse, while concurrently acting as the director of laboratory animal medicine at SUNY-HSC at Syracuse.
In addition to the scientific peer recognition she has received throughout her career, Dr. Dunham continues to collaborate with colleagues outside of FDA, as evidenced by her two FDA Leveraging/Collaboration Awards. One recognized her accomplishments as a member of the Swissmedic Bilateral Collaboration, through which the FDA and its Swiss counterpart work to increase collaboration on facility inspections. The other acknowledged her contributions to the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Security and Prosperity Partnership/Negotiation Team. This partnership is a trilateral effort to increase security and enhance prosperity among the United States, Canada and Mexico through greater cooperation and information sharing.
Drs. Sundlof and Dunham will report directly to Dr. von Eschenbach.
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Biography of Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D.
PDF Version
Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D.Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., was appointed Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs in September 2005, where he immediately engaged an agenda to modernize the FDA. Under his leadership, many new programs have been designed to strengthen the FDA in its mission to protect and promote public health. He has emphasized FDA’s role in working with external partners to assure quality throughout the entire life cycle of the products it regulates while internally fostering, through process improvements, a regulatory pathway that is transparent and efficient while still rigorous and science led. Confirmed by the Senate as Commissioner in December 2006, Dr. von Eschenbach emphasizes innovation by fostering creative projects, including FDA’s Critical Path Initiative (designed to bring modern tools of science to the product development process); work plans like the FDA’s Food Protection Plan; and most especially the nurturing of the workforce through initiatives, such as an Agency-wide fellowship program and development of a new integrated campus for the Agency in White Oak, Maryland.
Dr. von Eschenbach joined FDA after serving for four years as Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health where he set an ambitious goal to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer by rapid acceleration and integration of the discovery-development-delivery continuum. While at NCI, he committed resources to ensure the application to oncology of nanotechnology, genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, and other emerging technologies. At the time of his appointment by President Bush to serve as Director of NCI, he was President-Elect of the American Cancer Society. Dr. von Eschenbach entered government service after an outstanding career over three decades as a physician, surgeon, oncologist and executive that included numerous leadership roles from Chairman of the Department of Urologic Oncology to Executive Vice President and Chief Academic at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, an institution world renowned for the magnitude and excellence of its clinical and research cancer programs. An internationally renowned cancer specialist and author of more than 200 scientific articles and studies, Dr. von Eschenbach has served in numerous leadership roles, including serving as one of the founding members of the National Dialogue on Cancer. He has received numerous professional awards and honors. In 2006, Dr. von Eschenbach was named one of Time magazine’s “100 most influential people to shape the world,” and in both 2007 and 2008, he was selected as one of the Modern Healthcare/Modern Physician’s “50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare.”
Dr. von Eschenbach earned a B.S. from St. Joseph’s University in his native Philadelphia and his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. He served as a Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. After completing a residency in urologic surgery at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, he was an instructor in urology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed a Fellowship in Urologic Oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
He has been married to his childhood sweetheart, Madelyn, for over 40 years, and they are proud parents of four children and elated grandparents of six.
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Statement of
Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D.
Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration
Department of Health and Human Services
before
The Senate Agriculture, Rural Development,
and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee
Field Hearing at the
West Madison Agricultural Research Center
Verona, Wisconsin
March 12 , 2007
Good morning, Chairman Kohl. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today to discuss food safety and the safety of fresh produce. I appreciate your commitment to the work of FDA and I commend you for your special interest in the safety of America’s food supply.
Appearing with me today is Dr. Robert Brackett, Director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. We appreciate the opportunity to discuss FDA’s current processes as well as planned improvements for food safety, particularly the safety of fresh produce.
In the past decade, fresh produce consumption has increased, and fresh-cut produce represents a particularly fast-growing segment of the fresh produce market. These foods are an important part of a healthy and nutritious diet, and Americans expect them to be safe. The 2006 outbreaks of Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 infection linked to fresh spinach and lettuce emphasize the need for continued efforts to protect the public health from foodborne illnesses associated with fresh produce. We at FDA are committed to doing everything we can to help ensure that these and all other FDA-regulated foods are safe.
Therefore, FDA has requested an increase of $10.6 million for food safety activities in FY 2008. This increase will bring the total FDA investment for food safety to $391 million in FY 2008. This investment will help FDA reduce risk across the lifecycle of produce production. FDA will use these resources to develop better methods to detect and attribute foodborne illness outbreaks related to produce, increase sampling and traceback, develop and update guidance to prevent and reduce outbreaks, obtain additional expertise in the production and processing of fresh produce, and enhance our response to foodborne outbreaks.
Fresh vegetables and fruits pose particular food safety challenges. Because most produce is grown in an outdoor environment, it is vulnerable to contamination from pathogens that may be present in the soil, in agricultural or processing water, and in manure used as fertilizer, or due to the presence of animals in or near fields or packing areas. It is also vulnerable to contamination due to inadequate worker health and hygiene protections, environmental conditions, production safeguards, and sanitation of equipment and facilities. The fact that produce is often consumed raw or with only minimal processing, without any type of intervention that would reduce or eliminate pathogens prior to consumption, contributes to its potential as a source of foodborne illness. Consequently, controlling the way fresh produce is grown, harvested, and moved from field to fork is crucial to minimizing the risk of microbial contamination.
For the past 100 years, FDA has established and maintained the gold standard for food safety. Americans have one of the safest food supplies in the world. But the production, distribution, and importation of foods, the public’s consumption practices, and our ability to track and identify foodborne pathogens have changed significantly, and FDA must respond to those changes. Fresh produce serves as a good example of the changes we are witnessing. Consumption of fresh produce – especially items like spinach and lettuce implicated in recent outbreaks of foodborne illness – has increased significantly since 1999. According to USDA, per capita consumption of leafy green lettuce and spinach grew by 59 percent and 130 percent respectively, between 1999 and 2006.
Therefore, reducing the risk of foodborne illness requires strong science capable of identifying both the sources of risk and effective control measures. We are using molecular technology to improve our ability to identify foodborne illnesses and their causes by tracking the fingerprints of the suspected contaminants. We must address some of these risks as food is produced and other risks as food is processed and distributed. We must also enhance our ability to detect and contain outbreaks. Reducing the risk of foodborne illness also requires effective partnerships with other parties interested in food safety. Finally, reducing the risks of foodborne illness also requires FDA to strategically deploy inspection resources in a manner that addresses the greatest risks to the food supply. FDA has focused its food safety efforts in three key areas, and I elaborate on these here.
I. Strengthening the Scientific Basis for FDA’s Program to Improve Food Safety
Strengthening the scientific basis for FDA’s program to improve food safety is key to improving FDA’s effectiveness at protecting public health. For the past decade, FDA has worked closely with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) to coordinate and mutually support our respective research efforts related to produce safety. This relationship allows FDA to augment its research resources and gain access to facilities and expertise we do not have. In this spirit, we collaborated with ARS and CSREES to look for sources of E. coli O157:H7 in California’s Salinas Valley, to analyze water samples from the Salinas watershed for E. coli O157:H7, and to relate the location of bacteria to geographical, seasonal, or rainfall variation. FDA will use the information obtained from this study to inform produce growers about strategies to prevent pre-harvest microbial contamination.
We strengthen the scientific basis for our program by collaborating and learning with others, such as participating in many scientific and technical meetings on food safety. Last month we participated in a forum sponsored by the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security to share information on assessing industry approaches to address the safety of lettuce and leafy greens on the farm and at packing, cooling, and processing facilities. In February 2007, the FDA-affiliated Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and the University of Florida sponsored a workshop to improve understanding of how tomatoes become contaminated with Salmonella and other pathogens. In May 2007, FDA, the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, and the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety will co-sponsor a workshop on microbial testing to reach a consensus on the role of microbial testing to ensure the safety of produce.
To seek additional input from the public, we are holding two public hearings (March 20 in California and April 13 in Maryland) concerning the safety of fresh produce. We will share information about recent outbreaks of foodborne illness related to fresh produce and solicit comments, data, and other scientific information about current agricultural and manufacturing practices, risk factors for contamination, and possible measures by FDA to enhance the safety of fresh produce.
II. Enhancing Effective Partnerships
To succeed in our science-based efforts to promote food safety, we need to enhance our collaborations with stakeholders interested in food safety, particularly with respect to fresh produce. Fresh produce is produced on tens of thousands of farms, and contamination at one step in the growing and processing chain can be amplified at the next step. FDA has worked with the public and private sector to encourage industry to follow the recommendations and standards contained in FDA guidances. After enlisting the help of the scientific community and the industry, FDA published the “Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.” This guide, published in 1998, recommends good agricultural practices and good manufacturing practices that growers, packers, and shippers can take to address common risk factors in their operations. We have worked with the domestic and foreign fresh produce industry since the release of this Guide to promote its recommendations and to advance the scientific knowledge to enhance the safety of fresh produce.
The example of fresh sprouts illustrates how successful these efforts can be. In 1999, there were 390 reported illnesses associated with eating contaminated fresh sprouts. FDA published two guidance documents for sprouts that year. We believe that the subsequent decline in sprout-associated illnesses was in large part due to industry adhering to recommendations in those guidances through our outreach and inspection efforts. In 2004, only 33 illnesses were reported associated with fresh sprouts, and in 2005 and 2006 there were none.
FDA’s efforts in this area are ongoing. I am pleased to report that just last week FDA issued a draft final version of its “Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of Fresh-cut Fruits and Vegetables” (the Fresh-cut Guide). This guidance is intended for all fresh-cut produce firms, including, among others, fresh-cut spinach and lettuce/leafy greens, to enhance the safety of fresh-cut produce by minimizing the microbial food safety hazards. In addition, FDA worked with the Delegation of the United States to the international Codex Alimentarius Commission to request, at the earliest possible date, an expert consultation on the microbiological safety of fresh produce to support the development of commodity-specific annexes to the hygienic code. In August 2006, FDA launched its “Lettuce and Leafy Greens Initiative,” which assesses practices and conditions at select farms and facilities in California, in collaboration with California’s Department of Health Services and its Department of Food and Agriculture. We will continue to work with Federal, state, local and international food safety partners and with industry to develop guidance, conduct research, develop educational outreach materials, and initiate other commodity- or region-specific programs to enhance the safety of fresh produce.
III. Improving Risk-Based Targeting of Inspection Resources
FDA is significantly improving its ability to target its inspection resources at the greatest risks to public health. However, inspections cannot and will not identify every potential contaminant. Improving the processes and operations of all participants in the food production and distribution process offers the greatest protection for American consumers, and inspections are only one component of this activity. To make best use of available resources, FDA uses a targeted, risk-based approach to inspections. FDA conducted 17 percent more import field exams in 2006 than in 2003. In addition, the FDA/USDA Food Emergency Response Network increased its laboratory participation to 134 laboratories in FY 2007, compared to 30 participating laboratories in March 2004 (near FERN’s inception), integrating the nation’s food testing capability for microbiological, chemical and radiological threat agents.
FDA’s ability to reallocate resources based on risk was tested when peanut butter was recently implicated in an outbreak of Salmonella Tennessee. FDA issued a warning to consumers within 24 hours of receiving notification by CDC, and swiftly deployed inspectors to the plant. ConAgra recalled the products and ceased production in the implicated processing plant. FDA is working to identify the root source of the contamination in order to prevent similar foodborne illness outbreaks from recurring.
CONCLUSION
FDA is working hard to ensure the safety of food, in collaboration with its Federal, state, local, and international food safety partners, and with industry and all its other stakeholders. The American food supply continues to be among the safest in the world. We have made progress, and we will continue to strive to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness.
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss FDA’s continuing efforts to improve the safety of fresh produce. I am happy to answer any questions.
Note: Fresh-cut is defined as fruits and vegetables that have been minimally processed and altered in form, by peeling, slicing, chopping, shredding, coring, or trimming, with or without washing or other treatment, prior to being packaged for use by the consumer or a retail establishment. Minimally processed fruits and vegetables have not undergone steps designed to kill pathogens that may be present.
Additional Information
FDA Issues Final Guidance For Safe Production of Fresh-Cut Fruits And Vegetables
(Press Release, March 12, 2007)
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 13, 2006) – The Food and Drug Administration released its budget request for Fiscal Year 2007 on February 6, 2006. While the almost $2 trillion Federal budget would increase from 2006, new priorities would eclipse the future of the $6M Food Contact Notification Program. As drafted, FDA’s budget would eliminate the FCN program and redirect those funds to programs with higher priorities.
The Society of the Plastics Industry’s Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Packaging Materials Committee Executive Director Susan Howe issued the following statement:
“The Food and Drug Administration’s decision to cut funding for its Food Contact Notification (FCN) program is another blow to American manufacturing. The net effect will reduce U.S. competitiveness in a global marketplace as well as stifle innovative technologies to enhance food safety for American consumers.
“The Society of the Plastics Industry is spearheading an allied-industry coalition to obtain the necessary funding to continue the FDA’s Food Contact Notification program in 2007. SPI’s Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Packaging Materials Committee will lead the industry’s efforts.
“If enacted, the elimination of the FCN program would have an enormous detrimental impact on the ability of all manufacturers to obtain clearances for new food-contact materials to be introduced in the U.S. marketplace. FCNs become effective within 120 days of filing, unless FDA considers the submission incomplete or objects to the notification. Furthermore, if the program is eliminated, new food-contact substances and new uses of food-contact substances that do not qualify for an exemption from pre-market review will need to be cleared through the food additive petition process, which can take up to five years.
“Prior to the FCN program FDA took between two and five years to finalize the rulemaking needed to complete the petition process. If the industry were forced to rely soley on petitions, the delay would severely impact the innovation of new and safer food packaging materials. In addition, if the program is suspended, manufacturers and suppliers would lose the proprietary advantage of the FCN program because petitions result in regulations that may be relied on by any company.”
The NPE2009 international plastics exposition will take place June 22-26, 2009 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. A total of 2,000 companies will exhibit on 1,000,000 sq.ft. (93,000 sq.m), more than a third of them coming directly from outside the U.S. About 75,000 plastics professionals from 120 countries are expected to register. The event is produced by the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI). Co-located with NPE2009 will be the Society of Plastics Engineers’ ANTECTM 2009, the world?s largest plastics technical conference, and Gardner Publications’ MoldMaking ExpoTM 2009 show and conference. Visit http://www.npe.org.
Founded in 1937, SPI is the plastics industry trade association representing the third largest manufacturing industry in the United States. SPI’s member companies represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.1 million workers and provides nearly $379 billion in annual shipments.
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Bush 2007 Budget Cuts $36 Billion from Medicare, $12 Billion from Medicaid
Feb. 6, 2006 – President Bush today released his budget proposal for 2007, which includes proposals to “save an estimated $36 billion over five years in Medicare.” The statement on Medicare and Medicaid says, “The key to preserving the promise of Medicare for America’s seniors and disabled is to enhance the long-term fiscal solvency of the program.” The cuts proposed for Medicaid reduce costs by $12 billion. Major new expenditures in Health Care are aimed at fighting the flu pandemic.
More Cuts in Medicare Coming Monday in Bush 2007 Budget
New York Times reporting Bush will target spending linked to aging population
Feb. 5, 2006 – Senior citizens, still reeling from billions of dollars cut from Medicare and Medicaid by the Congress last week, are in for more bad news this week. The New York Times has published articles about the 2007 budget to be proposed by President Bush tomorrow and says there are more big cuts to Medicare ahead, including a provision that increases “premiums for high-income people, beyond those already scheduled to take effect next year.” Read more…
The FY 2007 Budget, according to the Administration’s statement, “includes proposals that would strengthen Medicare’s financial viability, encouraging prudent choice of health care needs by beneficiaries. The proposals would reduce excessive government spending and save money for most beneficiaries, while also encouraging providers to increase productivity and efficiency. The Administration wants to ensure that Medicare continues to provide quality care to current and future beneficiaries.”
For Medicaid, the budget proposal says, “The Budget projects that $2.8 trillion in Federal dollars will be spent over the next decade on Medicaid’s mission of providing needed medical services to low-income Americans. “Over that same period, reforms proposed in the 2007 Budget will save almost $12 billion. In 2007, Medicaid is projected to provide health coverage and services to nearly 53 million low-income children, pregnant women, elderly, and disabled individuals.”
Below is the complete budget statement and proposal on the Health Care section of the Budget. For all the details, go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/.
Health
The President’s 2007 Budget continues the successful pro-growth policies that have encouraged robust economic growth and job creation. A strong economy, together with spending restraint, is critical to reducing the deficit. The Budget builds on last year’s successful spending restraint by again holding the growth of overall discretionary spending below inflation, proposing to reduce non-security discretionary spending below the previous year’s level, and calling for the elimination or reduction of programs not getting results or not fulfilling essential priorities. Like last year, the budget proposes savings and reforms to mandatory spending programs, whose unsustainable growth poses the real long-term danger to our fiscal health.
