I think we can all agree that the California legislature is dysfunctional. Over the past several years it has actually gotten worse, if that is possible: nothing gets done. The fine art of political compromise is nonexistent, mostly as a result of the lack of moderate legislators in the capitol. Both political parties now consist of individuals elected in gerrymandered districts from either the far left or the far right.

One change in our state government would be to replace the two-house system with just one house. Termed a ‘unicameral' system, Nebraska is the only state which has this type of governing body. The current operation is wasteful, duplicative and encourages deceptive gamesmanship. The argument is that having two houses consider exactly the same thing serves no public purpose but it can be a smokescreen for sneaky maneuvers. For instance, one common practice is to push a ‘spot' bill through one house and then suddenly ‘gut' and ‘amend' its contents in the other house. That's how our state budget is handled!

Originally, California adopted a two-house legislature because it followed the federal government which in turn was based on the British House of Lords and House of Commons. Those of you who have toured the capitol here in Sacramento will have noticed that the Senate is red (House of Lords) and the Assembly is green (House of Commons.) Until the mid 1960s California's Assembly was apportioned by population but the state Senate was apportioned by geography. The largest of the 58 counties got one senator each while some senators represented two or three sparsely populated counties. This all ended when the US Supreme Court's "one man, one vote" decision required apportionment by population only.

Each Assembly district now contains more than half a million constituents while each senator represents nearly a million...more than a congressman. Interestingly, the California Legislature is easily the nation's smallest in relation to population. New Hampshire has upwards of 400 legislators!

The question is whether we are better served with two houses or one?

NPMA

The National Pest Management Association recently established the Legal and Regulatory Defense Fund to fight pending Endangered Species Act (ESA) litigation and future legal and administrative challenges. Our first fundraising event for the Fund is a silent auction that will take place at our final night banquet Saturday, Oct. 22 in conjunction with Pestworld 2011 in New Orleans. We ask that you help us in this important initiative by donating worthwhile items to put up for bidding so we can build the Fund to a respectable level and more aggressively defend and protect the industry from attack.

As you likely know, the pending ESA litigation threatens the future availability of most pesticides used by the professional pest management industry. Filed by the activist group Center for Biological Diversity supposedly to better safeguard 214 endangered species in 49 states, the lawsuit alleges that more than 300 pesticides - including most rodenticides and termiticides - were registered or reregistered in violation of ESA. Specifically, the suit seeks to deregister these products until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally consults with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, the two agencies charged with implementing and enforcing ESA.

NPMA has retained legal representation for the pending ESA case but, as you know, such costs can be exorbitant and unpredictable. Therefore, it is paramount that we build up the Fund to a point where we will be assured of a strong legal presence throughout the legal process. Please know that your generous donation of an auction item will go directly toward helping the professional pest management industry to preserve the continued use of lawfully registered pesticides.

To contribute to this important cause, contact Justin Gomes of NPMA's staff by Oct. 5 to arrange donation of an auction gift. You can reach Justin by email at jgomes@pestworld.org or by calling (800) 678-6722. We would like to ask that the auction gift have a minimum value of $100. Some of the suggested categories include art/jewelry, electronics, sporting events/memorabilia, vacations and wine/liquor.

Thanks in advance for contributing to this very important industry cause.

At the Sept. 24, 2011 PCOC Board of Directors meeting a new Membership contest was approved.

At each of the next three Board of Directors meetings (Dec. 2011, March 2012 & June 2012), the PCOC member who signs up the most members between each meeting will win $250 each. Recruitment numbers between each Board of Directors meeting will reset to zero for the purpose of awarding the $250 at each meeting. Each new member will also generate a raffle ticket for the recruiting member and the winning ticket pulled at the Convention in June 2012 will win an additional $400. Lastly, the recruiting member who signs up the most new members (cumulatively) by May 31, 2012 will win an additional $750.

Click HERE for a full set of contest rules.

RECRUIT RECRUIT RECRUIT

We have been notified that some County Agricultural Commissioner Offices have requested that Registered Companies submit their monthly Pesticide Use Reports electronically. As a part of this request they are asking that the Registered Company supply them with the Use Report stickers that are required to be affixed to each report.

PCOC advises all Registered Companies to not give any Use Report stickers to your local County Commissioner's Office. The Structural Pest Control Act requires that a Registered Company "affix" the sticker to the Use Report for submission. By sending your supply of stickers to the Ag Commissioner's office and submitting your Use Reports electronically a Registered Company will be in violation of the Act and subject to cite & fine procedures. The Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Structural Pest Control Board Registrar and the Agricultural Commissioners Association are currently working out a solution to the problem and expect to make an announcement in Jan. 2012.

