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September 5, 2014     
Inside This Issue.....
California Legislative Report
Democrats to White House: Stop Asking for Food Safety Fees
EPA News
Congress Returns to Unfinished Business
RFS Mandate to be Raised
CSA Mid Year Meeting 2014
Upcoming Meetings

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California Legislative Report 
 

by: Dennis Albiani, Legislative Advocate 

 

Legislature Ends Session

 

The legislature gaveled down the 2013-14 legislative session on August 30th at 2:43 am. This session was the first where newly-elected legislators are able to serve twelve years in one house. Redistricting by the Citizen Commission provided districts redraws more to comply with the standards of the political reform act and not in an effort to gerrymander. Additionally, this session was the first with Proposition 25 in play which provides for a majority vote on the budget.

 

This session also saw the transition of leadership in both houses. The Assembly elected Toni Atkins from San Diego as speaker. She became the 69th speaker but only the third female. She is termed out in 2016, making her tenure 1 term. The Senate transitioned President Pro Tempore from Darrel Steinberg to Kevin de Leon. Senator de Leon represents the 22nd Senate District including the cities of Alhambra, Maywood, San Marino, South Pasadena, Vernon and Los Angeles.   Prior to serving in the Senate he was an Assembly member and is currently the Senate Appropriations Committee chair. Senator de Leon is termed out in 2018.

 

There are several problematic labor bills introduced this year with a few headed to the Governor. Many of these bills will add regulatory burdens, costs and liability to agricultural employers. Below is a synopsis of the legislation and the outcome.

 

AB 1522 (Gonzalez) Sick Leave Mandate. AB 1522 proposes to require all employers to provide up to 3 paid sick leave days to all workers on the job. Employers who fail to meet this requirement face new statutory penalties and a threat of new lawsuits for failure to comply. The mandate would cover all workers-- public and private sector--and apply to all full-time, part-time and seasonal workers.

 

Sick leave can be used by the employee for any of the following reasons: Being physically or mentally unable to work due to an illness, injury, or a medical condition of the employee; obtaining professional diagnosis of treatment for a medical condition of the employee; other medical reasons of the employee, such as pregnancy or obtaining a physical examination; or to attend to an illness of a child, parent, spouse, or domestic partner of the employee.

 

Late Saturday morning, the Governor released the following statement indicating he will sign the legislation. "Tonight, the Legislature took historic action to help hardworking Californians. This bill guarantees that millions of workers - from Eureka to San Diego - won't lose their jobs or pay just because they get sick."

 

AB 1897 (Roger Hernandez) New Joint liability: Contracting Businesses. AB 1897 imposes new joint liability on any private sector contracting entity for any business they might contract with should their contractor fail to properly pay wages or overtime pay, did not ensure employees had required rest or meal breaks, let a workers' compensation insurance policy lapse, or failed to remit employee contributions.

 

AB 1897 defines "labor contractor" as an individual or entity that supplies, either with or without a contract, a client employer with workers to perform labor or services within the client employer's usual course of business. There are some exceptions: nonprofit, community-based organizations that provide services to low-wage workers, a labor union or apprenticeship program, or a motion picture payroll services company are all not covered by the bill's liability provisions. SB 25 (Darrel Steinberg) Mandatory Mediation - Standard of Review this measure mandates that an order by the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) be enforced during appeal. It raises the standard of review for appeal requiring the appellant to show with "clear and convincing evidence" that they will be irreparably harmed and the likelihood of success strongly favors the appellant.

These are difficult standards to prove making the mandatory mediation much more similar to binding arbitration. Two labor bills that were defeated were AB 2416 (Stone) and SB 935 (Leno). AB 2416 allows employees to file liens on all an employer's real or personal property, or property of a third party where work was provided. Wage liens would be permitted whenever an employee believes they have not received the correct wages, including overtime pay; meal periods; rest periods; vacation pay; commission; tips; piece rate; bonuses; split shift pay; reporting time pay among many others.   Property-related transactions could come to a complete halt in the state if AB 2416 is enacted. That is why AB 2416 is opposed by nearly every business organization as these new liens have the potential to completely disrupt commercial and personal real estate markets. The bill was held on the Senate floor.SB 935 seeks toincrease the minimum wage to $13 by 2017 and then automatically increase annually to any rise in the Consumer Price Index. This bill failed passage.
   
Democrats to White House: Stop Asking for Food Safety Fees

In a letter this week, Democrats Sam Farr (D, CA) and Rosa DeLauro (D, CT) told the Obama administration to stop asking for millions of dollars in food safety user fees that Congress is unlikely to approve. Instead, officials should request the funding necessary to implement a major 2010 law that expands the Food and Drug Administration's policing of the nation's food supply. The Office of Management and Budget estimated that $400 million to $450 million would be needed carry out the law in 2015 and 2016. The Congressional Budget Office has put the cost at $600 million. The letter said the administration's strategy of pressing appropriators to provide funding via user fees that authorizing committees haven't approved isn't working.

 

EPA News

House to Vote on EPA's Water Plan

Also next week, the House plans to take up legislation that would block the Obama administration from finalizing its controversial plan to clarify the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. Bill sponsor Rep Steve Southerland II (R, FL) says EPA's Water of the United States proposal, or WOTUS, is a regulatory overreach that will expand the reach of the water law. The agency and supporters say it's necessary to clarify an issue that has been muddied by conflicting Supreme Court rulings over the past 15 years.