To make our economy stronger, the President believes we must make health care more affordable, ensure workers can find affordable care, and give families greater access to good coverage and more control over their health decisions. The 2007 Budget furthers the President’s commitment to extend the benefits of modern medicine, control the rising costs of medical care, and give more Americans access to health insurance.
The President’s FY 2007 Budget:
? Builds on the President’s health insurance reform proposals to promote Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and to expand coverage to more Americans with limited incomes.
? Proposes a new financing measure to strengthen Medicare’s sustainability.
? Continues the President’s November 1, 2005, commitment to obtain $7.1 billion from the Congress to improve pandemic influenza preparedness.
? Provides nearly $160 million to support advanced development of biodefense countermeasures to be considered for procurement under Project BioShield.
? Provides access to health care through more than 300 new and expanded Health Center sites, including 80 new sites in counties that have a high prevalence of poverty.
Supporting Affordable Health Care:
? The Budget highlights the President’s comprehensive, patient-focused plan to help reduce the rising cost of health care and to improve health quality and safety. These reforms will provide new and affordable health coverage options for all Americans—targeted to those who need it most: low-income children and families, the chronically ill, employees of small businesses, and the self-employed.
? The plan includes:
? Encouraging Health Savings Accounts:
> Tax Parity – High-deductible health plans would be more affordable if there were tax parity between employer-sponsored insurance and insurance purchased by individuals. The Budget proposes to allow all individuals who purchase a high-deductible health plan in conjunction with an HSA to deduct the amount of the health plan’s premium from their income and payroll taxes. Additionally, income tax deductible contributions to an individual’s HSA would also be exempt from payroll taxes, which are paid by almost all workers.
> Increasing the maximum contribution – Under this proposal, a person could contribute—without paying income or payroll taxes on the contribution—up to the plan’s out-of-pocket maximum, which is generally higher than the deductible.
> Portable HSA-qualified high-deductible health plans – The Budget proposes to increase portability of health insurance by allowing employers to offer and employees to select portable HSA-compatible health plans. These policies would not be subject to onerous State mandates or regulations and would build on the proposal to create a national marketplace for health insurance.
? Reforming the Health Insurance Market:
> Association Health Plans (AHPs) – To improve access to health benefits for workers in small businesses, the President has called for legislation to create Association Health Plans (AHPs), which would allow small businesses to join together through industry and professional associations to purchase affordable health benefits for their workers. In addition, the President supports expanded AHPs, which would be available to civic, faith-based, and community organizations.
> Permitting the Purchase of Health Insurance Across State Lines – The Administration proposes creating a national marketplace to allow individuals to shop for the best buy on health coverage no matter which state they live in.
? Focusing on the Chronically Ill:
> Grants to States – $500 million annually for which States will compete to fund innovative ways to promote affordable insurance among the chronically ill.
> HSA Contributions – The 2007 Budget proposes to change “comparability” rules to allow employers to contribute additional amounts to the HSAs of chronically-ill employees or their dependents.
? Addressing the Uninsured:
> Cover the Kids – $100 million annually in grants for a national outreach campaign to enroll additional eligible children in Medicaid and SCHIP through combining the resources of the Federal Government, States, schools, and community organizations.
> Tax credit for low-income individuals – The 2007 Budget proposes the creation of a refundable tax credit that would be available to those buying an HSA-compatible high-deductible health plan.
Strengthening Biodefense and Food Defense:
? Nearly $1.9 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to invest in research for biodefense countermeasures, helping create promising products to protect Americans against the threat of a terrorist attack. These include:
> Nearly $50 million for chemical countermeasure development and $47 million for radiological and nuclear countermeasure development;
> Nearly $160 million for advanced development of medical countermeasures against threats of bioterrorism.
? $70 million for a mass casualty care initiative to address the type of medical response needs seen during Hurricane Katrina. This initiative includes:
> $50 million to purchase and store deployable medical care units, including medical supplies and equipment that the Federal Government can deliver to an affected area.
> $20 million to enhance the Medical Reserve Corps and provide prior training and verification of credentials to ensure the availability of health care providers during such an emergency.
? $1.3 billion to bolster State, local, and hospital preparedness, including
> $25 million for a targeted, competitive demonstration program to establish a state-of-the-art emergency care capability in one or more metropolitan areas.
? $242 million for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), of which $178 million is for food defense. This represents a $20 million increase for food defense that the FDA will use to develop testing methods to identify the presence of contamination quickly and accurately, and to improve its ability to respond once an incident has occurred. Each of these activities will be coordinated with USDA, which will invest an additional $322 million in 2007, to protect the food and agriculture supply from terrorist attacks.
Improving Community Health Centers:
? $2 billion to complete the President’s commitment to create 1,200 new or expanded Health Center sites and make progress on establishing a Health Center or rural clinic in every high-poverty county in America that lacks a Health Center and can support one. Through this funding, 1.2 million additional individuals will receive health care in 2007 through sites in rural areas and underserved urban neighborhoods.
Improving Medicare and Medicaid:
? Medicare – The FY 2007 Budget includes proposals to save an estimated $36 billion over five years in Medicare. The key to preserving the promise of Medicare for America’s seniors and disabled is to enhance the long-term fiscal solvency of the program. The FY 2007 Budget includes proposals that would strengthen Medicare’s financial viability, encouraging prudent choice of health care needs by beneficiaries. The proposals would reduce excessive government spending and save money for most beneficiaries, while also encouraging providers to increase productivity and efficiency. The Administration wants to ensure that Medicare continues to provide quality care to current and future beneficiaries. These proposals would:
> increase competition in the payment and acquisition of medical items and services
> encourage providers to become more efficient and productive in the delivery of care
> support beneficiaries who are most able to pay to contribute more for their health care costs
> promote beneficiary receipt of care in the most appropriate medical settings, and
> reduce improper payments.
? Medicaid – The Budget projects that $2.8 trillion in Federal dollars will be spent over the next decade on Medicaid’s mission of providing needed medical services to low-income Americans. Over that same period, reforms proposed in the 2007 Budget will save almost $12 billion. In 2007, Medicaid is projected to provide health coverage and services to nearly 53 million low-income children, pregnant women, elderly, and disabled individuals.
Promoting Health Information Technology:
? The President’s budget would help meet his goal of assuring most Americans have electronic health records by 2014.
? $169 million to accelerate progress in Health Information Technology (HIT), including:
> $116 million for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to address barriers to the adoption of interoperable health information technology nationally, which will reduce costs and medical errors, improve quality, and produce greater value for health care expenditures.
> $50 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to extend State contract work for HIT demonstrations and initiate an Ambulatory Patient Safety Program that will speed the adoption of health information technology in ambulatory settings while increasing our understanding of the tools and processes needed to optimize the intersection between improved care and health IT implementation.
> $3.5 million in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation for tracking and analyzing national HIT adoption rates.
Battling HIV/AIDS and Addiction:
? $4 billion for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an increase of more than $740 million, to further strengthen international efforts to combat AIDS through support for comprehensive prevention strategies and lifesaving treatments.
? $188 million for a domestic initiative to focus Federal resources on HIV-testing, medical care, and outreach, with the goal of getting medicine to those who need it, and sharply increasing testing to reduce transmission and the future burden of the disease. This includes $70 million to help States end the waiting list for AIDS medication. The Budget also calls for reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, making it more responsive to the HIV/AIDS epidemic today and the African-American and other minority communities who disproportionately suffer from the disease.
? $98 million for grants to States and Tribal Organizations to provide Access to Recovery Vouchers, which enable addicted and recovering individuals to personally choose from a range of effective treatment and recovery support options, including faith-based and community providers. Within this amount, $25 million will be targeted to help individuals recover from methamphetamine abuse.
Protecting the Nation from the Threat of an Influenza Pandemic:
? $2.3 billion for pandemic influenza preparedness, including investment in international health surveillance and containment efforts; medical stockpiles; the domestic capacity to produce emergency supplies of pandemic vaccine and antiviral medications; and preparedness at all levels of government. This is in addition to two emergency supplemental requests that also contributed to pandemic influenza prevention and preparedness.
? $48 million for global disease surveillance and control;
? $474 million across the Government to further improve readiness;
? $352 million for continued implementation of the pandemic influenza preparedness plan at HHS. Of this,
> $188 million will allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to improve public health surveillance both domestically and abroad, establish quarantine stations, develop diagnostic tests to identify potential pandemic influenza strains rapidly, and work with foreign governments to help prevent the spread of a pandemic;
> $35 million for NIH to conduct clinical trials of pandemic influenza vaccine;
> $50 million for the FDA to improve the Agency’s ability to review new pandemic influenza vaccines and drugs rapidly while assuring their safety and effectiveness, and to maintain a library of virus strains to facilitate the rapid manufacture of vaccines as the virus evolves; and
> $79 million in the HHS Office of the Secretary for international activities for development and deployment of rapid tests for detection, and risk communication.
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Grocery Manufacturers Association Appoints Robert E. Brackett Senior Vice President and Chief Science and Regulatory Affairs Officer
2007-11-01 – Grocery Manufacturers Association
NPICenter
(Washington, D.C.) Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) president and CEO, Cal Dooley, today announced the appointment of Robert E. Brackett, Ph.D., as Senior Vice President and Chief Science and Regulatory Affairs Officer.
“I am delighted to welcome Bob to the GMA team,” said Cal Dooley. “His demonstrated leadership, deep experience in the food safety arena and his academic background will help GMA and its member companies continue to deliver on their promise to provide consumers with safe, abundant and affordable food.”
Brackett currently serves as Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), a position he has held since 2004. Prior to his appointment as CFSAN Director, he also served as the Director of Food Safety and Security, and as Senior Microbiologist at the center.
Prior to joining the FDA, Dr. Brackett served as a professor at the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, and as an assistant professor at North Carolina State University’s Extension Foods and Nutrition division.
“I am honored to join the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and look forward to working with Cal Dooley and the association’s staff and members to advance the organization’s mission,” said Bob Brackett.
Brackett is the recipient of numerous professional awards, and holds a Ph.D. and a Masters degree in food microbiology from the University of Wisconsin. He also earned his Bachelor’s degree in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin.
In his new position, Dr. Brackett will report to GMA president and CEO, Cal Dooley, and will oversee all of the association’s scientific and regulatory activity, including the operation of its in-house food safety laboratory.
***
Robert E. Brackett, PhD: An Interview with FDA’s Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Food Insight
March/April 2006
Q What is your scientific background, and what led you to join the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?
A My scientific background is in microbiology, with a bachelor’s degree in bacteriology and a masters and PhD. in food microbiology. The reason I joined the FDA was due to my interactions with FDA scientists. I spent almost 20 years in academia and was intrigued by the challenge of regulatory science and so was enticed to come to FDA.
Q How would you describe the state of safety of the food supply today?
A I think that food has never been safer than it is today, despite the fact that you hear more about safety issues. I think that’s due more to awareness of food safety issues and less to amount of actual illness. I’d also like to mention food defense, which is the top priority for the agency. I don’t think there’s a reason for alarm on behalf of the consumers, although I do think that they should realize that this is an important issue and one that the Administration is following up on and takes very seriously.
Q Considering recent budget cuts at FDA, how has that changed FDA’s food priorities if at all?
A This hasn’t really changed priorities at all at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). What we have done, however, is set up priorities such that the issues that have the highest public health significance are always addressed first, with less effort being expended on issues where we may have a regulatory responsibility but which have little or no public health impact. It is a risk-based approach, both in terms of acute risks, such as foodborne illness that might occur from microorganisms, as well as long-term risks from chemical contaminants or chronic conditions due to improper nutrition.
Q Should consumers be concerned or confident given these changes in budget?
A I think consumers should remain confident in the food supply. The last thing that CFSAN wants to do is reduce the safety of any of the foods that consumers would purchase.
Q Where does consumer education fit into your priorities?
A Consumer education fits in with CFSAN priorities in several ways. First, there is nutrition. The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) specifically mandates education, but we also think that consumer education is part of the solution to food safety problems in that it provides consumers with the information needed to empower themselves against foodborne illness.
Q How does consumer research on perceptions and attitudes and understanding of food regul¬ ation fit into CFSAN’s priorities and mission?
A I think consumer research has been highly underutilized in the past in not only evaluating but driving regulatory priorities. Before an agency makes decisions on changes to regulations or guidance, it is important to know what impact those changes could have on the target audience, in this case consumers. As resources permit, I would like to do much more in the area of consumer research.
Q Talk to us about the evolution and changing face of the food label.
A The Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) was actually an outcome of NLEA and was developed in response to the large amount of confusion that consumers experienced in trying to figure out what their particular food contained in terms of nutrients and calories. The Nutrition Facts Panel allowed for a standardized way to present the nutritional content of foods in a way that enabled consumers to not only compare foods but use that information to make healthful eating plans. However, what we’re seeing is that consumers are not using the Nutrition Facts Panel in quite the way it was envisioned. While consumers use it to compare foods, we think it could be better used if parts of the information were more prominent, specifically the number of calories and the serving size. We are looking at making the NFP more usable for consumers, specifically with respect to obesity.
The trans fat rule, which requires manufacturers to label the amount of trans fats in food, went into effect in January 2006. That rule has been more successful than we had even imagined and has driven significant changes in the food industry. Has it increased the use of saturated fats? Yes, in some cases. However, we’re hearing that this is in large part due to a limited supply of trans-free fats currently available to the manufacturers. We’re trying to educate the public to not only limit trans fat but also saturated fat. Hopefully that education and increased awareness will drive the formulation of foods lower in both trans and saturated fats.
I think we originally intended for the food label to be used for many different things but specifically meal planning and how people could build more healthful meals and diets. The Nutrition Facts Panel is very useful for specific needs—but we think that with some tweaking and education, it could be used in a much broader way.
Q What is the obesity solution?
A In my opinion, there is no one obesity solution. There are obesity solutions. I think it will require educating consumers about how to make better choices, and motivating them to make those choices. It is also going to take changes on the other side of the equation—better exercise habits and burning more calories. Food is just one part of it. I think it’s a behavioral issue and a lifestyle issue, rather than just a food issue.
Q Talk about the recent Food Allergen Labeling Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA). What is the FDA doing to communicate these changes in labeling?
A We do have some existing outreach on the implementation of FALCPA but I think our biggest educational challenge right now is communicating to the industry what this means and what their responsibilities are. In general, consumers who are aware that they or a family member have problems with food allergies are already looking for information on the presence of allergens in the foods they purchase, so they’re going to require less education than the general consumer. However, the food-allergic consumer still needs to work with their health care provider as to the best way to manage their allergy. I think those individuals who would have to avoid a specific allergen have already been told by their health care providers or allergists that they should avoid those ingredients. That’s the whole reason for the law, to allow consumers to have the information so they can more easily avoid allergens.
Q Can you talk about food biotechnology at CFSAN?
A I think the evidence is overwhelming that biotechnology has been a good thing. However, there have been problems with inappropriate release of biotechnology-derived seeds that have impacted trade, but so far we have seen nothing that has indicated therea safety problem.
Q What are likely to be the biggest food issues in the next five to ten years?
A I believe that among the biggest food and nutrition issues in the next five years is globalization of the food supply, particularly in terms of maintaining a safe food supply from multiple sources around the world. I also think that making sure that innovative new products are presented in a safe and wholesome way to the American public will become increasingly important. Conversely, consumers must be educated as to how these new products differ from traditional products and how their storage and preparation differs. And finally, I think overweight and obesity will continue to remain important.
The Honorable Lester Crawford, D.V.M, Ph.D.
February 15,2005
I am writing regarding the FDA Budget for FY 2006. Under the budget proposed by the
Administration, the number of FDA employees would decline, reducing the Agency’s inspection
and enforcement capacity.’
These personnel cuts would have a potentially significant impact on American
consumers. Documents submitted by FDA indicate that the proposed budget would result in cuts
in the number of domestic and foreign food safety inspections, cosmetics inspections, foreign
and domestic drug inspections, and inspections of biologic products and vaccines.*
My concern about these cuts is exacerbated by FDA’s recent enforcement record, which
shows that the agency has been unable to adequately protect consumers in important areas. In
recent months, there have been several high profile drugs pulled from the market because of
safety concerns that were not addressed by the ~ ~ e nTche ~cou.nt~ry f aced severe shortfalls of
flu vaccine because of the agency’s inability to adequately address problems at Chiron, the
manufacturer of the ~accineA.~n d several recent studies have shown that overall enforcement in
areas such as drug advertising and biologic and vaccine manufacturing, has declined by over
70% in recent years. 5
***
As of October 6, 2006, 199 persons in 26 states have been infected with E. coli 0157:H7 in an outbreak traced back to fresh spinach. The infection has been severe in affected cases, with at least 102 persons hospitalized, 31 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, and three deaths.1
This most recent outbreak is not an isolated occurrence. The outbreak is the 20th outbreak of E. coli in fresh produce since 1995, and the second outbreak specifically linked to spinach. Produce-related outbreaks have doubled from 44 outbreaks in 1998 to 86 in 2004.2 Overall, an estimated 76 million cases of foodborne disease occur each year in the United States, causing about 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths annually.3
***
The Washington Post reported in its piece, Women’s Health Office Funds Cut, that “The administration had requested — and Congress had budgeted — $4 million for the office in fiscal 2007, just as they have for several years running. Last week, however, word came down that the FDA intends to withhold $1.2 million of that, apparently for use elsewhere in the agency. Because the remaining $2.8 million has already been spent or allocated for salaries and started projects, the office must effectively halt further operations for the rest of the year, according to a high-level agency official with knowledge of the budget plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official is not authorized to speak publicly.” The story also mentions concerns that any budget cuts might be retribution for the OWH’s support of science-based decision-making on over-the-counter status for Plan B emergency contraception.
