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Conveyor Currents                             September 5, 2012

 

Legislative Report on Legislation Acted Upon in the  

Final Days of the 2011-12 Session

 


 by: Dennis Albiani

CGFA Governmental Relations Advocate

 

The Legislature gaveled down the 2 year legislative session around 2 am this past Saturday. The Governor has until September 30th to act upon any measure sent to him by the Legislature. Below is a quick recap of priority bills impacting ag entities that were acted upon at the end of session.   

 

 

Ag Labor - Agricultural labor was a topic of concern for the legislature this session. They passed bills increasing penalties and creating joint liability for heat stress violations. However, with much organized and effective opposition from agriculture, a bill that would have eliminated the overtime provisions for agriculture employees failed passage on the last night. 

AB 1313 (Allen) - Overtime for Agricultural Field Workers - This measure would require agricultural employers to pay overtime for any employee who works more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours in a work week. This bill was defeated on the Assembly Floor on a 35-33 vote.

 

AB 2676 (Calderon) - Passed the Assembly Thursday with a vote of 44-28. The bill makes it a clear misdemeanor, in the penal code, to fail to provide both continuous, ready access to shade and water that is suitably cool and available in quantities sufficient to allow the employee to drink one quart of water per hour throughout the employee's work shift. The bill increases penalties and provides that a violation of the above misdemeanor is punishable by imprisonment, not exceeding six months, and/or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or if a violation of the above misdemeanor causes injury, it is punishable by up to one year and/or a fine not exceeding $25,000. Status: Sent to Governor

 

AB 2346 (Butler) Heat Stress for Ag workers - This bill will place the "Heat Stress" regulation for agricultural field workers into statute and has several other provisions including a death benefit of $1,000,000, and a private right of action allowing citizen suits similar to Proposition 65. If signed, the bill would allow farm workers to sue their employers for violations of the Heat Illness Prevention Standard, go to court to seek an injunction against their employers to compel compliance and allow employees to sue farmers for any damages caused by the failure to comply. The bill contains a joint liability provision making farmers liable for violations committed by farm labor contractors, and imposes civil penalties of up to $200,000. Bill passed out of the Assembly 42-33 vote. Status: Sent to Governor

 

Water Legislation

 

AB 685 (Eng) - Would declare as state policy that every human being has a right to clean affordable water for cooking and sanitary purposes. The bill requires every state agency to consider the policy when making decisions. Status: Sent to Governor

 

SB 965 (Wright) - This measure reforms the state and regional water quality control board ex parte rules as well as how they handle bilingual participants in hearings. The bill was sponsored by the ag and business community and after much contentious debate, the bill passed the legislature. Status: Sent to the Governor

 

AB 403 (Alejo) - Water Quality: Integrated Plan: Salinas Valley

Summary: Would appropriate $2,000,000 to the state board for use by the Greater Monterey County Regional Water Management Group to develop an integrated plan to address the drinking water and wastewater needs of disadvantaged communities in the Salinas Valley whose waters have been affected by waste discharges.

 

AB 2238 (Perea) - Public Water Systems: Drinking Water

Summary: Would eliminate the requirement that the State Department of Public Health (department) develop a definition of what constitutes an emergency and would instead provide a definition of a public health emergency. Additionally, this would authorize the department to expend the moneys from the Emergency Clean Water Grant Fund if the department determines that a public health emergency has occurred.

 

AB 403 (Alejo) and AB 2238 (Perea) were a result of the Governor's Nitrate Working Group. They were not considered a priority by Senate Leadership and was not acted upon before adjournment.

 

General Ag Legislation

  

SB 1455 (Kehoe) - Alternative and Vehicle Technologies: Funding Programs

Summary: Would extend the sunset dates of various clean air and alternative fuels and vehicle programs, and the related fees and surcharges under the Air Resources Board, such as the Carl Moyer Program and AB 923 which authorizes local air districts to assess a fee on mobile sources and utilize those funds for Carl Moyer projects.

 

This bill passed the Assembly on a 55-12 vote. The bill moved to the Senate and passed a late night Transportation Committee hearing on a party-line vote. It was brought up for a vote on the Senate Floor with only minutes remaining in the session. It received 25 votes but time ran out before the other two votes needed for passage could be found. The bill failed.  

 

AB 916 (M. Perez) - This measure would create a state run "Ag Jobs and Industry Stabilization Act" that would authorize the state to work with the federal government under their existing authority to declare the ag industry is "underserved" and allow the state to issue work permits to undocumented workers for California Agriculture. This is a novel approach to provide a more "legal" work force for agriculture. Status: Senate Committee on Rules

AB 1581 (Wiekowski) - This measure attempts to address unscrupulous marketing activities by out of state floral companies under cutting California flower shops and flower growers. Status: Sent to Governor

 

AB 1623 (Yamada) - This bill would authorize local county boards of supervisors to raise weights and measures fees to cover the local county costs. Status: Sent to Governor

 

AB 2179 (Allen) - Fish and Game: Enforcement and Penalties

Summary: Would until January 1, 2018, eliminate the prohibition that the Fish and Game Commission (commission) not revoke or suspend any license or permit until specified regulations have been adopted and approved. It would also eliminate the provision that any deliberation conducted by the commission, or conducted by any person appointed by the commission to conduct a hearing is required to be conducted pursuant to the law governing administrative adjudication. This bill was defeated on the Senate Floor on an 11-23 vote.

 

AJR 29 (Allen) - Pollinators

Summary: Would urge federal and state agencies to officially recognize the importance of pollinators to our food supply and environment, to declare the urgency of Colony Collapse Disorder, and to promote healthy environments for all pollinators.  This resolution was passed by the Assembly on a 63-13 vote but held in the Senate Rules Committee.