PALM BEACH POST October 15, 2005
Migrant panel to push rights Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau TALLAHASSEE — Social service advocates say the job of fighting for farmworker rights in the Capitol has always been a hard one, as they carry very little in the form of political capital or lobbyist money. Those advocates hope things are about to change for the better with the creation of the Legislative Commission on Migrant and Seasonal Issues, which will meet for the first time on Monday. But there already are concerns about the committee, including its lack of minority representation — five of the six members are white men — and the fact that a citrus grove owner — Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales — was chosen to head the committee. Still, advocates are standing back to see if the committee can help a process that failed to pass a single farmworker issue through the legislature this year. "Unless some crisis triggers action, it usually takes us years to get something passed. And we can only do one thing at a time because we're not allowed to go after things comprehensively," said social services advocate Karen Woodall. "We think it will be helpful to have a dedicated group of legislators who are sitting down and looking at issues in a more intense, concentrated way." Still, Woodall said she plans to ask the committee to add some seats so more minority legislators can join. A vast majority of farmworkers in Florida are either Hispanic or black, she said, and Rep. John Quinones, R-Kissimmee, who is of Puerto Rican descent, is the committee's lone minority. House Speaker Allan Bense's spokesman, Towson Frasier, said the House and Senate leadership focused more on finding legislators who represented districts with many farmworkers than on filling the committee with minorities. And Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres and a member of the committee, said people should focus more on the policies pushed by those legislators, not on their ethnic background. He pointed directly to chairman Alexander, whose family has owned orange groves for four generations, but has also has championed farmworker rights during his time in Tallahassee. Alexander sponsored a failed bill this year that would have required seat belts in farm labor vans, and he again filed that bill this week for next year's legislative session. Alexander also sponsored the farmworker protection bill that passed in 2004 that increased penalties for labor contractors who physically abuse or financially exploit farmworkers and restored regulation of pesticides used by Florida growers. That bill also required the formation of the Commission on Migrant and Seasonal Issues. "That bill was dead until (Alexander) pulled for it," Aronberg said. "Don't look at ethnicity or backgrounds. Look at politics. (Alexander) has the history of voting his conscious as opposed to where his party dictates." Alexander said he hopes the committee will serve as a long-needed home for the debate between farmworkers and farm owners. "I'm a white guy, and I make no apologies for that," Alexander said. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to make sure that people have opportunities available to them and are protected from people who try to mistreat them."
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