***
FDA Budget Increase Not Nearly Enough
Date Published: Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
The proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) budget increase announced yesterday by President Bush won’t do much to improve the agency’s performance. Under the new budget, the FDA – which regulates 80% of the nation’s food, drugs, vaccines, and medical devices— will receive $2.4 billion for fiscal year 2009, starting October 1st. If approved by Congress, this would be a 5.7% increase from the current budget. Unfortunately, that increase will barely cover scheduled pay raises and inflation, leaving the FDA with few new resources.
The FDA, which regulates $1.5 trillion of goods, has faced intense scrutiny in the past 18 months following an unusually high number of recalls, including E. coli-contaminated spinach grown in California, salmonella-tainted U.S.-made peanut butter, and contaminated pet-food ingredients imported from China that led to the largest-ever pet-food recall.
Last year, an advisory panel to the FDA issued a scathing review of the FDA and echoed ongoing concerns from groups such as the Institute of Medicine; the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress; and Congressional committees. The report revealed the agency is so under-funded and –staffed, it’s putting US consumers at risk. The report went on to detail a wide variety of problems faced by the FDA such as inadequate inspections of manufacturers, depleted staff, increased responsibilities, and an obsolete information technology (IT) system.
“At least there’s not a substantial cut, but the agency won’t be able to do much with food or drug safety,” says William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner who joined other former FDA officials in urging the agency’s budget be doubled over five years.
At a congressional hearing last week, one panel member, former FDA lawyer Peter Barton Hutt, said the agency needs its funding doubled over two years and its employee count increased by 50%. Under Bush’s proposed budget, the number of full-time FDA employees would jump to 10,501, an increase of 932, or nearly 10%, from fiscal 2007. The number of full-time positions in the FDA’s foods program would increase to 2,810 in fiscal 2009, but would be down 133 from fiscal year 2005.
The FDA says it plans to work with the industry to improve food safety, do more domestic and foreign food-plant inspections and open an office in China, the source of numerous food-safety problems last year. The agency’s goals are modest, given the scope of the world food industry, including 136,000 domestic and 189,000 foreign facilities: Increase inspections of domestic food facilities to 21,964 from 17,038 in fiscal 2007; inspect 200 foreign food facilities, up from 96 two years ago; and maintain inspection rates for foreign food imports. The agency inspected 1.28% of the 9.4 million shipments that came to the USA in fiscal 2007. That will drop to 1.26% in fiscal 2009.
Hubbard says there’s a chance that Congress, which has held numerous hearings on food safety in the past year, will bolster the FDA’s budget beyond what Bush has proposed, as it did with the fiscal 2008 budget.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 at 11:56 am and is filed under Legal News, Pharmaceuticals, Defective Medical Devices, Food Poisoning.
HHS budget proposal cuts state preparedness, boosts food safety
Feb 4, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – The Bush administration today unveiled a $3.1 trillion budget for the 2009 fiscal year that cuts a number of public health initiatives but includes an increase for the Food and Drug Adminstration’s (FDA’s) food safety efforts.
The proposed spending plan would take effect in October 2008, the start of the next fiscal year. Details of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) component of the budget were announced at a press conference today by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt. “We have crafted a fiscally responsible budget at a very challenging time,” he said.
The HHS share of the budget is $737 billion, an increase of $29 billion from 2008, HHS said in press release today. However, the amount decreases discretionary spending by $2.2 billion.
Proposed cuts for CDC
Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit health advocacy group based in Washington, DC, expressed concern over what it described as an overall 7% cut for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The cutback, TFAH said in a press release today, represents a 6-year low for discretionary funding for the agency.
“At a time when healthcare costs are skyrocketing, we should be investing more to keep Americans healthy instead of cutting funds for disease prevention,” said Jeff Levi, PhD, executive director of TFAH, in the press release.
The cuts would impair state and local preparedness efforts, TFAH said. Cuts of $97.2 million from the Prevention Health and Health Services Block Grant program would dry up funding that states use to run disease prevention programs, the group said. The new budget would cut $136.7 million from state and local bioterrorism and emergency preparedness efforts and reduce hospital emergency preparedness programs by $61.9 million, according to TFAH.
“The administration has cut these programs over the past 5 years, reducing the funding level by one-third,” said TAFH in its press release.
More for FDA food monitoring
The budget proposal includes a $42 million increase for food safety initiatives announced by the FDA in November 2007, raising total FDA food safety spending to $662 million, according to HHS. The initiatives were spurred by recent cases of tainted imports as well as contamination in domestic food products, such as Salmonella in peanut butter and Escherichia coli in fresh produce. The funding would expand staffing and resources at food production and handling sites, the FDA said today in a press release. The budget provisions would increase the total number of full-time FDA staff by 526.
At a press conference today, budget officials from the FDA said the proposal would establish an FDA food safety office in China.
The proposed budget provides $29.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support research. But TFAH said the administration’s plan would “flat-fund” biomedical research at the NIH.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in a 29-page budget briefing today, reported that funds for biodefense and emerging infectious disease research would drop by $7.5 million. The agency said it would move funds in those research areas from research and development contracts to the intramural research program to partially offset projected increased operating costs for new biodefense containment facilities that will be opening in Ft Detrick, Md., and Hamilton, Mont.
For bioterrorism preparedness, the budget allocation of $4.3 billion includes $250 million for developing medical countermeasures for the national stockpile. It also sets aside $53 million to establish five new international quarantine stations and fully staff all 20 domestic stations, according to the HHS press release. Also, the budget includes $30 million to expand, train, exercise, and coordinate medical emergency teams, including two Commissioned Corps Health and Medical Response (HAMR) teams designed to respond to real or potential threats, HHS said.
Pandemic preparedness funds
The budget contains $507 million for the next phase of the administration’s influenza pandemic preparedness plan, including funds to expand egg-based vaccine capacity and buy medical countermeasures and supplies for HHS employees and patients, according to HHS. In addition, $313 million is proposed for ongoing pandemic preparedness efforts at the CDC, FDA, NIH, and the Office of the HHS Secretary.
In a 120-page budget briefing today, HHS said Congress did not appropriate $870 million requested by the president last year to implement the nation’s pandemic preparedness plan. “The Administration is still considering options regarding this funding, and will reach out to Congress soon,” HHS said.
The 2008 omnibus spending bill passed by Congress in December earmarked only $76 million for influenza pandemic preparedness funding, far below the Bush administration’s $870 million request. The House and Senate appropriations committees had said their reason for cutting the 2008 pandemic budget was that $1.2 billion was left over from previous appropriations, according to previous media reports. However, Rich Hamburg, director of governmental relations for TFAH, said at the time that the $1.2 billion represented one-time funding that was mostly intended for buying vaccines and antiviral medications.
At the press conference, Leavitt said the budget proposal provides for an initiative to improve the nation’s inadequate supply of ventilators, which he said cost from $8,000 to $10,000 apiece and require highly trained operators. He said the budget includes $25 million to develop a new generation of ventilator that will be portable, will cost 90% less, and will not require specialized training to operate.
“This effort will help fill the gap to ensure our nation has an adequate number of ventilators in the event of a public health emergency,” HHS said in its press release.
See also:
Feb 4 HHS press release
Feb 4 FDA press release
Feb 4 TFAH press release
HHS budget briefing
NIAID budget briefing
Dec 20, 2007, CIDRAP News story “Congress slashes pandemic preparedness funding”
* Health Departments
* | Public Health Administration
* | Counties
* | Government Budgets
* | US State Government
* | Inspections
* | County Government
* Colorado, USA
Food safety victim of El Paso County budget cuts
By Gillentine, Amy
Publication: The Colorado Springs Business Journal
Date: Friday, August 17 2007
You are viewing page 1
A decline in El Paso County restaurant inspections could leave Pikes Peak region residents feeling a little queasy.
With more than 2,400 restaurants to check — and a strained budget — the county health department admits that it can’t keep up with state-mandated inspections.
Colorado
ServSafe(R) online course
Food safety training and exam available online. http://www.ServSafe.com
state law requires that food service establishments be inspected twice a year for cleanliness, food temperature and employee hygiene. The checklist includes hundreds of items.
It’s a big job, and one that isn’t being done correctly in El Paso County. And while illnesses aren’t always tracked, complaints
are.
“And they’ve doubled, tripled, quadrupled,” said Rick Miklich, prevention services division director for the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment. “We investigate the most egregious complaints in 24 hours, but some of them tend to be frivolous. We definitely have more valid complaints now.”
Budget cuts
The county cut the department’s budget several years ago and as it struggles with a $16 million shortfall, the funding has never returned to previous levels — and the health department has been forced to cut staff and reduce services, said Rosemary Bakes-Martin.
“We have a lot of hungry mouths to feed,” said El Paso County Commissioner Jim Bensberg. “And the top of that list is the criminal justice center and the sheriff’s department. Our second largest budget is the Department of Human Services.”
Funding for the health department comes largely from the state and the department falls under the Colorado Department of Public Health, Bensberg said. Any changes in funding should be state-directed.
“Maybe the state needs to step in, and change the funding allocation,” he said. “The health department is the county’s in name only. We only supplement their budget, and it’s my understanding that we do it at a rate higher than state statute requires.”
Unable to meet the state law’s requirements of twice yearly inspections, the department’s goal is to inspect every restaurant once a year. But officials readily admit they aren’t meeting that goal either.
“We’re far from it,” Miklich said. “And from the state mandates. I have a certain ideal in mind — what the ideal food inspection program should be like. But now, we’re struggling. We should be doing more.”
The department says that if it receives no additional funding, it puts businesses at risks. A scenario in which the county’s funding remains flat — as it does for 2008 budget year — increases the need to close restaurants with violations at least temporarily, because the department will be unable to complete quick follow-up inspections.
No state penalties
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issues no penalties for counties that are unable to comply with state law. Barbara Hruska, director of the consumer protection division, said El Paso County is doing the best it can with limited resources.
“First of all, we know El Paso County is working hard to provide food protection services, and we believe it has a good food protection program,” she said. “We realize there are budget constraints; that’s a problem everywhere, even here at the state level.”
Hruska said the state’s health department does not have “total control” of the county-level systems.
“It’s up to each county to control their resources,” she said. “We believe public health services are best delivered at the local level, but we recognize that each has difficulties and challenges. There are no penalties for not complying.”
Miklich said the department has the support of the county’s restaurant industry, and claims that the relationship isn’t adversarial.
“We don’t go in, issue threats and citations and come back to close them down,” he said. “We see the job as a partnership; we work to educate about how people are out of compliance and document what we do.”
Restaurateur’s point of view
Luke Travins, co-owner of Concept Restaurants — a group that includes downtown eateries Jose Muldoon’s, Old Chicago and The Ritz — said he has not noticed a lack of inspections.
“It’s important to maintain the public health — and someone could get very sick from unhealthy, unclean environments,” he said. “Those protections need to continue.”
And although the department said it sometimes has to delay the opening of new restaurants — or remodeled ones — Travins said inspections for a remodeled Jose Muldoon’s went smoothly, with no delays.
“My restaurants are inspected once or twice a year, with follow-ups if they need them,” he said. “After remodeling Jose’s we went through several inspections before we reopened. They were very prompt, very responsive.”
Rarely, the department issues civil penalties — fines for repeat offenders. And in the most egregious cases, it is able to close the facility.
Triage time
To cope with the decline in dollars, Miklich and his staff created a “triage” system. Places like Starbucks aren’t inspected as often as the Antlers Hilton because the service offered is very different.
“It’s a risk-based system,” he said. “Because our budget is so austere, we’re putting resources where they will do the most good.”
Even complaints from the public are triaged according to importance. Food borne illnesses are taken seriously — when they occur.
“Most people don’t understand how these viruses work, so they call if they get sick immediately after eating,” he said. “It doesn’t work that way. Most illnesses take between 10 and 72 hours.”
Norovirus — caused by direct skin contact with food — is the biggest problem, he said. But issues uncovered during inspections seem to change every few years.
“A few years ago, it was food temperature. People weren’t keeping food hot or cold enough,” Miklich said. “And now, it’s that there’s too much direct skin contact on the food. Food should not be handled; workers should wear gloves.”
Bensberg is skeptical about the department’s triage program.
“I’ll use the example of my favorite neighborhood bar and restaurant,” he said. “They have been inspected twice a year for the past couple of years. But despite those inspections, the health department neglected to tell them about hot water heater requirements. They went through seven kinds of hell trying to meet those regulations — and they’ve never had a single customer complaint.”
To some extent, health department officials agree with Bensberg, recognizing the county’s budget crisis.
“What we want is local control over the fees that we charge for the inspections,” Miklich said. “We think since these services are performed locally, that it makes sense to control the fees. But we don’t have any control over them, and the fees set by the state do not cover the costs of the inspections.”
Budget cuts prompt public awareness of food safety
John DeWeese
The King County Council, due to budget cutbacks, has decided that every restaurant will receive only two routine inspections this year, and restaurant employees will receive one educational visit.
Because of the cutback, the King County Board of Health has been working to get the word out about safe dining.
Food-borne illness is a serious problem that affects up to 80 million Americans per year. Last year, an average of 9,000 Americans died from food poisoning.
The King County Board of Health is responsible for protecting customers who dine in Seattle. Forty food safety inspectors are responsible for inspecting 10,000 establishments. In addition, the Board of Health is responsible for providing training and testing for food workers.
According to Sharon Smith, acting senior environmental health specialist, food service is hard to regulate. The turnover rate among employees is extremely high in the industry, and while every employee is required to carry a food worker card, some workers remain ignorant of safety issues.
Smith recommended that students protect themselves when dining out. The most effective way to protect oneself form food-borne illnesses is to watch how workers handle food during preparation.
Smith added that while hairnets are not required by law, workers must have hair restrained and gloves are required in various restaurants where food is directly handed to the customer.
“Hand washing is coming to the forefront of food-borne illness. If there is one message I need to convey, it’s the importance of washing before handling food,” Smith said.
Cleanliness when handling food is even more important than the general cleanliness of a restaurant’s bathroom or tables. During an inspection, problems involving food storage or preparation are given “red critical violations” and are weighted more heavily than a dirty floor or a messy bathroom..” Restaurants can be closed if they have more than 75 red violations, or the same red violation in three different inspections.
According to Smith, many health code violations that do not involve food, such as dirty floors and bathrooms, give the establishment a “black violation.”
Besides how restaurant employees handle food, problems can occur in food service. Smith said it is important to check food temperature, especially at a buffet.
“It’s common sense, but cold food should be cold and hot food hot” Smith said. The danger zone when virus or bacteria can easily infect food is between 45 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Rare meat and undercooked chicken and pork are also obvious dangers. However, Dr Alicia Dixon-Docter, a nutritionist at Hall Health, warned against being overconfident when ordering vegetarian and organic food instead.
“Students need to be careful when eating soy products or alfalfa. Students who prefer organic should still make sure eggs and fruit juices are pasteurized,” Dixon-Docter said.
Dr Dixon-Docter also emphasized the higher risk when eating raw seafood.
“Sushi and raw shellfish are a big problem. Stay with restaurants that people recommend,” Dixon-Docter said. .If a restaurant is committing violations, a customer has a number of options. Smith’s advice is to make an on-the-spot correction by talking with a manager. If the problem is not immediately corrected, customers can make a complaint to the health department.
In all, the Bush budget would cut about $8 billion for previously funded projects and programs, to help the administration reach its goal of a $1.6 trillion tax cut over the next 10 years.
The budget “makes clear he leaves no room for essential national needs and wants to cut scores of services and programs vital to the well being of millions of families to pay for his tax cut,” warned House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri.
Among the funding cuts are $162 million for the Wetlands Reserve program, which provides technical and financial assistance to farmers who wish to restore and protect agricultural wetlands. Energy efficiency research programs would be cut by 30 percent, and renewable energy programs by 40 percent.
