Alaska Ag....the assault continues

Of the dozens of obstacles working against Alaskan farmers, and anyone in state attempting to grow food (what the DOA euphemistically calls "the agriculture industry"), none are so egregious as those that arise from within its own ranks. 

The Director of DOA, and several cohorts, have successfully championed an idea to Rep. Garan Tarr, which resulted in a bill:  HB 218  State Vet.

While the support from our representatives is generally a good thing, in this case....not so much.

You can find the bill here: HB 218

Please click the link contained above, and read the sponsors statement as well. 

The bill is confusing, as the text itself can easily lead one to presume that this bill, creates an opening for another state veterinarian. However, when reading the accompanying sponsor statement, a completely different conclusion is reached.

This bill attempts to move the Office of the State Veterinarian, to the Division of Agriculture.

What the Director and cohorts sold to the Representative was a bale of bright, green hay, that was actually moldy, complete with rot, bad strings and weeds.  

Now, the creation of the new PCNs for the FSMA program that the DOA does not have, any why-becomes crystal clear:  The DOA will need these new hires to run a few of the programs. 

In the State of Alaska, the OSV (Office of the State Veterinarian) performs a vital service to the residents, the *vast majority* of that is protecting the public health.  This is performed through preventing the spread of disease, and so on. 

It is not agriculture = farms = farm animals = logical place for state veterinarian!

The State of Alaska does not have a Department for Agriculture, due in no small part to the continued mismanagement of the existing Division, budget constraints, and the struggling state of agriculture in general. For this, and other reasons, the OSV was originally removed from under the "auspices" of the DOA to ADEC, its current, and appropriate home.  We've briefly touched on just what the OSV actually does previously, but the specifics can wait for another day. 

Again....to be clear:  DOA lobbied for this bill. DOA has already hired (created new positions) for two people before the bill is heard or passed.   The DOA will now argue that they have qualified people to run the program(s) already, why not move the OSV?  Once they have OSV, they will acquire various grant monies, both state and federal, and increase staffing.  This will create more opportunities for mayhem, indeed, corruption should not be rewarded with state resources. Remember, the DOA lost their trained and certified farm food safety/FSMA personnel to the OSV, where they are now.  If the DOA is hoping to move the OSV to DOA, why did they hire new personnel? 

Grant money, more staff......unfilled yet funded (ghost) positions....

Ayep, just follow the money.