Twice in March, Peterman wrote to her, asking that she put the wages bill on the agenda ``at your earliest convenience.'' Rep. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, was a co-sponsor. On the Senate side, a companion measure was proposed by Sen. Mandy Dawson, D-Fort Lauderdale, and Anthony C. Hill Sr., D-Jacksonville.

``This bill is a remedy for unpaid wages to Migrant Workers,'' Peterman wrote to Bowen. ``The bill guarantees payment of wages by persons utilizing the services of Farm Labor Contractors.''

It never happened. Said Peterman: ``It didn't move.''

Bowen did not respond to requests for an interview but did provide written answers.

She said she requested that Peterman come and discuss both bills with her. ``Such discussion was not held,'' she wrote.

Yet she made clear that she opposed the measures.

She said the wages bill was aimed at the wrong party.

``If workers are not receiving minimum wage, most likely it is a labor subcontractor who is at fault,'' Bowen wrote. ``The grower is not responsible for the actions of a subcontractor.''

Of the pesticide measure, she wrote: ``There are existing federal regulations covering pesticide use. I don't believe there is a need to adopt more regulations that mirror those already in existence.''

Another committee member, Rep. Dwight Stansel, D-Live Oak, is a full-time farmer. Stansel said he believes the criminal cases brought to light thus far are ``the exception, not the rule.''

``I'm going to be real reluctant to put a lot more restrictions,'' Stansel said.

These legislators' views mirror those of industry groups.

``My God, we've got enough laws we've got to live with without having more,'' said Walter Kates, director of the Division of Labor Relations for the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, a trade group.

Farmworkers can sue growers in federal court now. Wage-bill proponents counter that federal cases can take years to course through the system, bogging down in legal disputes over whether growers are co-employers of the workers.

Williams, of the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project, said the new law would say simply: ``If you employ a farm labor contractor, you guarantee the workers are going to be paid the minimum wage.''

Others who work to expose abuse of farmworkers say the wage bill would have made a difference.

``The belief is, the day after that bill is passed, the grower will call in the contractor. `I don't care how it's been done in the past. It's a new day,' '' said Douglas Molloy, a Fort Myers federal prosecutor who has handled farmworker slavery cases.

Industry officials say work sites already post pesticide information. Bill proponents say postings are spotty and the proposal would have allowed workers to get more detailed data about pesticide dangers simply by asking.

Peterman called the pesticide bill a ``no-brainer . . . public health for human beings.''

ABUSE ACKNOWLEDGED But committee members don't blame the growers

Some House Agriculture Committee members say that farmworker conditions have improved but acknowledge that abuse still occurs.

``I know what happens out there,'' said Rep. Richard A. Machek, D-Delray Beach, who spent 40 years in the industry. ``These labor contractors rent these old labor camps, and they allow the employee to run up a tab at the little commissary or they front them some money. They never can pay it back. It's like one of these loan sharks. This is the 21st century. Things like that shouldn't be happening.'' But even then, Machek said he is reluctant to blame growers.