The Smithsonian Institution, which operates 14 museums in Washington, DC and New York City, the National Zoo, and research facilities around the country, would be forced to close its Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia, where endangered species are studied and bred in captivity.
In contrast, the Department of Defense would see its budget rise by $14.2 billion, to $310.5 billion in 2002. Education Department funding would climb from $39.9 billion in 2001 to $44.5 billion in 2002.
The Bush budget, “cuts environmental enforcement, fails to provide enough funding for the National Science Foundation and cuts support for small businesses,” said Gephardt. “The President is also beholden to energy producers, and his budget seems to reflect this priority by cutting energy research and development.”
Some of the largest cuts in the president’s budget proposal are in the alternative energy sector. The budget provides $19.0 billion in 2002, which is $700 million, or three percent, below the 2001 budget.
Those funding reductions are largely achieved through cuts in renewable energy research and development programs, which would lose more than $277 million in funds. Energy efficiency programs, with the exception of the home weatherization program, would be cut by up to 50 percent.
Critics called the budget’s priorities skewed.
“This proposal is the opposite one would expect from an administration that has used the word “crisis” to describe our current energy situation,” said Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “This is an anti-energy policy budget.”
Meanwhile, research into cleaner coal technologies would gain $2 billion over 10 years. More than $1.5 billion would be provided for the design and development of new nuclear weapons.
Funding for nuclear power expansion would increase, while funds for cleanups at existing nuclear sites would be slashed.
“These draconian cuts will have significant consequences for consumers,” said Susanna Drayne, coordinator of the Sustainable Energy Coalition. “For example, energy efficiency and renewable energy activities that currently save consumers more than $30 billion a year will perish. Research and development will decrease for super efficient cars, appliances, heating and cooling systems, windows, and lighting products. And efforts to improve and make renewable energy sources such as solar energy, geothermal generation, and wind power more affordable will be severely limited.”
Bush pledged to provide future funding for some alternative energy research through anticipated revenues from opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and other public lands to energy exploration. Beginning in 2004, the budget would dedicate $1.2 billion from ANWR leases to fund increased research on solar and renewable energy technology research and development.
The budget continues funding for the Energy Star program that supports energy efficient building design and technologies for industry and school buildings. The controversial Partnership for the Next Generation of Vehicles, a 10 year research and development program to develop cars that achieve 85 miles per gallon with low emissions, also receives continued funding.
The Interior Department’s budget makes good on one of Bush’s environmental campaign promises by fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at $900 million.
The LWCF gives money from offshore oil and gas exploration leases to the states for use in conservation programs. But critics say the states have too much discretion in how the funds are used, so that much of the money could be used for projects like new roads and docks, rather than land protection.
In another campaign pledge, the budget would eliminate the National Park Service (NPS) deferred maintenance backlog within five years and implement management reforms, in part by directing a greater percentage of existing user fees to address the backlog. The budget includes a $61.1 million increase in appropriations for construction and maintenance projects, and a commitment to dedicate an additional $40 million in fee receipts to backlog projects, for a total budget of $439.6 million for deferred maintenance.
“This budget will enable the National Park Service to continue conserving our parks, monuments, and historic sites,” said NPS Acting Director Denis Galvin. ” Full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund will also place us in a strong position to provide new tools to local communities, states and tribes that will allow them to pursue additional recreation and conservation opportunities for citizens.”
But Thomas Kiernan, president of the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association, says the president’s budget in reality provides little money for protecting the parks’ natural resources, while devoting too much to so called “brick and mortar” projects such as road and building maintenance.
Just $20 million is proposed for the Park Service’s Natural Resource Challenge, a multi-year action plan to provide a level of information critical to sound management of natural resources in parks, for example.
“Giving the Park Service only $20 million for resource needs is like putting a patient on life support and providing no electricity,” Kiernan said. “We will continue to lose plant and animal species and historic and cultural artifacts and national parks also will continue to suffer from degrading air quality.”
Overall, the Interior Department’s budget falls $400 million, from $10.2 billion in 2001 to $9.8 billion in 2002. The budget focuses on controversial fire management programs aimed at reducing fuel loads on public lands, and on incentive programs aimed at encouraging private conservation efforts.
Funding for oil and gas exploration on public lands would rise. The budget proposes an increase of $15 million for the Bureau of Land Management to expand energy and mineral activities including energy resource surveys, coalbed methane permitting preparation, preparation for lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and planning for leasing in parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would get $1.09 billion, down $167.9 million from 2001 funding. The budget includes $112 million for Endangered Species programs, including $2 million more than currently available for endangered species listing.
For the first time, the budget request includes funding for two grant programs that would provide incentives to encourage habitat conservation by landowners. The Landowner Incentive Program provides $50 million for matching grants to states, tribes and territories, to provide technical and financial assistance for landowners who voluntarily participate in the habitat protection.
An additional $10 million would be used to create a Private Stewardship Grant Program to assist individuals or groups involved in voluntary habitat protection or conservation.
One department that would see major funding reductions is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps has faced repeated accusations of violating federal regulations and wasting millions on unneeded projects over the past two years.
The Corps’ budget falls from $4.5 billion in 2001 to $3.9 billion in 2002. Given the large backlog of funding needed to complete construction projects already underway – more than $21 billion in the Construction, General account alone – the budget focuses on completing ongoing projects, rather than starting construction of new projects.
Among the projects that received continued funding is the flood control program in the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The program would receive $280 million to fund the study, design construction, operation and maintenance of controversial water resources projects including new locks and dams.
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), a construction industry group, decried the loss of Army Corps funds, but said the budget is generally friendly to builders.
“President Bush’s budget proposal is a good start to addressing the tremendous investment that is needed for our nation’s infrastructure,” said Stephen Sandherr, chief executive officer of AGC. “President Bush is an advocate for improving our nation’s quality of life.”
The AGC noted with approval that the Bush budget offers $1 billion boosts for highway funds and airport expansions, $300 million more for military construction, and $400 million for transit programs.
AGRICULTURE
Discretionary funds for the Department of Agriculture, set at $19.4 billion in 2001, would fall to $17.9 billion in 2002. But most of that loss – nearly $1 billion – would be the elimination of disaster related projects that were funded this year.
The remaining cuts are largely in farmland conservation programs. Programs to be zeroed out include those that offer farmers incentives to protect water supplies, create wildlife habitat on farmland, and permanently protect their farmland from sprawling development.
The programs being cut, including the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Farmland Protection Program, Wetlands Reserve Program and others, comprised less than four percent of total farm spending of $32 billion in fiscal year 2001. Even that funding was not enough to fulfill all the requests for assistance: For the program that encourages farmers to restore wetlands alone, three out of every four farmers requesting assistance were rejected due to lack of funds.
“At a time when the world is getting a much clearer view of the many links between good conservation practices, food, farmland and quality of life, funding these conservation programs is more important than ever,” argued Ann Sorensen, head of research at the American Farmland Trust’s Center for Agriculture in the Environment at Northern Illinois University. “America’s farmers aim to be good stewards, but we cannot tell them that they must carry the entire burden of providing environmental benefits for us all.”
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Budget Cuts Leave Consumer Safety Net “Frayed”
Sunday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an article by Stephen Koff highlighting a problem OMB Watch has been focusing on for the past few months: declining budgets and staffing levels at federal regulatory agencies.
As a result, agencies are finding it difficult to fulfill their missions, and regulatory failures like collapsing mines, recalled toys, and contaminated food dominate headlines. From the article:
The broader safety net – protecting children from dangerous toys, adults from tainted spinach and beef, factory workers from chemical dust that can sicken or explode, miners from underground passageways that collapse – has frayed, they say. The government’s own records and statistics bear this out in many ways, showing shrinking agency budgets, personnel rosters that don’t keep pace with inspection demands, and White House rejection of proposed safety rules.
As agency budget and staffing levels have shrunk, regulated entities have grown. In 1981, the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) — the federal regulator in charge of meat, poultry, and egg products — employed about 190 workers per billion pounds of meat and poultry inspected and approved. By 2007, FSIS employed fewer than 88 workers per billion pounds, a 54 percent drop.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has also been unable to keep up with its responsibility to enforce safety regulations in the workplace. In 1980, OSHA had approximately three staff members for every 100,000 American workers. By 2006, it had only 1.5 staff members. In 1980, OSHA and state regulators conducted 1.77 inspections per 100,000 workers. By 2005, OSHA and the states conducted only 0.668 inspections per 100,000 workers — a 62 percent drop.
The resource shortfalls of the Consumer Product Safety Commission have been well-documented; but the situation appears even worse when comparing the agency’s budget and staffing levels to one of the fastest-growing yet most dangerous products it regulates — all-terrain vehicles. In 1988, when CPSC began regulating ATVs after settling a lawsuit with manufacturers, the agency employed more than 36 staff members for every 100,000 four-wheel ATVs in use. By 2004, CPSC employed fewer than seven staff members for every 100,000 ATVs. Meanwhile, old regulations have expired and the Bush administration has stalled the development of new standards.
As Koff points out, the decisions by multiple presidents and congresses to shortchange federal agencies has undermined a long-standing national focus on public protection:
The result: The era of government as consumer protector, born of 1960s and ’70s activism, has faded.
Find out more through OMB Watch’s Bankrupting Government project.
(Matthew Madia 04/07/08)
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White House Involved in EPA’s California Waiver Decision
A report released May 19 by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform concluded the White House improperly intervened in a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny California’s request for a waiver under the Clean Air Act. The waiver would have allowed the state to set standards for greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles. In denying the waiver, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson went against the recommendation of EPA staff, who concluded there was no legal or scientific basis to deny the waiver.
(Rick Melberth 05/28/08) Read More >> http://www.ombwatch.org/taxonomy/term/151?page=5
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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Administration Oversight
Joint Statement from Chairman Towns and Congressman Clay on the 2010 Census
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and U.S. Representative William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Chairman of the Information Policy, Census and National Archives Subcommittee today released the following statement regarding oversight of the 2010 Census:
“The success of the 2010 Census is of utmost concern for this Committee. We are committed to strict bipartisan oversight of its implementation so that the fairest assessment of the American population is reported.
“The Obama Administration inherited a Census Bureau that has failed to demonstrate its ability to successfully carry out the 2010 Census. We are deeply concerned that the Census Bureau will not be able to complete its constitutionally mandated responsibility to count U.S. residents without immediate and sustained attention from the Administration.
“We have already been warned by GAO that the 2010 Census is in serious trouble and has been placed on GAO’s list of programs at high risk. The Census Bureau still does not know if all of its operations and systems, particularly those that will be used for the first time in 2010, will work together under the pressure of the census. And with the clock ticking – we are less than eleven months away from launching the 2010 Census – the Census Bureau has little time to improve its capabilities.
“Yesterday, the White House clarified its position on the 2010 Census and said that they have no intention of removing the Census from the Commerce Department. The White House also made it clear that they will not interfere with the work of this committee or any Congressional committees with oversight authority. We appreciate the White House’s respect for this Committee’s important work and we intend to conduct bipartisan oversight of the Census.
“The stakes are too high for the 2010 Census to fail. We need to have a Census Bureau director nominated and confirmed as soon as possible. Then we can focus on the important work of organizing the Census Bureau and ensuring that it is prepared to support the activities of the 2010 Census.”
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The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. It has authority to investigate the subjects within the Committee’s legislative jurisdiction as well as “any matter” within the jurisdiction of the other standing House Committees.
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Monday, June 26, 2006
Prescription for Harm: The Decline in FDA Enforcement Activity
A new report by Rep. Henry A. Waxman examines how the Bush Administration has carried out FDA’s historic enforcement responsibilities. The report is the result of a 15-month investigation that included a review of thousands of pages of internal agency enforcement records. It finds that there has been a precipitous drop in FDA enforcement actions over the last five years.
In some cases, FDA headquarters rejected the enforcement recommendations of FDA field offices despite findings by agency inspectors that violations led to multiple deaths or serious injuries.
* FDA enforcement actions have declined under the Bush Administration. The number of warning letters issued by the agency for violations of federal requirements has fallen by over 50%, from 1,154 in 2000 to 535 in 2005, a 15-year low. During the same period, the number of seizures of mislabeled, defective, and dangerous products has declined by 44%.
* FDA headquarters officials have routinely rejected the enforcement recommendations of career field staff. Internal agency documents show that in at least 138 cases over the last five years involving drugs and biological products, FDA failed to take enforcement actions despite receiving recommendations from agency field inspectors describing violations of FDA requirements.
* FDA’s recordkeeping and case tracking practices are inadequate. Although the Federal Records Act and internal agency procedures require FDA to keep records that document agency enforcement decisions, FDA does not appear to comply with these requirements. FDA’s response to Committee requests for relevant enforcement documents was haphazard, incomplete, and untimely. FDA officials explained that FDA could not provide prompt and complete responses because the agency lacks a system that enables it to track enforcement recommendations from field offices. http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1074
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Waxman and Kennedy Request GAO Examination of FDA Resource Shortfalls
Today Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy wrote to Comptroller General of the United States David Walker requesting an examination of the staffing, information technology, and other resources necessary for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to successfully carry out its oversight of foods, drugs, biologics, and medical devices.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Chairman Waxman Seeks Documents Related to a Recent Outbreak of Salmonella in Peanut Butter
As a response to a recent outbreak of Salmonella in peanut butter, Chairman Waxman wrote to FDA Commissioner von Eschenbach asking for documents and information relevant to the outbreak. The Committee is concerned because FDA’s recall extension to 2004 suggests that contaminated products may have been sold to consumers before, during, and after an FDA inspection. Also, the Con Agra plant involved in the outbreak has been inspected with no enforcement action after finding violations.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Committee Raises Questions on FDA Food Safety Efforts
The Oversight Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture request information from the Food and Drug Administration related to food safety funding, food safety inspections, current guidelines and standards, and current enforcement efforts.
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Friday, March 14, 2008
Committee Releases GAO Report on CDC Budget
Chairman Waxman releases a new GAO report, which examines how spending at CDC changed between 2003 and 2006, following the 2005 administrative restructuring of the agency. Among the report’s findings is the fact that spending at the division level, where most funds go to pay for public health projects, declined faster than at the leadership and management levels.
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Ranking Member
Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry
United States Senate
The Honorable Chuck Hagel
United States Senate
Foodborne illness in the United States is an extensive and expensive
problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates
that unsafe foods cause as many as 76 million illnesses annually. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that the costs associated
with foodborne illness due to seven pathogens, including salmonella,
campylobacter, and E. coli O157:H7, range up to $37 billion annually.
Federal and state expenditures for activities to help ensure the safety of
the nation’s food supply are also significant, with federal efforts alone
exceeding $1 billion annually. While there are 12 federal agencies with
food safety responsibilities, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service
(FSIS) and the Department of Health and Human Service’s (HHS) Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) are the primary federal regulatory
agencies responsible for food safety. FSIS is responsible for ensuring that
meat, poultry, and processed egg products moving in interstate and
foreign commerce are safe, wholesome, and marked, labeled, and
packaged correctly. FDA is responsible for ensuring that (1) all foods
moving in interstate and foreign commerce, except those under FSIS’
jurisdiction, are safe, wholesome, and labeled properly; and (2) all animal
drugs and feeds are safe, properly labeled, and produce no human health
hazards when used in food-producing animals. In addition, state agencies
conduct inspection and regulation activities that help ensure the safety of
foods produced, processed, or sold within their borders.
February 20, 2001
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What GAO Found United States Government Accountability Office Why GAO Did This Study Highlights Accountability Integrity Reliability
Highlights of GAO-08-909T, a testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives
June 12, 2008
FEDERAL OVERSIGHT OFFOOD SAFETY
FDA Has Provided Few Details on the Resources and Strategies Needed to Implement its Food Protection Plan
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring the safety of roughly 80 percent of the U.S. food supply, including $417 billion worth of domestic food and $49 billion in imported food annually. Changing demographics and consumption patterns along with an increase in imports have presented challenges to FDA. At the same time, recent outbreaks, such as E. coli from spinach and Salmonella from tomatoes, have undermined consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply. In November 2007, FDA released its Food Protection Plan, which articulates a framework for improving food safety oversight. In January 2008, GAO expressed concerns about FDA’s capacity to implement the Food Protection Plan and noted that more specific information about the strategies and resources needed to implement the plan would facilitate congressional oversight.
This testimony focuses on (1) FDA’s progress in implementing the Food Protection Plan, (2) FDA’s proposal to focus inspections based on risk, and (3) FDA’s implementation of previously issued GAO recommendations intended to improve food safety oversight. To address these issues, GAO reviewed FDA documents, such as FDA’s operations plan, and FDA data related to the plan. GAO also interviewed FDA officials regarding the progress made. GAO also analyzed FDA data on domestic and foreign food firm inspections. GAO also analyzed the status of past recommendations.
