Farm Bureau President Responds to Signing of AB 2183

By Peter Hecht, CAFB

California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson today responded to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signing of Assembly Bill 2183.

“The California Farm Bureau is deeply disappointed in Gov. Newsom’s decision to sign the misguided union organizing legislation, Assembly Bill 2183. Farm Bureau stands with California’s agricultural employees and will continue to defend their right to make uncoerced choices about union representation. However, the governor’s unfortunate decision to sign this bill will create a mail-in balloting system that threatens the integrity of secret ballot elections and leaves farm employees vulnerable to intimidation by union organizers with an obvious interest in the outcome. It also forces California’s farmers and ranchers to choose to give up free speech and private property rights in a dubious trade to allow their employees a real voice in a union election.”

2022-09-30T08:41:28-07:00September 30th, 2022|

Congressman Valadao: Fewer Truckers on the Road will Worsen Supply Chain, Raise Costs

Today, Congressman David G. Valadao (CA-21) joined Congresswoman Michelle Steel (CA-48) and members of the California Republican congressional delegation in a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to take immediate action to prevent Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) from devastating the California trucking industry and further crippling nationwide supply chains.

“Central Valley families are paying more for just about everything, and they desperately need relief,” said Congressman Valadao. “The last thing we need is more burdensome regulations that will restrict the ability of truckers to move goods throughout our state. Fewer truckers on the road will worsen our supply chain bottlenecks and raise costs for Valley families.”

Read the lawmakers’ full letter here.

Congressman Valadao has been a strong voice in supporting balanced legislation to alleviate these supply chain backlogs:

  • Co-sponsored the TRANSPORT Act, which would temporarily waive operating standards should those standards be more stringent than the federal standard, allowing U.S. Department of Transportation-compliant trucks and drivers from other states to relieve ports and transport goods across the country.
  • Co-sponsored and voted in support of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which became law in June 2022.
  • Demanded vessel operating common carriers be held accountable when their practices intentionally harm farmers from the Central Valley.
  • Hosted a bipartisan roundtable with industry leaders on the ongoing supply chain crisis and the Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
  • Visited the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and discussed lack of container access for agriculture exporters, significant backlogs and congestion, and burdensome trucking restrictions.
  • Led a letter to President Biden alerting the administration to the severe impact supply chain backlogs were having on agriculture exporters and urging immediate action to address the supply chain.

Background:

Inflation this week reached a record breaking 9.1% thanks in part to supply chain backlogs. The lawmakers sent the letter after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up California Trucking Association v. Bonta, a case challenging AB5. AB5 was enacted by state lawmakers in 2019 and reclassifies many independent contractors as “employees,” subjecting them to stricter regulations and increasing costs of operations. The law had been stayed pending appeal, but will now go into effect, potentially shrinking the number of critical independent truckers, further worsening the backlogs at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and exacerbating the supply chain crisis.

2022-07-15T14:31:28-07:00July 15th, 2022|

CA Farm Bureau Oppose Two Assembly Bills Regarding Land Use

California Farm Bureau Opposes Assembly Bills 1547 and 1001

The new legislative session kicked off this past week with two land use bills that will stifle development projects with additional requirements.

AB 1547 (Eloise Reyes, D-Los Angeles), a Farm Bureau opposed bill, has been recently amended following a hearing by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

The bill, as introduced last year, would authorize the Air Resources Board to regulate indirect emission sources, a role traditionally held by local air quality management and pollution control districts. The bill would also require a local government, before approving a warehouse development project, to ensure the project is at least 3,000 yards from a sensitive land use, consider all air quality impacts from incoming and outgoing trucks and require all onsite equipment (loaders, trucks, forklifts, belts, etc.) be electric.

The bill would also require much more significant public outreach to community residents beyond the current CEQA requirements, including the development of a “community benefits agreement” that identifies the project’s zero emission vehicle use, delivery and waste hauling protocols and private shuttle service. The bill also requires all construction work completed on the warehouse development project to be conducted be done by a “skilled and training workforce” or that a set percentage of jobs are offered to residents.

Farm Bureau has joined a coalition to oppose AB 1547 with concerns raised about the bill’s application to downstream food processing, distribution and storage facilities, and to on or off-farm coolers and packing sheds.

Farm Bureau opposes AB 1001 (Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens). This bill expands CEQA requirements to incorporate the issue of discriminatory land use policies. Specifically, the bill creates two new legal standards: (1) it forces all public agencies when complying with CEQA to “act consistently with the principles of environmental justice,” and (2) requires all air and water quality impacts be mitigated directly in the affected disadvantaged community. Both requirements are already incorporated in planning and zoning laws and CEQA requirements and present ambiguities, legal challenges and liabilities for lead agencies and project applicants.

A bill that would have established a climate bond, SB 45 (Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada), has been amended to respond to implementation of the state’s short- lived climate pollutant goals. Existing law requires cities and counties to divert 75% of their organic waste below 2014 levels by 2025. Regulations went into effect January 1st of this year and will be very challenging for local jurisdictions to meet. In response, SB 45 requires CalRecycle to provide additional budgetary assistance to cities and counties to meet this mandate.

2022-01-14T14:20:48-08:00January 14th, 2022|
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