Local dairies at odds with Rep. Lewis

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Ontario, California
April 11, 2006
Joe Florkowski

A Redlands congressman's support for a lone dairy farmer has some in the Chino Valley dairy industry scratching their heads.

While Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) has usually sided with farmers from the Chino Valley on numerous issues, his opposition to a bill that dairy farmers say would level the playing field has them questioning his support.

Lewis opposed a bill that would force dairy owner Hein Hettinga to pay into a milk pooling system like other dairy farmers.

"He's been a very good friend of ours," said Geoffrey Vanden Heuvel, a Chino dairy farmer. "On this particular issue, he has sided with Hettinga in a big way. It's a mystery."

When the bill was introduced Hettinga, who owns a dairy in San Jacinto in Lewis' district, asked the congressman for help, said Jim Specht, a spokesman for Lewis.

Because the bill was heard by both the House and Senate without any hearings, Lewis opposed the bill, Specht said.

"Lewis felt that was not a good way to make a law," Specht said.

The congressman was also concerned because the bill solely targeted Hettinga, Specht said.

"He thought it was unfair that one businessman was singled out," Specht said.

That bill, called the Milk Regulatory Equity Act of 2005, was passed by the House in March and is expected to be signed by the president.

The bill was created to close a loophole that allowed Hettinga, who owns a handful of dairies in Chino , to avoid paying into the same milk price pool as other dairy farmers.

Hettinga, who owns dairy farms in other states, processes milk in plants in Arizona . From Arizona , he can ship the milk across state lines into California .

Because Arizona and California are regulated by different federal and state rules, Hettinga does not have to pay into the same milk pricing pool as other dairies.

The Milk Regulatory Equity Act would force Hettinga to pay into the pool in Arizona for any milk he sold in California , said Bill Shiek, an economist for the Dairy Institute of California, a Sacramento-based trade association.

"It puts him on the same playing field," Shiek said.

Hein Hettinga, reached at his Arizona plant in March, said he said milk processors considered him a thorn in their side because of what he did.

But now Hettinga said he will have to pay into the milk pooling system and become part of the milk monopoly.

"It's bad what was done in Washington D.C. ," Hettinga said.

Copyright 2006 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Ontario , California
Distributed by Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service

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