Since FDA’s Food Protection Plan was first released in November 2007, FDA has added few details on the resources and strategies required to implement the plan. FDA plans to spend about $90 million over fiscal years 2008 and 2009 to implement several key actions, such as identifying food vulnerabilities and risk. From the information GAO has obtained on the Food Protection Plan, however, it is unclear what FDA’s overall resource need is for implementing the plan, which could be significant. For example, based on FDA estimates, if FDA were to inspect each of the approximately 65,500 domestic food firms regulated by FDA once, the total cost would be approximately $524 million. In addition, timelines for implementing the various strategies in the plan are also unclear, although a senior level FDA official estimated that the overall plan will take 5 years to complete. Importantly, GAO has noted that public reporting is the means through
FDA has implemented few of GAO’s past recommendations to leverage its resources and improve food safety oversight. Since 2004, GAO has made a total of 34 food safety related recommendations to FDA, and as of May 2008, FDA has implemented 7 of these recommendations.
June 12, 2008
FEDERAL OVERSIGHT OFFOOD SAFETY
FDA Has Provided Few Details on the Resources and Strategies Needed to Implement its Food Protection Plan
As shown in table 1, the plan outlines spending on all three core elements of the Food Protection Plan––a total of about $21 million for prevention, about $34 million for intervention, and about $23 million for response for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. FDA also reported that, in fiscal year 2008, the agency intends to hire nearly 1,500 full time equivalents (FTE), including approximately 730 to fill vacant positions. Of these, 161 will be new FTEs funded by congressional increases dedicated to food safety activities. In addition, in fiscal year 2009, FDA plans to hire 94 new FTEs for food safety activities.
From pp.5
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My note – what the hell is a “full-time equivalent”? Does that mean a part-time employee with less education than is necessary to be paid less than appropriate and then worked full-time to cover four people’s work load?
Interesting info about food safety funding and recommendations to FDA for corrections to flagrant failures to protect the public – GAO search listings (sort by date – it doesn’t do that automatically without clicking the “by date” link) – ** my note **
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GAO Report Highlights High-Risk Areas
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its latest report to Congress Jan. 22 highlighting the wide range of high-risk areas in government that it urges the new Congress and administration to address. The report updates the areas already on GAO’s list and adds three new high-risk areas: the outdated financial regulatory system, medical product oversight and regulation, and toxic chemical assessment.
(Rick Melberth 01/28/09) Read More >> http://www.ombwatch.org/scientific_integrity
Mixed Grades for Government on Free Speech and Science
A recent report card grading 15 federal agencies found inconsistent policies for releasing scientific information to the public. The analysis also showed that several agencies stifle their scientists’ communication, causing scientists to fear retaliation for speaking their minds. Although some agencies have satisfactory policies or recently improved media policies, it appears much still needs to be done to ensure scientific information gets to the public.
(Brian Turnbaugh 10/21/08) Read More >>
A government investigation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) process for assessing dangerous chemicals concludes the agency is so slow and lacking in credibility that the system is in “serious risk of becoming obsolete.”
(Brian Turnbaugh 09/23/08) Read More >>
FDA Fighting Mounting Evidence on BPA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to claim there is insufficient evidence about the health effects of a chemical widely used in consumer products to justify regulating the substance. Evidence is mounting from a variety of other sources, however, that bisphenol-A (BPA) may affect human development and mental health. FDA continues to advise consumers that there is no reason to “discontinue using products that contain BPA.”
(Rick Melberth 09/09/08) Read More >>
Secret Risk Assessment Rule Aims to Halt Worker Safety Protections
The Bush administration is trying to rush through a Department of Labor (DOL) draft rule to require new worker safety standards to be based on a new risk assessment process that would potentially tie the hands of future administrations. The new rule was sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review in secret, violating the process OIRA has insisted agencies use for rulemaking.
(Matthew Madia 08/05/08) Read More >>
Following the terror attacks of 2001, Congress expanded its commitment to
public health preparedness in the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism
Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-188) and through greatly enhanced
appropriations for public health. These actions included expanding a number of
programs at CDC, such as grants for state and local public health capacity, and
programs to stockpile medications and to control the possession of potentially
dangerous pathogens. Congress authorized and funded several new programs, such
as a state program to bolster hospital preparedness, and expanded food safety
authorities for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Congress also created the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to serve as a coordination point for many
emergency preparedness programs, and for enhancement of funding for public health
preparedness programs throughout the federal government.
The mission of public health is to promote physical and mental health and
prevent disease, injury, and disability.2 The U.S. public health system comprises a
wide array of governmental and nongovernmental entities, including:
! over 3,000 county and city health departments and local boards of
health;
! 59 state and territorial health departments;
! tribal health departments;
! more than 160,000 public and private laboratories;
! parts of multiple federal departments and agencies;
! hospitals and other healthcare providers; and
! volunteer organizations such as the Red Cross.
Definitions vary but, in practical terms, public health infrastructure is the
federal, state, and local public health organizations and the resources they need to
operate effectively.3 These governmental organizations form “the nerve center of the
public health system”and interact with a wide array of other partners to ensure public
health.4
Legal Framework for Public Health5
Public health practice is governed by federal, state, and local law. The federal
government can influence public health practice through its funding decisions and by
exercising its jurisdiction over interstate commerce. However, most public health
authority rests with the states. This section will review the legal authorities of
federal, state, and local governments in public health.
Most public health authority is based in the states, as an exercise of their police
powers.6 States use this authority in a number of ways to protect public health, from
enforcing safety and sanitary codes, to conducting inspections, to mandating the
reporting of certain diseases to state authorities, to compelling isolation or
quarantine, to licensing healthcare workers and facilities. Local governments are
often responsible for some of these activities, using powers largely derived from
delegation of state authority. Since states are the basis for most authority in public
health, the traditional relationship of state and federal agencies has placed states in
a leading role, with CDC providing support through funding, training, and technical
assistance, advanced laboratory support and data analysis, and other activities. The
Public Health Service Act grants the Secretary of HHS the authority to declare a
situation a public health emergency, which triggers an expansion of federal authority
(such as federal quarantine authority) as needed. The only such declaration made in
recent memory was on September 11, 2001. On the other hand, even though states
already have considerable power in responding to public health events, most can also
declare public health emergencies and expand their powers further.7
Though most public health authority is based in state law, the federal
government nonetheless exerts a strong influence on public health practice through
its ability to tax and spend and its responsibility for regulating interstate commerce.
Using its commerce authority, the federal government can act to protect the
environment, ensure food and drug safety, and promote occupational health and
safety.
The federal government also has authority for disease control functions
concerning entries of persons, goods and conveyances from other countries, where
its activities to compel disease reporting and impose quarantine mirror the activities
carried out by states within their borders. These activities are carried out by the CDC
Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, which operates a number of quarantine
stations at major ports.
8 Information on the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act and state implementation
is available from the Center for Law and the Public’s Health at Georgetown and Johns
Hopkins Universities at [http://www.publichealthlaw.net/Resources/Modellaws.htm].
A number of federal statutes address public health in departments across the
federal government. Most federal public health activity is based in HHS through
authorities in the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) and the Federal Food, Drug and
Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). In general, the PHSA authorizes the activities of the public
health service agencies10 and creates important vehicles for federal funding of public
health activities in states and communities. The FFDCA authorizes the FDA to
regulate the safety of food and cosmetics, and the safety and effectiveness of
pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices.
In addition to HHS, most other departments have authorities relevant for public
health, though they may be specific or limited in scope. Three separate statutes grant
authority to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure the safety of meat,
poultry, and processed eggs. Important environmental health authorities are
contained in the National Environmental Policy Act, as well as a number of related
laws that authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate the safety
of the air, water, and the ecological system. Important occupational health authorities
are found in the Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) and Mine Safety Acts. The
Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs exercise authorities to protect the
health of the specific populations they serve, as does the Federal Bureau of Prisons
in the Justice Department. The Departments of Energy and Transportation also act
to protect public health through specific authorities, such as those governing
radiation safety and highway safety, respectively. Independent agencies such as the
Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Transportation Safety Board,
and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission also exercise federal authorities that, at least
in part, protect public health. These examples are illustrative but by no means
exhaustive. They do not encompass all of the many threads of federal activity that
ultimately benefit the public’s health.
Other provisions of federal law address emergency preparedness and response.
The Homeland Security Act created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
and grants the Secretary of DHS a broad leadership role in planning for and
responding to emergencies, as well as several specific authorities for public health
(discussed in subsequent sections). The Stafford Act establishes provisions for
federal assistance to states in the event of a disaster. The act requires the governor
of an affected state to request a declaration of a disaster, and vests the President with
the authority to make such a declaration and charge federal agencies to provide
support to state and local efforts.
10 Public health service agencies are those agencies whose activities are authorized in the
Public Health Service Act, namely the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, CDC,
FDA, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Indian Health Service, the
National Institutes of Health, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, as well as a variety of activities in the Office of the Secretary of HHS.
Federal Public Health Role and Organization
The 2002 report from the Institute of Medicine, The Future of Public Health in
the 21st Century, identifies six main areas where the federal government plays a role
in population health. The six areas are policy making, financing, public health
protection, collecting and disseminating information about health and healthcare
delivery systems, capacity building for population health, and direct management of
services.11
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) bears primary
responsibility for public health activities at the federal level. Other key activities are
located in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department
of Defense (DoD), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This section will
describe the missions of various agencies within HHS and DHS that have
responsibilities for public health preparedness. Selected programs within these
agencies are described in greater detail in subsequent sections.
An Overview of the U.S. Public Health System
in the Context of Emergency Preparedness
Updated March 17, 2005
Sarah A. Lister
Specialist in Public Health and Epidemiology
Domestic Social Policy Division
***
[PDF]
Mexico-United States Dialogue on Migration and Border Issues, 2001 …
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – View as HTML
Review of U.S.-Mexico Border Partnership in February 2004 . …… health, food safety, and environmental protection projects; promoting sectoral … http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32735.pdf
by KL Storrs – Cited by 2 – Related articles
Office of Technology Assessment (OTA)
– is an analytical arm of the US Congress. OTA’s basic function is to help legislators anticipate and plan for the positive and negative impacts of technological changes.
1992 report
OTA Report Brief
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – View as HTML
tivity, enhance the environment, improve food safety and quality, and bolster U.S. competitiveness. Many of these new technologies will be available in the …
fas.org/ota/reports/reportbrief9201.pdf
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Despite peanut crisis, PB&J Day still a go at Capitol
Blakely’s state senator sponsors resolution commending state’s peanut industry
By MARY LOU PICKEL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, February 13, 2009
In these less-than-smooth days for the peanut industry, one state senator wants to remind everyone that the crunchy icon of Georgia agriculture has not been forsaken at the state Capitol.
Sen. John Bulloch (R-Ochlocknee) sponsored a resolution this week commending the state’s peanut industry and reminding everyone that Peanut Butter & Jelly Day will be celebrated at the Capitol on March 4.
“We’re promoting a great Georgia product, and that’s peanuts,” said Bulloch.
And next week, goober boosters will hold “Peanut Power Hour” at the Capitol, offering samples of a wide variety of peanut products with the aim of educating consumers about the safety and health benefits of peanuts.
The industry is acting in response to the nationwide salmonella outbreak in which tainted peanut products have sickened more than 630 people and possibly caused nine deaths.
Bulloch’s district includes Blakely, home to the Peanut Corp. of America processing plant now under federal investigation as the source of the salmonella outbreak. Bulloch has started to wear a peanut pin on his lapel, and recently, he held up a jar of peanut butter in the Senate chamber to remind his colleagues that it’s safe to eat.
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 7:13 p.m. ET, Wed., Feb. 11, 2009
WASHINGTON – See the jar, the congressman challenged Stewart Parnell, holding up a container of the peanut seller’s products and asking if he’d dare eat them. Parnell pleaded the Fifth.
The owner of the peanut company at the heart of the massive salmonella recall refused to answer the lawmaker’s questions — or any others — Wednesday about the bacteria-tainted products he defiantly told employees to ship to some 50 manufacturers of cookies, crackers and ice cream.
Salmonella found at Ga. plant as early as 2006
Owner Stewart Parnell refused to testify at hearing; 9 have now died
Summoned by congressional subpoena, the owner of Peanut Corp. of America repeatedly invoked his right not to incriminate himself at the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on the salmonella outbreak that has sickened some 600 people, may be linked to nine deaths — the latest reported in Ohio on Wednesday — and resulted in one of the largest product recalls of more than 1,900 items.
Cookies, candy, crackers, granola bars and other products made with contaminated peanuts have been shipped to schools, stores and nursing homes, prompting the massive recall.
(This article includes video and also a timeline of the salmonella outbreak from these peanut products in a printable inset on the page)
Food producers in most states are not required to alert health regulators if internal tests show possible contamination at their plants.
In a separate message to his employees, Parnell insisted that the outbreak did not start at his plant, calling that a misunderstanding by the media and public health officials. “No salmonella has been found anywhere else in our products, or in our plants, or in any unopened containers of our product,” he said in a Jan. 12 e-mail.
“I go thru this about once a week,” he wrote in a June 2008 e-mail. “I will hold my breath ………. again.”
Darlene Cowart of JLA USA testing service said the company contacted her in November 2006 to help control salmonella discovered in the plant.
***
Between 2003 and 2006, FDA food safety inspections dropped 47 percent,
according to a database analysis of federal records by The Associated
Press.
FDA ‘just can’t manage the job’
That’s not all that’s dropping at the FDA in terms of food safety. The
analysis also shows:
There are 12 percent fewer FDA employees in field offices who
concentrate on food issues.
Safety tests for U.S.−produced food have dropped nearly 75 percent,
from 9,748 in 2003 to 2,455 last year, according to the agency’s own
statistics.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, the FDA, at the urging of Congress,
increased the number of food inspectors and inspections amid fears
that the nation’s food system was vulnerable to terrorists. Inspectors
and inspections spiked in 2003, but now both have fallen enough to
erase the gains.
From spinach to peanut butter
The latest big recall involves peanut butter believed tainted with
salmonella, a bacterium found in feces that can cause severe diarrhea.
The outbreak has sickened at least 329 people in 41 states since
August, federal health officials say.
Food safety experts say it would be impossible to know whether
increased numbers of inspectors and inspections would have prevented
the outbreak, linked to Peter Pan and Great Value brands made by
ConAgra Foods Inc., or other recent food poisoning scares.
The FDA had last inspected ConAgra’s peanut butter plant in Sylvester,
Ga., in February 2005 and had found no problems, agency spokesman
Michael Herndon said.
Firms that produce high−risk foods more susceptible to contamination,
such as fresh fruit and vegetables, are supposed to be inspected every
year, unless they have a good safety record. Then inspections are done
every two or three years, Herndon said.
For other foods, the FDA rotates inspections, depending on resources.
“We’re applying resources to targeted areas. So in a way, it’s not a
matter of ‘Are you inspecting one out of 100 or 10 out of 100?’ The
real issue is if you can define risk. Are you applying the 10
inspectors to the 10 areas of concern? Then it’s essentially you’re
covering 100 percent of your problem, which is not covering 100
percent of the universe,” FDA commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach
said.
A recent Government Accountability Office report noted that most of
the $1.7 billion the federal government allocates to food safety goes
to the Agriculture Department, which is responsible for regulating
about 20 percent of the food supply. The FDA, responsible for most of
the other 80 percent, gets about 24 percent of the total.
When the FDA finds violations with a food product, it asks companies
to voluntarily fix any problems. The agency also can request a company
to recall a product or it can ask that a product be seized by law
enforcement.
***
#
ORA/DFSR/State Food Safety Task Forces…
ATLANTA – The Georgia Food Safety Task Force group meets quarterly to discuss …. The RI Department of Health, Office of Food Protection developed a web site …. current legislative issues impacting MDA, budget cuts, humane slaughter, … http://www.fda.gov/ora/fed_state/food_safety/state_ProgressReports.htm – 47k – Cached – Similar pages
#
US relies on states for food safety inspections
Feb 10, 2009 … A Georgia health inspector noted only two minor violations at the Peanut … she acknowledged the state’s food safety budget “has not kept pace … In the wake of the Georgia case, food-safety inspections are facing new scrutiny from Congress. … GM cuts 10000 salaried jobs, trims employees’ pay …
news.aol.com/article/us-relies-on-states-for-food-safety/335540?icid=sphere_wsj_teaser –
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The report also rated states for their preparedness for a food-borne disease outbreak, referencing a salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 1,400 people across the nation this year. Alabama was cited for below-average ability to identify what’s responsible for food-borne disease outbreaks. Six other Southern states — Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi and West Virginia — and the District of Columbia also fell short in that category.
Regardless of their scores in the Trust Fund’s report, officials say all states will need to stay on high alert when it comes to their emergency preparedness, as money is stretched more and more thinly.
