The Associated Press
Gov. Gary Locke meets Thursday with legislators on a transportation proposal. From left are Sens. Georgia Gardner, D-Blaine; Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island; Dan McDonald, R-Bellevue (right); and Jim Horn, R-Mercer Island (foreground).

Farmers vs. freeways in battle for better roads

Agriculture woes could doom pact unless addressed

MARK JEWELL, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPOKANE -- Should rural Washington residents help pay to unclog traffic jams in the Puget Sound region?

That question is framing the debate this week as state legislators meet in special session in Olympia to try to agree on a 10-year transportation package.

Unless lawmakers can overcome the farmers vs. freeways mentality, they may go home empty-handed.

Legislators from Eastern Washington and rural parts of the state have argued throughout the year that their constituents -- particularly farmers -- are hurting economically and can't afford higher gas taxes to make life easier for Seattle-area commuters.

House Co-Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-East Wenatchee, repeated the refrain as this week's session began Monday.

He acknowledges Puget Sound traffic is a nightmare. But, he added: "When you go the 12th District, which I represent, one of the growing businesses is auctions for farmers who are going bankrupt."

Is that really true, or is concern for farmers a convenient excuse for legislators who don't want to vote for new taxes of little benefit to their constituents?

Bankruptcies steady

There is no doubt many farmers are suffering from low prices and drought. The situation has been most severe for the tree-fruit industry in central Washington, which includes Ballard's district.

But farmers are always at the mercy of weather, pests and international competition. A check of farm bankruptcies shows no big increase in filings.

In the U.S. Bankruptcy Court's Eastern Washington district -- where most of the state's farms are concentrated -- there were only 11 Chapter 12 filings last year, and seven in the first six months of this year.

Chapter 12 was created by Congress in 1986 and allows farmers to avoid having to sell their equipment before they reorganize their debts.

The number of Chapter 12 filings in Eastern Washington peaked at 124 in 1987, but has averaged 12.4 per year since 1993.

Numbers from 2000 and 2001 are murky because farmers were unable to make Chapter 12 filings during a 10-month period ending in May, said Shannon O'Brien, chief deputy clerk for Bankruptcy Court. President Bush last month signed a bill renewing that chapter of the bankruptcy law through September, when Congress will consider making it permanent.

Meanwhile, the number of Washington farms -- 40,000 -- and total farm acreage -- 15.7 million acres -- have remained unchanged over the last three years, according to a Washington Agricultural Statistics Service report.

Declining income

While those numbers don't seem to indicate unusual woes for farmers, other data and anecdotal information indicate there's a problem.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis figures show the state's farm industry went backward in the late 1990s while other sectors boomed. While Washington's non-farm personal income grew 26 percent from 1996 through 1999, farm income declined 33 percent.

Don Downing, loan chief with the U.S. Farm Service Agency in Spokane, said demand for the agency's last-resort farm loans has risen sharply in the past few years, largely because of depressed crop prices.

"It's an indication that their financial picture is not improving," said Downing, who had no statistics on the rising demand.

George Honey of Northwest Auction Services in Entiat said his business has handled a steadily increasing number of farm auctions in recent years.

"A lot of them are just throwing their hands up in the air and giving up," Honey said. "Most people don't realize how bad it is."

Gov. Gary Locke this week unveiled a plan to provide millions of dollars in tax breaks and direct aid to farmers -- a move some people have seen as a bid to win votes from rural legislators for the transportation improvements. Locke denies that is the intention.

As in many states, urban vs. rural conflict is a staple of Washington politics. Rural residents generally have lower average incomes and higher unemployment than their urban cousins.

Politicians and editorial writers from the Big City have been lecturing Eastern Washington residents in recent months about how traffic congestion can hurt the shipment of farm products and threaten the prosperity of the entire state.

At the same time, Eastern Washington voters have been asked in recent years to tax themselves for new pro sports stadiums in Seattle. That issue came up during the transportation talks this week, since the vast majority of the new transportation money would be spent in the Seattle area.

"This is like giving Whitman County a Little League field and erecting a couple more sports stadiums in Seattle," said Rep. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville.

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