 

State Regulators to Testify on EPA's Clean Power Plan

The Subcommittee on Energy and Power of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, will hold a hearing next week entitled, "State Perspectives: Questions Concerning EPA's Proposed Clean Power Plan." The subcommittee will continue its oversight of EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan by listening to testimony from state regulators. In its proposal, EPA asserts unprecedented new regulatory authority over the way in which electricity is generated, transmitted, and consumed in states across the country. Under the Clean Power Plan, states would be required to submit individual or regional energy plans to EPA for approval in order to meet mandatory carbon dioxide emissions targets set by the agency for a state's power sector. Next week's hearing will allow state officials to provide their perspective on the regulation as proposed, including implementation challenges. 

 

Congress Returns to Unfinished Business

 

Congress returns next week for 12 work days before recessing for the run up to November's elections. With control of both chambers of Congress within reach for the first time in years, Republican leaders want to avoid another bruising government shutdown and minimize awkward votes that could disadvantage incumbents.  

 

Among the priorities that must be addressed, a continuing resolution - or CR - must be passed to continue government spending past Sept. 30. House leaders want to ensure it is free of riders but a final bill will likely include special provisions related to border security spending or an extension of the Export-Import Bank as well as additional firefighting money due to this year's suppression costs.

 

The move to keep the stopgap as uncomplicated as possible could put leadership at odds with some conservatives who have floated using a CR as retribution if the Obama administration moves forward on immigration-related executive actions, as well as Democrats pushing to address outside issues such as tax inversions. It also complicates a White House effort to provide additional funding to the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments to handle the surge of child migrants. There may also be a push to add funding to deal with U.S. military action aimed at taking on the Islamic State terrorist group that recently murdered two U.S. journalists.

 

House leaders will also consolidate tax and job bills, including measures to make permanent several temporary corporate breaks, into packages to be voted on this month. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R, CA) notified Members that a single jobs package would be assembled from 14 separate bills, some already approved separately, that include the tax measures and plans that would restrict regulatory reach and amend the Dodd-Frank financial law. Another measure would wrap a series of energy-related provisions into a single package focused on "production, infrastructure, reliability and efficiency."

 

On the Senate side, a bipartisan group of 13 senators asked leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee to oppose a rider included in the House version of the Ag Appropriations bill that would prevent the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) from finalizing several rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act. "The rider is anti-farmer; if passed into law it will reduce farmer rights, thwart the will of Congress, and prevent GIPSA from completing its task of writing common sense rules of the road for the contract livestock and poultry production industry," the senators wrote in an Aug. 28 letter to Senate Agriculture Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D, MD) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R, AL). The Senate Ag Appropriations bill, which passed out of the committee in May, did not include this rider.  

 

The GIPSA rules included in the 2008 Farm Bill are intended to address fraudulent, retaliatory, and anti-competitive practices in the livestock industry. However, the 2012 agriculture appropriations bill included a rider to prevent GIPSA from finalizing these rules, and the 2014 Farm Bill does not address the issue.

 

RFS Mandate to be Raised

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy stated this week that the ethanol usage mandate for this year is likely to be raised when the 2014 renewable fuel standard is finalized, citing rising gasoline sales as a reason to revise the numbers. Though the agency cut the mandate to 15.21 billion gallons, from 16.55 billion gallons in 2013, citing the blend wall, the increased use in gasoline has led to a revision.  

 

The 2014 RFS has become a big issue in Iowa, the site of a key race in this year's battle for control of the Senate. Iowa is the top producer of ethanol and the crop it's made from, corn.

McCarthy said the RFS would be finalized soon. The agency sent its latest version to the Office of Management and Budget on Aug. 22. EPA officials have not disclosed how the RFS was revised.

 

CSA Mid Year Meeting 2014


The Keynote Speaker for the Mid Year is Laura McIntosh.

Laura McIntosh is an Emmy and James Beard award nominee who is host/executive producer/co-creator of "Bringing it Home, a syndicated and PBS traveling cooking television series.  Laura's presentation is about working together to tell the plant breeding story and much more.

  

The meeting will be held at the InterContinental Clement Hotel on Cannery Row in Monterey, September 30/October 1, 2014  The InterContinental Hotel is located at  750 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA  93940.   Please make reservations directly with the hotel by calling (888) 666-5734 by  5:00 pm on Aug. 30, 2014 and please mention that you are with the California Seed Association to receive the group rate of $199.00.  We also have our own meeting reservation website you may access through the CSA  Website on the calendar of events page www.calseed.org.

The golf tournament will again be a fundraiser for the "Ginny Patin Scholarship" and will be held on Tuesday, September 30th at 1:00 pm  at the Carmel Valley Golf Ranch.  The tournament will begin with a shot-gun start at 1:00 pm and will include lunch on the carts.   For those of you who do not golf the Bocce Ball Tournament will also be held on Tuesday afternoon as a fundraiser for the scholarship program. (flyers for both events are enclosed).    

All committees will meet on Wednesday, October 1st  Participants can look forward to an engaging presentation by our keynote speaker this year, Laura McIntosh. The Mid Year meeting provides an opportunity for industry communication and a chance to get together with your business colleagues in a social atmosphere.  I look forward to seeing all of you in Monterey.

Call ASAP To Book Your Hotel Room - Guests can reserve a room using the below link, by calling 1-888-666-5734 or by emailing [email protected].

Click Here for CSA Personalized Webpage for On-Line Booking

For A Full Packet of Registration Material and Schedule - Click Here


 

Upcoming Meetings

     

 

2014
  • September 30, October 1, 2014 - CSA Mid Year Meeting - InterContinental Hotel in Monterey, CA 

 

2015 

  • March 23-25, 2015 - CSA Annual Convention at The Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, CA