Budget cuts threaten disaster plans
N.C., Va., La. among 5 nationwide to receive perfect score; S.C. rates 9 out of 10By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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Tainted-peanut plant owner clams up
Investigators say executive approved sale of salmonella-infected peanuts
By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and SUE LINDSEY The Associated Press
Fri. Feb 13 – 1:21 PM
This Jan. 15 photo shows the Peanut Corp. of America plant in Blakely, Ga. Peanut Corp. of America president Stewart Parnell said through an external public relations firm that a majority of the plant’s employees had been let go for the time being since production has been shut down. (ELLIOTT MINOR / AP)
Sammy Lightsey, left, plant manager, and Stewart Parnell, right, president of Peanut Corporation of America are sworn in Wednesday at Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on the salmonella outbreak associated with peanut butter in Washington DC. (KEVIN CLARK The Washington Post / AP)
LYNCHBURG, Va. — In his hometown in central Virginia, the peanut company executive at the center of a criminal investigation over the national salmonella outbreak is known as a respected businessman who just weeks ago told friends and clients his life was going well.
The image of Stewart Parnell as a benevolent peanut tycoon contrasts sharply with what investigators said occurred inside the processing plants of Peanut Corp. of America. Worried about profits, they said, Parnell fired off jaw-dropping e-mails to employees amid reports that salmonella had been detected in his products not yet shipped.
“Turn them loose,” said one e-mail.
RELATED
» Click here for more information about salmonella poisoning
» List of recalled peanut products
Reconciling the Jekyll-and-Hyde tale of Stewart Parnell, 54, and his contaminated peanuts carries important consequences for food protection reforms already being considered in Washington. Was Parnell a hapless businessman whose mistakes revealed seams in the government’s safety net? Or does the system require a more extensive overhaul to identify companies that might knowingly deliver tainted ingredients?
Friends and clients close to Parnell said he’s not a monster, just a person who has made mistakes.
“He’s always been an upstanding, generous person and a pillar of the community,” said Mark Borel, a former neighbor and longtime friend.
A little over a month ago, Parnell was telling friends and clients just how good things were in his peanut business, which operates three plants in as many states. He was spending time with his grandchild, looking forward to some more hunting and getting his boat out on the water.
Today, the man associated with the deadly salmonella outbreak is more the recluse, staying close to the house he bought here more than 14 years ago, when it was still surrounded by pastures. Parnell is telling those same friends and clients not to call, not to visit, not to do anything that might link them to the firestorm he’s facing.
And for now, they’re giving him the benefit of the doubt.
“I haven’t condemned him yet,” said Eddie Marks, who runs a Virginia storage company and has known Parnell for 15 years.
Others aren’t as forgiving, after reading Parnell’s own words in e-mails: complaining that salmonella tests were costing him business, ordering a plant manager to ship products once identified as contaminated, pleading with health inspectors to let his employees “turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money.”
For nearly five minutes before being dismissed, Parnell listened Wednesday as U.S. lawmakers described him as greedy and uncaring, indifferent to the impact his beleaguered business has had on the lives of so many. He repeatedly invoked his constitutional right not to say anything that could be used against him.
Parnell isn’t talking now, not to reporters or congressmen who pelted him with questions about whether his Georgia plant was responsible for 600 illnesses and nine deaths across the country. Nearly 200 food makers who used or sold Parnell’s products are listed on a recall of more than 1,900 different items, making this one of the nation’s largest recalls.
His appearance before a House subcommittee was the first opportunity to put a face to the latest food contamination scare: a round, slightly swollen, seemingly sleepless face of a man fidgeting in his seat, or tapping his fingers on the desk before him, or folding his arms awkwardly, or jerking his head to the side as if he heard his name called.
“I’m assuming he will talk when the time is right,” said his brother Michael of Midlothian, Va.
Texas health officials this week told him to shut his plant there and ordered a recall Thursday of all its products after salmonella was discovered, along with “dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers.”
This is not the man Charles Pond knew when he sold him his Suffolk, Va., peanut business in 2001. Parnell leases Pond’s building and makes monthly payments for equipment.
“He’s been slow to pay on some of it, but other than that, we’ve never seen any problems like this,” Pond said.
Parnell has had a long, successful run in the peanut business, starting with his father and two younger brothers in 1977. They took a struggling, $50,000-a-year peanut roasting operation and turned it into a $30 million business before selling in 1995. Parnell once boasted about the company on his Web site.
It was in those high-rolling years that Parnell bought the property that today serves as the site for his home and his company headquarters. His three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath Cape Cod-style house, his company offices behind it and the land are valued at $464,700 in local property tax records.
Parnell continued working as a consultant to the business after the family sold it, and in 2000 he left to buy his own peanut plant again in Texas. In 2001, he bought the Blakely, Ga., operation after teaming up with a financial backer, David Royster III of Shelby, N.C.
Pond said Royster supplied the money, Parnell supplied the experience for the Georgia and Virginia peanut businesses.
Royster did not returned repeated calls for comment over several days made to his office and home by The Associated Press.
Friends of Parnell said there is more to him than what the public has seen. He is a father to two grown daughters, a pilot of more than 30 years, an avid hunter, a reliable contributor to local charities, a man who has spent more than three decades in his business.
“He’s an amazing person,” said Nancy Weaver, a neighbor of Parnell’s. Weaver called a reporter to defend Parnell, to say he’s just being maligned and misunderstood. But she, like others close to him, declined to discuss him further when a reporter knocked on the door.
The public record portrays a different man, someone who repeatedly has faced problems in his business years before it became ground zero for the salmonella outbreak.
In 1990, federal inspectors found toxic mold in products produced in Parnell’s peanut company in Virginia that forced a recall of the food, according to a 1992 lawsuit filed in Virginia. Parnell settled the case with two companies that had products contaminated.
In 2001, inspectors found peanuts may have been exposed to pesticides, and in 2006 Parnell’s company hired a consultant to help resolve a salmonella problem at the Georgia plant.
Those problems, however, didn’t interrupt Parnell’s business and went untold to his clients, many who describe him as well respected. His industry colleagues recommended that he serve on the Agriculture Department’s Peanut Standards Board for the past six years. That board oversees standards for peanut growers and marketers.
It wasn’t campaign money that got him the appointment. Federal campaign records show no contributions from him or his immediate family to any candidate.
Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., extended Parnell’s term to the national board in 2005 when Johanns was agriculture secretary, based on recommendations he received from agency staff and the peanut industry, said a spokeswoman for Johanns, Sarah Pompei.
Parnell is not a fly-by-night operator, said Eddie Marks, the Virginia businessman and Parnell client. Parnell’s client list includes some of the nation’s largest food companies — Kellogg, Frito-Lay, Jenny Craig, Sara Lee.
“I think you can look at his customer base and determine that he’s been well-recognized,” Marks said.
Michael Smith, purchasing manager for Stapleton-Spence Packing Co. in Gridley, Calif., has bought peanuts from Parnell for years and describes him as “one of the nicest guys in the world.”
Smith said he recently sent Parnell an e-mail expressing support, and in less than five minutes Parnell responded.
“He said, ‘I have one thing for you: Take care of yourself, your family and your business.”
***
It’s difficult to believe it hasn’t happened sooner, but there has already been a shakeup in new Department of Agriculture Peanut Standards Board.
On Thursday, Barack Obama’s new Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, removed Stewart Parnell as a member of the board.
Parnell is the president and CEO of Peanut Corp. of America (PCA), the company whose Blakely, Georgia plant has been identified as the source of a nationwide salmonella outbreak.
The board is staffed voluntarily and advises the Secretary of Agriculture on the handling standards for peanuts grown and marketed domestically as well as imported.
Parnell has been on the board since 2005.
Banned From Business
Also on Thursday, Peanut Corporation of America, based in Lynchburg, Virginia was excluded from any role in federal government contracts as an agent or representative supplying peanut or peanut products to the federal government, according to the Department of Agriculture. That suspension is to last one year.
In terms of the scope of the recall, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reminds us that the closest recall was in 2007 when 1,177 pet food products found with the industrial chemical, melamine were recalled. The current peanut product recall due to salmonella amounts to more than 1,313 products.
The FDA tracks the products included in the recall and adds more daily. If you have any doubt, check the peanut product salmonella recall list on the agency’s Web site.
Sickness
In terms of sickness, last summer’s salmonella outbreak due to peppers made about 1,200 people ill. So far the current salmonella situation has sickened 575 and is linked, though not conclusively, to eight deaths.
Food banks are reminded to remove any peanut butter that comes with the name Parnell’s Pride or King Nut, sold in five pound jars up to more than 1.000 pounds. Peanut butter sold at the retail level is not affected by the recalls.
Prosecution
The state of Georgia, where the Blakely plant is located, has decided not to pursue reckless conduct and adulteration of food charges against the PCA plant. Those are misdemeanors and instead, the state will defer to the federal government for criminal prosecution.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) told members of the FDA and CDC that he’d like to see company officials go to jail as a cost of doing business. “You give them a fine, well, it’s just the cost of doing business. But if somebody thinks they’re going to go to jail… that’s an entirely different thing,” as the Los Angeles Times reports.
The plant had not had an FDA inspection since 2001, instead relying on state inspectors, who found various problems from 2006 to 2008, including salmonella contamination.
Speaking to regulators, members of Congress suggest that agencies need to talk to one another. The creation of an online database could allow physicians to enter information related to any national food borne illness. Forming one agency that oversees food safety is the leading proposed solution.#
Parnell Off Federal Peanut Butter Board
Posted by Jane Akre
Friday, February 06, 2009 11:07 AM EST
***
USDA Biographies
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE MIKE JOHANNS
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, (Republican – Nebraska)
Mike Johanns was sworn in as the 28th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on January 21, 2005.
Secretary Johanns’ strong agricultural roots stretch back to his childhood. He was born in Iowa and grew up doing chores on his family’s dairy farm. As the son of a dairy farmer, he developed a deep respect for the land and the people who work it. He still describes himself as “a farmer’s son with an intense passion for agriculture.”
That passion has been evident during Johanns’ tenure as Secretary of Agriculture. Days after he took office, he began working with U.S. trading partners to reopen their markets to U.S. beef. Nearly 119 countries had closed their markets after a single finding of a BSE-infected cow in the U.S. in 2003. Within his first year, Johanns convinced nearly half that number to reopen their markets.
Prior to coming to USDA, Johanns was Nebraska’s 38th governor. During his six years in office, Johanns was a strong advocate for rural communities and farmers and ranchers. That’s why, with a new farm bill on the horizon, Johanns went to the country in 2005 to hear first-hand from producers about what was working with current farm policy and what was not. Johanns hosted 21 of 52 farm bill forums held in 48 states.
To improve access to markets he has traveled the world, participating in World Trade Organization negotiations and promoting the successful passage of the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement.
***
Stephanie Johanns, wife of Republican Senate hopeful Mike Johanns, fills her ballot at a polling station in Omaha, Neb., in the primary election Tuesday, May 13, 2008. The former Neb. Governor and former US Secretary of Agriculture is competing against Pat Flynn for his party’s nomination.
*** http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01565.html
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified 290 people from 39 states who have gotten sick from Salmonella Tennessee, the Salmonella type associated with this outbreak. Forty six (46) patients are known to have been hospitalized and there have been no reported deaths.
On February 13, 2007, FDA was notified by CDC and state health departments of data showing an outbreak of Salmonella Tennessee infection in people who reported having eaten certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter. Since that time, FDA has been conducting an active investigation of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter made by ConAgra in the same facility.
On February 14, FDA took the following actions:
Sent a team of microbiologists and experienced field investigators to begin its inspection of ConAgra’s manufacturing plant in Georgia. The inspection will include collecting environmental, raw ingredient and product samples, and reviewing manufacturing and quality assurance records.
***
ConAgra Foods Announces Test Finds Salmonella in Its Peanut Butter
OMAHA, Neb.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb. 22, 2007–ConAgra Foods announced today that testing by some states has detected the presence of Salmonella within samples of peanut butter manufactured in its Sylvester, GA plant.
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At Gleaners Food Bank in Indianapolis, volunteers open the last cases of peanut butter crackers to be destroyed Saturday Feb. 7, 2009.
(MICHELLE PEMBERTON/THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR/AP)
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Amid peanut scandal, Georgia moves to tighten its food-safety net
On Wednesday, the state legislature began work on measures to tighten food inspections, while in Washington, the CEO of Peanut Corp. refused to testify before Congress.
By Patrik Jonsson | Staff Writer / February 11, 2009 edition
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ATLANTA – Embarrassed and troubled by two major food-contamination scandals at peanut processing plants in three years, the state of Georgia is now vowing to spearhead efforts to fix a torn food-safety net – and save an American lunchbox standard.
On Wednesday, the state legislature took up measures designed to prevent further flouting of food-safety laws that, Congress asserts, allowed a company to knowingly ship salmonella-tainted peanut products to nursing homes and schools. So far, nine people linked to the outbreak have died, and 600 others have fallen ill.
One proposed law would essentially deputize county health officials to follow up on local scuttlebutt on plant conditions. That idea came about after legislators realized the unsanitary conditions at the Blakely plant were an open secret in the town. Another Georgia bill would force producers to inform the state immediately of any positive tests for food-borne illnesses. If passed, that law would likely set a national precedent, experts say.
“This tragic situation must serve as a wake-up call and lead to reforms in the food safety network,” Oscar Garrison, an assistant Georgia agriculture commissioner, told the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Wednesday at a hearing on the outbreak in Washington. He said that Georgia “intends to lead the way.”
So far, Americans’ peanut consumption has dropped 25 percent in two weeks since the recall began, and lawmakers were concerned that a basic food staple was under attack. “The fate of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich hangs in the balance,” Rep. Nathan Deal (R) of Georgia told the House committee Wednesday, adding, “It’s those closest to the problem who are most infuriated by it.”
At the hearings on Capitol Hill, Peanut Corp. of America CEO Stewart Parnell claimed his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on the heels of an FBI raid of the company’s Lynchburg, Va., headquarters and the Blakely plant on Monday. The FBI closed a second PCA plant in Plainview, Texas, on Tuesday, after finding salmonella residue there.
In addition to statewide measures, the food-contamination scandal is likely to lead to a tightening of food-safety standards nationwide. After the ninth congressional food safety hearing in two years, Washington is increasingly likely to boost funding to a cash-strapped Food and Drug Administration, strengthen reporting requirements between local, state, and federal agencies, impose a mandatory product recall law, and improve the ability of the federal government to trace tainted products to their source.
The PCA scandal comes two years after a contamination of Peter Pan peanut butter at a ConAgra facility 75 miles from the Blakely plant. A Georgia agriculture subcommittee has started a probe into why the state agriculture commissioner never requested funding for more and better-paid inspectors.
Those criticisms took on even more poignancy after PCA workers described unsanitary conditions involving roaches, rats, and standing water at a time when nine different state inspections in the past two years failed to turn up any problems at the plant. “There should have been a red flag,” says Rep. Terry England, who sponsored one of the Georgia reform bills.
“It all kind of came from saying, ‘All right, what’s all going on and how could this maybe have been prevented?’ ” says Representative England in a phone interview from Washington. “And it boiled down to: What if there might have been a set of local eyes and ears that could have stepped in and said, ‘Let’s look at this?’ ”
Former Food and Drug Administration policy commissioner Michael Taylor says more local vigilance could indeed help.
“These agencies have to be a cop on the beat and be prepared to take action to prevent problems, and this is what’s missing in the way the inspection system works,” says Mr. Taylor. “We need all the eyes and ears on the ground that we can get.”
Critics, however, say the Blakely lapses indicate that what’s really needed is a better-funded and more robust federal system, rather than the current patchwork state-by-state system, which they say relies too much on local and state agencies to root out unsanitary plants. With 400 fewer federal investigators on hand than five years ago, the FDA today regularly contracts with states to carry out plant inspections.
“It may be very difficult for a state like Georgia, which exports peanuts, and where those interests may be very powerful, to stand up against a big local industry,” says Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at the Consumers Union in Yonkers, N.Y.
But John McKissick, an agricultural economist at the University of Georgia, puts more blame on antiquated laws and confusing inspection regimes than on local interests. “Maybe 20 years ago that would have been the case,” Mr. McKissick says. “But I don’t think it’s true today.”
In fact, he says, a major reason reforms are likely to finally move forward is that farmers and food-industry magnates are reversing their objections and are coming out in support of major reforms. In Georgia alone, millions of dollars in farm revenues were lost last year when a salmonella scare involving jalapeños meant a shutdown of plants across the state, even though there was no evidence that state growers supplied tainted peppers.
“We support these [new reforms] not only because we don’t want anybody to be sick from our farm products – that’s our main concern – but it’s an economic disaster for farmers when something like this occurs,” says Jon Huffmaster, the Georgia Farm Bureau’s legislative director in Macon.