With the national gasoline prices hovering just around $3.60 a gallon, keeping a fleet of vehicles fueled and ready for business is an expensive proposition. Small business owners who rely on vehicles for delivering goods, making service calls or meeting clients at offsite locations are feeling the pinch. While most small business owners would ideally replace their gas-guzzlers with more efficient rides, that's a luxury few can afford. Here are some fuel cost cutting strategies, when hybrids aren't in the budget.

• Locate cheaper gas stations. We may be talking pennies, but when you are filling up several vehicles with 20-gallon tanks, those pennies add up fast.
• Train your drivers not to idle, accelerate too hard or speed. All of these are major fuel eaters. Ten seconds of idling can use up more fuel than turning off and restarting your engine.
• Don't get lost. Looking up directions before heading out will keep you from wasting gas trying to locate your destination. The cost of vehicle GPS units have decreased to the point that installing them makes sense to make driving more efficient.
• Lighten the load. The more weight in the vehicle, the more fuel consumed. Removing the excess weight improves the fuel efficiency.
• Consolidate your trips. It takes a little planning but it's an easy and painless way to cut fuel costs. Routing your technician's stops will improve mileage and time costs.
• Keep vehicles well maintained. Just giving your fleet a regular tune-up and keeping tires inflated properly can improve gas mileage by an average of three to four percent.
• Tack on a surcharge. You could raise your prices in general, or start a tiered pricing system, charging customers who live farther away a higher price. Regardless, make sure you notify your customers well in advance.

AFRICANIZED HONEYBEE CERTIFICATION

PCOC has scheduled four AHB Certification classes, Northern California on Oct. 26, 2011 and Southern California on Dec. 13, 14 & 15, 2011. If you did not perform the AHB update as required, your listing for AHB Certification has been removed from the AHB website. In order to have your listing placed back on the website you must retake and pass one of the scheduled AHB Certification classes. See this NewsBriefs for links to registration for each class. The next set of AHB Certification classes will be scheduled sometime in the Spring of 2012.

Of all the challenges that we face as a trade association, I can think of none more important and vital to our sustainability and growth as an industry than our membership. The membership numbers have plummeted over the last few years and aside from companies that have gone out of business, the number one reason for this is that people don't see the value in what we do. While our remaining members continue to stay active and donate their valuable time and resources, it has created overcrowding in our Districts.

Why is this important?

A significant threat emerging within our Districts is that they can't cover their expenses based on the amount of revenue they bring in each year. Even the most active and successful Districts rely more and more on fundraising campaigns just to stay afloat. Worse yet, there are current talks of at least two other Districts that are considering shutting down due to poor attendance and hemorrhaging costs. As we all know, the most substantial expenses are related to travel surrounding the Board of Directors meetings. What ends up happening is that the Districts decide how many of their eligible Directors they will send and most often it's not a full representation because the costs are too high. As a result, fewer committees are attended, fewer people are in the know and poor reporting gets back the Districts.

Bringing value back to the Districts

One possible solution for this is reducing the number of Directors per District. This will accomplish two things. 1) Bring value back to the position of District officer that includes pride, a purpose of service and responsibility. 2) We save the Districts money. If the current number of members per District is maintained, we still have the same revenue to work with but fewer expenses.

Furthermore, it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to promote the welfare of the industry and to recruit and mentor new members. One of the best ways to do this is to get people engaged at the District level and start them on a path of involvement. Officer positions should be carefully voted on and a candidate selected who is willing to travel to Board of Director meetings, participate in Committee meetings, represent the District that elected him/her and give comprehensive reports upon his/her return. These people are the future leaders of our association and this job should be taken seriously. In my opinion, all too often we make haphazard decisions to send more people simply because there are vacancies to fill.

NPMA by comparison

Look at NPMA for example. They have more than 6,000 members and the makeup of their Board of Directors is: a six-member Executive Committee, 10 At-large Directors, five Regional Directors, two Associate Directors, one Past President Representative and one Supplier Representative. There are numerous moving parts in an organization that large but it runs like a well-oiled machine, and the work done by NPMA committees is particularly impressive. Granted there is a lot of engagement and support from staff positions, but this is a calculated move that PCOC's Executive Committee has endeavored to mirror. Starting this year, there are now official liaisons assigned to each standing committee to help facilitate, support and guide them towards success.