At Wednesday’s hearing, the sheer symbolism of the peanut butter jelly sandwich – one committee member called it “more American than even apple pie” – seems to have spurred committee members to promise reforms of inspection laws that go back to 1938.
The tone of federal regulators is also changing under the Obama administration, says Ms. Halloran. During food safety hearings under the Bush administration, Stephen Sundlof, the director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, testified that the FDA needed neither more money nor more authority to do its job.
On Wednesday, in the wake of the historic 1,700-product recall of one of America’s most basic foodstuffs, Mr. Sundlof struck a different note, admitting that dramatic reforms at both the state and federal level would in fact be helpful to the FDA’s mission of keeping the American food chain safe.
Nationally, “I’ve never seen so much recognition of the need for reform as we’ve got right now,” says Taylor. “Now we’ve got the food industry at the table, and we’ve got Congress working on it in a serious way.”
Peanut Product Recalls:
Salmonella Typhimurium
Updated: February 13, 2009
Update on FDA’s Investigation
A combination of epidemiological analysis and laboratory testing by state officials in Minnesota and Connecticut, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have enabled FDA to confirm that the sources of the outbreak of illnesses caused by Salmonella Typhimurium are peanut butter and peanut paste produced by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) at its Blakely, Georgia processing plant.
Office of the Commissioner
Picture: Tommy Irvin Tommy Irvin is the longest serving statewide official in Georgia as well as in the United States. Since 1969, he has served as Georgia’s Agriculture Commissioner. He was elected to his 10th four-year term this past November 2006.
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Divisions
Administration Division
The Administration Division handles all administrative functions for the Department. Its responsibilities include accounting, payroll, budgeting, personnel services, purchasing, vehicle fleet management, mail and courier services, administrative hearings, information technology and bonding.
Animal Industry Division
Animal agriculture is the largest sector of agriculture, contributing over $5.8 billion to Georgia’s farm gate value. Assuring that the livestock and poultry sectors remain healthy and productive is one of the top priorities of the Animal Industry Division.
Consumer Protection Division
Our Consumer Protection Division administers state laws, rules and regulations for retail and wholesale grocery stores, retail seafood stores and places in the business of food processing and plants which are currently required to obtain a license from the Commissioner under any other provision of law: bakeries, confectionaries, fruit, nuts and vegetables stores and places of business, and similar establishments, mobile or permanent, engaged in sale of food primarily for consumption off the premises.
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Our division encompasses Pesticide Certification and Enforcement, Structural Pest Control, Nursery and Plant Protection, Apiary Industry, Boll Weevil Eradication, Entomology and Chemical Labs, Seed Labs, Seed Development Commission, Plant, Food, Feed and Grain, and Plant Industry Inspection Forces.
Van Harris
Agriculture Manager III
Tele: (404) 656-3632
vharris@agr.state.ga.us <vharris@agr.state.ga.us>
Our section is responsible for enforcing state laws, rules and regulations by conducting sanitation inspection of retail food stores, salvage food operations, mobile meat trucks and rolling stores to insure good manufacturing practices. Various tests are performed during inspection including fat tests to check fat content in ground beef, candling shell eggs for wholesomeness, and black light for signs of rodent infestation.
We also check scanners and scales to insure accuracy of pricing and weight and the shelves of retail and wholesale stores for out of date food products
Click here for information on:
The Georgia Food Safety Task Force
Ethnic Foods Training Guide Download Instructions (216KB)
Associated Document(s):
pdf file Ethnic_Foods_Training_Guide.zip
Georgia Department of Agriculture was established in 1874. We are the oldest state department of agriculture in the U.S. We are not a branch of USDA.
The department’s mission is to provide excellence in services and regulatory functions, to protect and promote agriculture and consumer interests, and to ensure an abundance of safe food and fiber for Georgia, America, and the world by using state-of-the-art technology and a professional workforce.
The department has 696 employees under the leadership of Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin. Units within the department are: Administration, Animal Industry, Consumer Protection, Plant Industry and Marketing.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture regulates, monitors, or assists with the following areas: grocery stores, convenience stores, food warehouses, bottling plants, food processing plants, pet dealers and breeders, animal health, gasoline quality and pump calibration, antifreeze, weights and measures, marketing of Georgia agricultural products domestically and internationally, pesticides, structural pest control, meat processing plants, seed quality, Vidalia onions, state farmers markets, plant diseases, nurseries and garden centers, fertilizer and lime, potting soil; feed, boll weevil eradication, apiaries, Humane Care for Equines Act, bottled water, and other responsibilities. The department publishes a bi-weekly newspaper: The Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin, which is available online as well as in printed form.
All Georgians are served by the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
American Peanut Council * 1500 King Street Suite 301 * Alexandria, VA 22314
According to USDA regulations, American Peanut Council does not discriminate in it’s programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation or marital or family status.
THE PEANUT FOUNDATION
1500 King StreetSuite 301Alexandria VA 22314USA
Phone (703) 838-9500Fax (703) 838-9508
GEORGIA (REVISED ON 8-22-05)
AFTER-HOUR EMERGENCY NO. RAD (404) 656-4300
STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
19 Martin Luther King Drive, S.W. Atlanta 30334-2001
Thomas T. Irvin, Commissioner
TIRVIN@AGR.STATE.GA.US (404) 656-3600
(404) 651-8206 (FAX)
Administrative Division
Dominick A. Crea, Assistant Commissioner
DCREA@AGR.STATE.GA.US (404) 656-3608
(404) 656-3683 (FAX) PRESS & CONSUMER INFORMATION
Animal Industry Division
Dr. Lee M. Myers, Assistant Commissioner & State Veterinarian
LMYERS@AGR.STATE.GA.US (404) 656-3671
(404) 657-1357 (FAX) ANIMAL DISEASE CONTROL, LIVESTOCK
Meat Industry Division
Dr. Rex D. Holt, Director
RHOLT@AGR.STATE.GA.US (404) 656-3673
(404) 463-1357 (FAX) MEAT
Consumer Protection Field Forces Division
Cameron Smoak, Assistant Commissioner
CSMOAK@AGR.STATE.GA.US (404) 656-3627
(404) 463-6428 (FAX) FOOD, RETAIL FOOD STORES, EGGS
Bob Sherrer, Agriculture Manager, Food Complaints
BSHERRER@AGR.STATE.GA.US (404) 656-3621
(404) 463-6428 (FAX)
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body wholeheartedly commend Mr. Cameron Smoak for his outstanding service to the public as the Assistant Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture and wish him continued success in the future.
07 LC 35 0504
House Resolution 496
By: Representatives McCall of the 30th, England of the 108th, Lane of the 158th, James of the 135th, Royal of the 171st, and others
***
Salmonella Found, Company Still Shipped Peanut Products
Posted By: Michael King
Posted By: Kevin Rowson
Posted By: Jerry Carnes
ATLANTA — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says a Georgia peanut plant shipped peanut products to consumers even though they tested positive for salmonella. The Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) in Blakely is at the center of a federal investigation into a salmonella outbreak that has killed eight people.
The FDA says that on 12 separate occasions over the past two years, PCA tests found their product tainted with salmonella. The company sent those products on to the consumer after a second lab tested them negative. Oscar Garrison, the Assistant Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture called the findings “complete recklessness on behalf of the manufacturer (PCA).”
The Department of Agriculture conducted six inspections in 2007 and 2008 at the plant. They tested for salmonella just once. That test came out negative.
But on 12 separate occasions in the same time period, the company conducted it’s own tests and found salmonella. Consumer advocates are fuming after hearing the FDA findings.
“This kind of lab shopping is absolutely shocking and it really shows the FDA’s program is inadequate to protect American consumers,” said Sarah Klein of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The FDA also says the Georgia plant took no steps to improve the cleaning or manufacturing methods after salmonella was found in it’s plant. The FDA says that is a clear violation of the law. The FDA said those were “significant deviations” that had an adverse effect on the quality on the product.
The company is not required by law to report it’s own findings to the Department of Agriculture or the FDA. The state’s Oscar Garrison says the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture will introduce legislation that will make companies report their test results to the state.
“Had we known when this occurred we would have stepped in with regulatory oversight to take charge of the facility and make sure those products were not introduced into the market place,” Garrison said. “The facility should have stopped production immediately and should have done a thorough cleaning of the facility and done and investigation to determine exactly where the source of that contamination came from.”
Eight people have died in the salmonella outbreak. The sick count is up to 501 people in 43 states. One-hundred-eight of those who got sick had to be hospitalized. The most recent reported sickness was on January 9. The FDA says new cases are decreasing.
Officials with the Centers for Disease Control said more than 280 of those were children. The Food and Drug Administration said that 21 percent of the victims are less than five years old.
Federal officials say four kinds of salmonella have been identified in the growing investigation of tainted peanut products. Meanwhile, the recall list has grown to more 390 products, from ice cream to dog biscuits. More than 500 people have gotten sick, and the outbreak is believed to have contributed to eight deaths.
A congressional official briefed on the investigation said health officials have identified four types of salmonella as they focus on the Peanut Corporation of America’s facility in downstate Blakely, Ga. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.
One strain of salmonella, Salmonella Typhimurium, is what caused the illnesses. Two other strains were found on the floor of the facility and a third in a container of peanut butter from the plant.
11Alive News obtained inspection reports conducted by the State Department of Agriculture over the past three years at the plant. They show while there were more and more violations at the Blakely processing plant, there were fewer and fewer inspections. The Georgia Department of Agriculture’s assistant commissioner says changes are unavoidable.
Ten inspections over the past three years; 32 violations found at the South Georgia peanut processing plant. State inspectors found unsanitary conditions like dirty equipment, mold, and dust.
“Doesn’t that raise a red flag?” asked 11Alive’s Jerry Carnes.
“It would denote we need a little more enforcement in the plant. But overall? No,” responded Oscar Garrison of the Department of Agriculture.
Georgia’s Agriculture Department insists any violation spotted here was fixed that day or the next. But as the violations grew, the number of inspections shrank — four in 2006, four in 2007, only two in 2008.
“Why did that happen?” Carnes asked.
“It’s like all other state agencies — we’re under the gun with the budget cuts being required,” said Garrison. “We have fewer inspectors.”
Garrison says the lack of resources also impacted the type of inspections done here. The plant is now the focus of an investigation into the outbreak of salmonella that may be responsible for as many as seven deaths. Over the past three years, state inspectors tested products there for salmonella only once — that was in 2007.
“Why weren’t there salmonella tests done at this plant in ’08?” asked Carnes.
“Probably because of limited resources at the lab, and some of the other hot topics,” Garrison said.
Issues you might remember — in 2008, the state was busy working to trace an outbreak of salmonella in tomatoes, a problem eventually linked to peppers in Mexico. Georgia’s agriculture department says with nearly 100 food recalls, their lab was overwhelmed.
“You would have liked to have done salmonella tests at this plant last year?” Carnes asked.
“We would like to do a lot more tests,” Garrison said. “It’s just a matter of capabilities.”
So changes are coming. The department plans to shift resources.
“Shuffling some of our time to the more serious food safety issues out there,” said Garrison.
“Is the state doing enough to ensure facilities are safe?” asked Carnes.
“With the resources we have, we’re doing all we can to make sure facilities are safe,” said Garrison.
Right now, there are 60 inspectors statewide to examine 16,000 plants, grocery stores, food warehouses, and the like. The agriculture department will eventually get a new lab. Gov. Sonny Perdue has reserved $24 million for that.
***
Terry Coleman, Deputy Commissioner
Ag and Food Defense & Trade Division
Terry Coleman, Deputy Commissioner
Considered one of Georgia’s foremost authorities on state government, Terry Coleman spent 34 years in the General Assembly. Early on he was recognized as a rising star by House leadership and was named over time to chair important committees such as Public Safety, Natural Resources and the Environment, and Ways and Means. He spent a dozen years as Chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee prior to being selected by his colleagues to serve as Speaker of the House.
Mr. Coleman maintains his varied interests and his commitment to good government as Deputy Commissioner for Agriculture with special emphasis on international trade, homeland security and legislative issues. He recently has been named to the Board of Trustees of Georgia Southern University. Beyond Georgia, he serves on the Board of The Tropics Foundation, whose mission is the financial stability of the Tropical Agricultural research and Higher Education Center located in Costa Rica.
A native of Dodge County, he has a BS in Criminal Justice from Brenau University and a JD from Woodrow Wilson College of Law. He has been awarded honorary degrees from Mercer University and the John Marshall School of Law.
He is a lifetime member of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, the Georgia Chiefs of Police Association and the Georgia Firefighters’ Association. He was a member of the Eastman Volunteer Fire Department for 23 years and an emergency medical technician for 15 years.
Coleman is founder of Coleman and Company Benefits, Inc. He is a Life and Qualifying Member of the Million Dollar Round Table, the life insurance industry’s most prestigious organization. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Bank of Dodge County and the Colony Bank Corporation.
***
Oscar Garrison, Assistant Commissioner
Consumer Proctection Division
Oscar Garrison is a 14-year veteran with the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Garrison joined the agency in 1994, as a sanitarian in the Consumer Protection Division where he advanced to senior sanitarian and then to senior operations analyst, where he served as training officer for the division. Garrison served as the primary emergency coordinator for the department where he was responsible for the agency’s relief efforts during natural disasters and other major events including the G-8 summit. Garrison was appointed Assistant Commissioner over the departments Consumer Protection Division in January of 2007 and is responsible for enforcing the Georgia Food Act and for monitoring the safety and wholesomeness of food products manufactured and sold in Georgia. The division includes five district offices, one of which houses the Poultry and Egg Grading Service. Garrison also oversees the Department’s Fuel and Measure’s Division.
Garrison is past president of the Georgia Association of Food Protection and is a member of the Association of Food and Drug Officials and the International Association of Food Protection. He also served four years as a board member of the Georgia Environmental Health Association.
A native of Homer, Georgia., Garrison currently resides in Jackson County, Georgia, with his wife, Tami, and sons Pierce and Parker. He is a graduate of Young Harris College and Jacksonville State University.
***
This is the html version of the file http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/pubs/LetterUniformityAFDO_12.5.05.pdf.
Google automatically generates html versions of documents as we crawl the web.
Page 1
FouoAed
President
Marion F. Aller
FL Dept. of Agriculture and
Consumer Services
3125 Conner Blvd.
Room 181 MSC18
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1650
(850) 488-0295
(850) 488-794Ó FAX
allerm 1 @doacs. state, fl. us
President-Elect
Charlene W. Bruce
MS Dept. of Health
570 E. Woodrow Wilson
P.O. Box 1700
Jackson, MS 39215-1700
(601)576-7689
(601) 576-7632 FAX
cbruce@msdh.state.ms.us
Vice-President
Steve Steingart
Allegheny Co. Health Dept.
3901 Penn Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
(412)578-7935
(412) 578-8190 FAX
ssteingart@achd.net
Secretary-Treasurer
Steve Steinhoff
Wl Dept. of Agriculture,
Trade and Consumer Protection
2811 Agriculture Drive
Madison, Wl 53708
(608) 224-4701
(608) 224-4710 FAX
steve.steinhoff@datcp.state.wi.us
Director of Public Policy
J. Joseph Corby
NY Dept. of Agriculture & Markets
10 B Airline Drive
Albany, NY 12025
(518)457-4492
(518) 485-8986 FAX
Joe.Corby@agmkt.state.ny.us
Executive Director
Denise C. Rooney
Association of Food and Drug
Officials
2550 Kingston Road
Suite 311
York, PA 17402
(717)757-2888
(717) 755-8089 FAX
drooney@afdo.org
Association of Food and Drug Officials
2550 Kingston Road, Suite 311 York, PA 17402
Telephone (717)757-2888 • Fax (717)755-8089
E-Mail: afdo@afdo.org • Internet: http://www.afdo.org
December 5, 2005
The Honorable Mike Rogers
United States House of Representatives
133 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Congressman Rogers,
I am writing on behalf of the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) to express our
concerns regarding H.R. 4167 “The National Uniformity for Foods Act of 2005” that you have
sponsored. Introduced in the 108th Congress as H.R. 2699, the bill would amend the Federal
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to provide for uniform food safety warning notification
requirements and for other purposes. It is the “for other purposes” that alarms members of
AFDO. The legislation has been reviewed by attorneys for eleven state food safety programs.
Unfortunately, all of the reviews are unanimous in their conclusion that the bill will preempt
states and local food safety and defense programs from performing their functions to protect
citizens.
Local and state regulatory agencies perform approximately 80% of the food safety work
currently done in the United States. Federal agencies often seek assistance from local and state
programs in dealing with imminent health hazards. Consumers are well served by being able to
come to their local or state governments to have their complaints and issues addressed. Many
local and state programs regularly remove contaminated food from the market; test dairy
products for drug residues and monitor the marketplace for pathogens and other food
contaminants. Preempting state and local regulatory agencies from having the latitude to
address food safety concerns has the potential to put at risk the significant state and local
resources that are now dedicated to ensuring consumer public health and safety in food
processing, storage, and retail sales, as well as other non-federal resources directed to ensure
compliance with BSE and medicated feed regulations.