A healthy alternative

Currently our Bylaws support a ratio of one Director for every 10 members with a maximum of 10 Directors per District. As of Sept. 11, 2011 we had a total of 775 Regular and Supplemental members with a grand total of 87 Directors. What's more, this number historically increases by December as more membership renewals come in. One option would be to adopt a 1-2-3 scale for elections whereby a District with one to 10 members would be allotted one Director, 11-30 members would be allotted two Directors and 31 and up would be allotted three Directors. Given our current membership totals, this system would bring the number of Directors down to 50. This would give us a tremendous opportunity to streamline many of our inefficiencies and bring value back to the districts and the people who belong to them.

Careful consideration should be given to each person who serves on a standing committee. Selection should be made based a member's interests and strengths. Perhaps creating a new position of Associate Director is appropriate. This position could be designated for participation on standing committees only. This is also a great opportunity for development and transition into a Director or Committee Chair position.

These are just a few ideas that may help create strength and foster growth in our association. Wouldn't you agree?

Reviewing your workers' compensation policy immediately after receipt can help you save money and avoid coverage gaps. This article describes many of the terms you should look for.

The declarations page of your workers' compensation policy provides basic yet vital information on your policy. It identifies the insured and your location. It also identifies the insurer, type of policy, policy number and effective date, coverages included and information on premiums.

- Check your organization's name and address as listed. They should match your organization's legal name and address exactly to avoid potential coverage problems.

- If this is a renewal policy, the policy number should match the number on your old policy.

- Check the effective date to ensure you won't have a coverage gap after your old policy expires.

The declarations page also lists coverages the policy includes. Most workers' compensation policies have two parts: workers' compensation insurance (Part 1) and employer's liability (Part 2). Workers' compensation insurance covers your obligation to provide medical care and lost-time payments to injured workers, as required by state law. Unlike other types of insurance, workers' comp covers the full extent of your liability, with no limits.

- Although optional, most employers will want employer's liability insurance (Part 2). This covers you for an employee's work-related bodily injury or illness claims that are not covered by state law. It also covers claims from third parties related to your employee's work injury. This can include a spouse's suit for loss of consortium or third party's suit seeking relief from liability for your employee's injury. Employer's liability insurance has dollar limits.

- Employers with workers in other states will want "other states" coverage. Verify that all states in which you do business are listed, otherwise you might have to pay a workers' comp claim out of pocket.

- A four-digit numerical code found on the declarations page indicates the category of work performed by your employees, or their occupational classification.

- Check your occupational classification code, which reflects workers' relative injury risk and determines the rate you'll pay to insure them. An incorrect code could lead to overpayment or underpayment. Underpayment can prove painful later: if an audit reveals the error, you could face a large bill for premiums owed.

- Your policy shows other figures relating to premiums, including "premium basis," "base rate" and "interim billing rate."

- The premium basis equals estimated annual payroll for employees covered by the policy. A too-high estimate could mean you pay too much for your coverage; an estimate that's too low could cause you to receive a bill for premiums owed after audit.

- The base rate signifies the rate the insurer charges to cover employees in your occupational class, before any discounts or rate modifications, per $100 of payroll. The interim billing rate reflects adjustments to this rate for experience or discounts; it could be higher or lower than the base rate. The insurer will multiply your premium basis (or payroll) by this rate to calculate your final estimated premium for the year.

- Compare your base rate and interim billing rate to those on your last policy. Are they similar? If not, ask your insurer for an explanation. Changes could reflect a change in your claims experience or a change in rates for your entire occupational class.

- If cash flow is a concern, you can ask your insurer if you can pay a smaller deposit premium and make monthly payments.

We can help you review your policy and work with you to control your workers' compensation costs. Please contact the PCOC Insurance Program department at Jenkins Insurance Services at (877) 860-7378.

SAN GABRIEL VALLEY DISTRICT PRESENTS

FLYER   SPONSOR

TEMPORARY NPMA LOGIN FOR JOINT MEMBERSHIP

LOGIN: 313501

PASSWORD: PCOC

PCOC website password for 2011-2012 effective July 1, 2011:"npma"

Department of Fish & Game
www.dfg.ca.gov

Department of Food & Agriculture
www.cdfa.ca.gov

Department of Pesticide Regulation
www.cdpr.ca.gov

Find Your Legislator
www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

Healthy Schools Act
www.schoolipm.info

Structural Pest Control Board
www.pestboard.ca.gov

For an additional charge, you may access a 24-hour hotline providing consultation by qualified medical doctors on pesticide-related medical emergencies. This service is provided free of charge to Peacock Group insureds.