Passage of this bill will undermine proven consumer protection programs. The preemption
provisions contained in H.R. 4167 are broad, vague and sweeping and will likely dismantle the
authority of state and local laws that address adulterated foods – which includes food laws, dairy
laws, animal feed laws, other agriculture commodity laws, anti-tampering laws, anti-terrorism
laws, etc. When you consider that local and state food safety programs are our first line of
defense against acts of terrorism involving the food supply, AFDO respectfully suggests that
now is not the time to dismantle our national food protection program that maintains one of the
safest food supplies in the world.
AFDO is aware of other organizations that have provided comments on this legislation in an
attempt to address some of the above concerns. It bears noting that AFDO has publicly stated
similar concerns regarding H.R. 2699. While we appreciate the viewpoint that other
organizations bring to the table, we would ask you to consider who benefits from the proposed
changes in Hll. 4167. Members of AFDO are state and local governments with no profit
motive, merely a public health and safety concern who feel strongly that the legislation, if
enacted, will gravely impair state and local authorities’ ability to protect their constituents.
110th ANNUAL CONFERENCE • June 16-21, 2006 • Albany, NY
Page 2
The Honorable Mike Rogers
December 5, 2005
Page 2
AFDO representatives would appreciate and welcome an opportunity to discuss our concerns with you
and your staff. Given the far reaching ramifications this legislation could have, we are hopeful that the
bill will go through the full and open committee process, including a public hearing.
Thank you in advance for your thoughtful consideration of our concerns. Should you or your staff have
any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me (850-488-0295) or Mr. Cameron Smoak (404-656-
3627).
Sincerely,
Marion F. Aller, DVM, DABT
President
cc: H.R. 4167 Co-Sponsors
Governor Mike Huckabee, Chair NGA
Attorney General Steve Carter, President NAAG
Senator Steve Rauschenberger, President NCSL
Cameron Smoak
When the bankers appeared before Congress a couple days ago, the moment that a moratorium on foreclosures was requested, their demeanor changed. There was a genuine hesitation and then the CEO of Bank of America, Ken Lewis insisted on a closed time period in which it would be in effect.
This tells me that the bankers did not want to stop the foreclosure process and that may be why they are dragging their feet about helping people to stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure.
What if there is an income stream coming directly from the foreclosure process that would be unavailable to the banks in any other manner? It would then be in their best interest as a business to pursue full foreclosures on each of the properties rather than anything else.
What if the “lenders mortgage insurance” whose premiums are being paid either by the property purchaser directly or through higher interest rates being paid by them, is actually paying out the full principle of these residential properties at the previous appraised value or at the value of the actual mortgage? That wouldn’t happen if the banks worked with people to arrange repayment of the mortgage in some reasonable or reappraised package. And, since property values have declined, this would be the only way that the mortgage lenders would receive the previous high values for these properties.
On top of that, what if the banks derive further benefit from the foreclosure process by writing off whatever depreciated value of the mortgage that did not go to its maturity? That would offset other profits, taxes, fees and tax liabilities which would represent real money to their corporations’ bottom line, also.
And, the auction process restores a certain cash value directly and immediately to the bank as an assured income stream to help recapitalize their extraordinary losses from other risky ventures and toxic assets.
If these are even part of the income stream coming from the process of foreclosures into the banks’ coffers, then it is little wonder that they are pursuing the process of foreclosure rather than working with individual families to keep their homes. It wouldn’t serve the banks’ interests to do anything else as it is set up now.
I would guess that the lenders mortgage insurance would not be paying anything to cover the mortgages if a deal is struck with the home buyers.
Beyond that, there was a note yesterday by someone on the cable news business coverage that the bankers don’t want to write down their CDOs and other toxic assets, mortgage-backed securities, default swaps and structured investment vehicles (SIVs). Although a degree of write-downs have occurred, is it possible that they are sitting on the remaining portion that would require substantial write-downs if the government at taxpayers’ expense don’t buy them out of the mess?
That means, these banks and investment bankers, mortgage lenders and other holders of these financial products are operating with the knowledge that sooner or later, a more sizable write-down on these assets will have to occur. The faster they can get an income stream to cover these losses, the better their chances of survival will be in their estimation of it. But, maybe it only looks that way from where they are sitting.
It also means that they are essentially insolvent, even with the additional US government bailout funds, purchases of toxic assets up till now, TARP funds and availability at the discount window for huge sums of moneys. And, even with the substantial purchases of commercial paper that the US government has been making for them since several months ago – it still isn’t enough to reasonably account for their balance sheets’ disparities.
They are insolvent and they know it. That is why the black hole they have become is eating its way through everything the government is giving them which the taxpayers are providing and pursuing every opportunity to foreclose properties and sucking in everything else they can get as well.
It is why they have raised interest rates on credit cards, raised fees, added fees and found ways to hinder people’s ability to pay a reasonable minimum on time (by changing due dates and minimum payments beyond reason.) I would guess they are protected by some kind of insurance that pays the full amount if and when it is not paid by the borrower, just as the mortgages are covered for them.
My guess is that the CDO’s and other credit derivatives will have brought down the entire system by the time they are done. What it means for me is that, I and my children and grandchildren along with everyone in America like us will be among those who suffer for it because I can almost guarantee that the bankers and Wall Street groups that created this mess won’t even notice the difference in their worlds, aside from an odd and uncomfortable question or two from the news media or Congressional committee members. They are without consequence from their actions while each and everyone of us are paying for it.
Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), also known as Private mortgage insurance (PMI) in the US, is insurance payable to a lender or trustee for a pool of securities that may be required when taking out a mortgage loan. It is insurance to offset losses in the case where a mortgagor is not able to repay the loan and the lender is not able to recover its costs after foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged property.[1]
Comparison of Personal Saving in the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPAs)
with Personal Saving in the Flow of Funds Accounts (FFAs) – Annual Data shown http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/Nipa-Frb.asp
If all credit derivatives were made null and void across the board – losses would be distributed across the system and absorbed. It could work quickly and efficiently to resolve the weakness it is causing. It would create a level playing field and all real assets that are in those packages could be re-written in a prudent and financially sound manner.
If all credit systems had to conform to the same standards of sane leverage ratios and the same conditions of repayment, collateralization, standards of practice and fair lending whether in credit cards, mortgages, commercial mortgages, bonds, commercial paper, stock market practices, hedge fund practices, banking, etc. then the system could quickly be restored to stability. It would not offer soundness but stability would be restored and financial soundness could be sorted out immediately thereafter.
If everyone with a credit card would boycott these banks by not using them ever at all ever again – never, there would be a change in the poor decision-making of the banks holding them. Their shady practices would have to by necessity change and it would alter the price of every product available for purchase on the market to reflect real supply and demand economics.
If credit derivatives and other exotic financial investment products were forced back upon those who created them and the losses absorbed by those who traded in them in the first place, the system could be restored to true value and basic solvency provided that the governments of the world including the United States do not bail them out of those losses. It would go farther to restore balance and soundness in the system than anything else.
If banks, commercial developers, investment bankers, financial institutions and corporate financial officers were held accountable by personal loss, jail time, loss of wealth acquired by ill-gotten gains by trading in these illiquid and worthless financial products, then there would be a change in how they view the situation and their part in it. They have literally embezzled the assets of sound companies by converting them into highly leveraged toxic asset classes of worthless “securities” and structured investment vehicles / CDOs / exotic financial and credit derivatives. The economy is reeling from their actions while their personal experience is shielded from consequences. It would restore prudence in financial matters, strengthen the financial system and inspire the creation of new appropriate sound financial structures in the economy.
If the international community would insist that the members of the financial system that sold them toxic waste in derivatives and leveraged credit products give the money back, then these products wouldn’t continue being sold, traded and given credibility. They would be restructured into their component parts by the companies responsible for creating them and then losses would be absorbed, the good valuable assets would be restored to their rightful free-standing independence and value, and the soundness of the system would be restored. Trust would then be possible to be earned once again.
It doesn’t matter if there are 5 billion shares being traded on the stock market – that describes the willingness of a handful of institutional investment managers to continue gambling because they are addicted to doing so, and it isn’t their money. They get paid whether the portfolios build out or not, though to increase the return of the portfolio is a greater return to their personal wealth. This describes a sideline of the economic reality that isn’t based in reality – not the facts.
A couple days ago, Ben Bernanke testifying before Congress stated that the bank failures of the Great Depression caused the economic failures of the system and quoted the study upon which his research was based.
The bank failures of the Depression were the “result of,” not the “cause of”. He has it backwards. And, we can see it in the situation we are confronting now which mirrors the system failure of the 1929 – 30’s.
Excessive speculation which created a “false and counterfeit money supply” is the dominant factor that undermined the banks, stock values, company assets, wealth and the overall economy just as it is doing now.
For the same reason that we have laws against counterfeit currencies and false securities being created to flood into the market, these speculative products were not an innovation – they were a crime. That experts couldn’t tell the difference between innovation and crime speaks to the distance that our educated professionals have from the living lessons of the Depression.
The reason we don’t allow counterfeit money to be printed randomly and sent into the economy is because it devalues all the asset and currency values that relate throughout the economy.
When “structured investment vehicles” (SIVs), “credit derivatives” (CDOs) and other exotic financial derivatives were created, they were not secured, not regulated, not collateralized properly, and not based on real substance as other currencies and securities. These are a counterfeit form of currency.
Just as a bunch of $20 dollar bills printed up and sent into the marketplace distorts the money supply and the national / global monetary values, so has this extensive pool of falsely premised investment products (now considered, toxic assets) done the same thing.
Entire companies, banks, investment firms, national treasuries and whole industries have been completely destroyed by this already, individual lives decimated, families and communities wiped out, and it is continuing to do so day by day, week by week, month after month.
By re-packaging and re-selling these unrealistically valued investment / financial products as if they were a valid substantial asset, a total pool of money came to exist that does not in fact exist in reality. This speculative process has undermined every balance sheet it has touched from national treasuries across the world, to states’ budgets, and corporate asset values to the actual values of property, buying power, currency values and bank insolvencies.
The specific reason that credit cannot be used as a basis of any strong, healthy economy is exhibited by the entire quantitative and qualitative experience we have now.
Not only does it subject the broad spectrum of individuals and businesses to its inhumane strains of idiocy in decision-making, it also leaves everyone at the mercy of its continuing desire for profits at the exclusion of all else.
Some of its drawbacks include that interest rates and borrowing conditions can be set without limit or common sense. Credit based economy commonly is responsible for the undermining of good healthy business models which occurs in every industry and business type. It insulates its decision-makers from the marketplace and from the direct consequences of their actions and it re-values assets, growth, possibilities and opportunities unnaturally with no basis in reality. It also represents a monetary supply whose currency is not valued by any responsible, prudent nor sensible authority.
Each day and in every life threatening situation that is being caused by the insistence of the US financial community to set our foundation of economic value on credit rather than on fiscal responsibility and real currency, we are literally experiencing what happens when credit is that basis. This is what was learned from living experiences in the Great Depression that gave us the programs, laws, protections, agencies and initiatives which evolved from it.
Many of those individual initiatives to protect our economy from excessive leverage, from excessive unbridled speculation, from the creation of false and counterfeit securities and currencies, and from the many and varied uses of money to manipulate property values, to manipulate corporate asset values and to undermine the real economy have been removed.
So, here we are experiencing a failing economy with every indication it is a Great Depression with a greater magnitude than the last one in America and greater than every other such event across the world’s history.
And, that is what the efforts of the last thirty years of our government’s decisions and our banker’s lobbying, our brilliant analysts and economists, our hedge fund managers and Wall Street investment banks have given us.
The chances are very low that these people, all of whom profited from this and have lived in the luxury of kings and queens for all of this time and still do, are going to be in any part, the makers of solutions to this crisis. The more likely thing they will do is to find a way to continue this game until each and every person alive is using credit as the only currency of value so that money can continue to be harvested from the movement of money.
Unfortunately, that means other real solutions will not be applied and other real solutions will not be sought and other real values will continue to be distorted and undermined until it all crumbles. Then the economy and its foundation must be rebuilt from a much more difficult position and after many, many, many business losses and depletion of resources have occurred. It is what is unfolding before us right now.
** My note –
this so perfectly explains what is wrong with selling packages of loans – it should have never been allowed in US banking and financial systems. The fact is this judgment by a court in India conveys the basic common sense found in reality – all that the loan sales do is to shift balance sheets without any real transfer of tangible property.
Although the writer of this article may not agree with the court, if we had just not allowed loans to be sold – how much of the trillions of dollars in bailout money for our banks, Wall Street and other financial institutions would not have been required? They didn’t actually make money – they just stole money from us with a sleight of hand.
(my comment.)
Body blow to banking industry
Somasekhar Sundaresan / New Delhi February 09, 2009, 0:07 IST
Buying and selling of loan portfolios has been declared illegal by a division bench of the Gujarat High Court. Hearing an appeal on questions relating to stamp duty and registration decided by the company court in Gujarat, the division bench opined that banks cannot be in the business of buying and selling loan assets.
In a nutshell, the division bench has ruled that assignment of loans by one bank to another is illegal. The court has ruled that such activity is not part of “banking activity” contemplated in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (the “Act”).Interestingly, the Official Liquidator in Gujarat had canvassed the same view viz. that assignment of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) by one bank to another would be bad in law.
A portfolio of 56 loans aggregating to principal indebtedness of Rs 52.45 crore and outstanding interest of several hundred crores held by ICICI Bank had been sold to Kotak Bank for a price of Rs 12 crore. Ironically, the issue had been raised before the company court and dropped by that court after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which had been joined as a party in that court, had filed two detailed affidavits setting out its guidelines on buying and selling loan assets.
The court interpreted the definition of “banking” in the Act as the activity of accepting deposits of money from the public for purposes of lending. The court has extensively interpreted the scheme of the Act to opine that none of the descriptions of banking and incidental activity would justify the activity of buying and selling NPAs.
As regards the RBI policy on purchase of NPAs, the court has noted that under the Act, banking policy may be specified by the RBI periodically in the interest of the banking system, monetary stability or sound economic growth. The court has ruled that the RBI could never have permitted trading in debts as part of “banking policy” because trading in debts is not “banking”. Besides, according to the court, permitting trading in debts would not meet the other criteria.
In the words of the court, such activity cannot be a policy for sound economic growth because it only means “clearing the debris from one balance sheet and dumping the same in another balance sheet”. Assignment of a portfolio of NPAs “is nothing else but a form of window-dressing as understood in commercial parlance”. Consequently, the court has effectively held that the RBI’s guidelines on buying and selling of NPAs could never be regarded as “banking policy” envisaged in the Act.
The court has strong views on the subject. The very concept of trading in debts is “abhorrent to the concept of banking in any form” the court has said. “The entire activity is based on a speculative form of transaction….. That can never be a permissible mode of activity as part of, or in addition to, or incidental to, or conducive to the promotion or advancement of the business of the banking company,” it said.
The court has also ruled that buying and selling of loans is not the same as buying and selling of property under the general Indian law on transfer of property. Since the court believes that a purchase of a loan from another bank and its recovery is not banking business, a bank is not free to undertake such activity. Therefore the ability of a bank to sell property can only be the ability to sell assets over which it has security to recover a loan that it has advanced on its own – not purchased from another bank.
The judgement is best described by quoting verbatim: “The contention that when NPAs are removed from the books of the assignor banks such assignor banks would reflect a better balance-sheet is a myopic or ostrich like attitude…. the other side of the same transaction would reflect a poor balance-sheet in so far as the assignee banks are concerned, may be at a lesser figure, because the assignee banks pay a nominal amount for a basket of large outstandings….. The activity therefore, cannot be termed to be either in the interest of bank or in the interest of the customer or in the interest of banking industry in general.”
Finally, the court has laid down the law that for a loan to be bought, consent of the borrower would be required. “A person approaches a bank for loan after bearing in mind the terms offered by a particular bank for a particular loan….but, if the customer initially preferred the assignor bank….the factors which weighed with the customer for preferring the assignor bank…. cannot be said to be not relevant by forcing the customer to then transact with the assignee bank.”
When a court interprets law, it lays down the law even for parties not resolving a controversy before it. This opinion of the Gujarat High Court has far-reaching implications for the Indian banking industry and the RBI. While the Supreme Court may eventually set it aside (it could even agree with the Gujarat High Court), in the interim, the legality of loan purchases is under cloud.
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** My note –
this so perfectly explains what is wrong with selling packages of loans – it should have never been allowed in US banking and financial systems. The fact is this judgment by a court in India conveys the basic common sense found in reality – all that the loan sales do is to shift balance sheets without any real transfer of tangible property.
(my comment.)
