Commentary: Farmers and ranchers earn successes in legislative session

Issue Date: October 28, 2009

By Rich Matteis

The 2009 regular session of the state Legislature has finally come to an end, with a number of successes for California family farms and ranches.

Farm Bureau constantly monitors legislation that could have impacts on your operations and we have asked you to take part in moving that legislation forward or stopping it in its tracks.

Your Farm Team efforts, coupled with the hard work of Farm Bureau staff and volunteer leaders, has paid off, as many pieces of legislation were stopped before making it to the governor's desk.

Farm Team members alone sent more than 4,000 letters to elected officials and the governor, helping to explain the impacts legislation has on California farms and ranches.

Even with such successes, we cannot sit idle. This year is just the first of a two-year legislative session and many of the bills we were able to stop this year can be re-introduced in 2010.

This legislative session is proof of what farmers and ranchers can do when we work together to send a strong, united message to our elected officials. Sign up for Farm Team or, if you are already an active Farm Team participant, encourage your business associates, vendors, friends and family to participate, too. Together, we will improve our business climate and ensure the future viability of California's family farms and ranches.

Farm Bureau SUPPORTED this legislation that would help family farms:

Assembly Bill 854 Farm Labor Contractors (Arambula, I-Fresno) Signed by governor
Protects the work force by removing undercapitalized and unreliable farm labor contractors from the business.

AB 1066 Timber Harvest Plans (Mendoza, D-Norwalk) Signed by governor
Improves the business climate for the forest products sector by extending the length of timber harvest plans, allowing foresters to ride out dismal market conditions.

AB 1288 E-Verify System (Fong, D-Mountain View) Vetoed by governor
Would have prevented the degradation of the business climate by prohibiting the state of California, counties, cities or other local governments from requiring the use of the seriously flawed federal E-Verify program as a condition for obtaining a contract, business license or from settling any claim for unlawful activity.

AB 1536 Oil & Gas Leases (Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo) Failed in committee
Would have encouraged responsible land use by appropriating annual funds for Williamson Act subventions and the Department of Parks and Recreation for operation of parks along the coast.

Senate Bill 147 Career Technical Education (DeSaulnier, D-Concord) Signed by governor
Prepares students for entering the work force by allowing students to take a Career Technical Education course in their interest area to satisfy the general elective course requirement needed for admission to a university.

SB 381 Career Technical Education (Wright, D-Inglewood) Failed in committee
Would have prepared students for entering the work force by requiring school districts to provide students with equal access to Career Technical Education courses in addition to college preparatory courses.

SB 448 Safe Harbor Agreements (Pavley, D-Agoura Hills) Signed by governor
Promotes the development or improvement of habitat for protected species by creating a California Safe Harbor Agreement program that provides incidental-take coverage for landowners who improve or create habitat for listed species.

Farm Bureau OPPOSED this legislation that would have harmed family farms:

AB 226 California Coastal Commission (Ruskin, D-Redwood City) Sent to Inactive File
Would have increased the role of government by granting new authority to the California Coastal Commission to impose massive civil penalties for violation of the Coastal Act after a simple hearing of the commission.

AB 291 California Coastal Commission (Saldaña, D-San Diego) Sent to Inactive File
Would have increased the role of government by granting new authority to the California Coastal Commission that prohibits a landowner from even submitting a coastal development permit if the landowner is subject to an alleged violation of the Coastal Act.

SB 250 Spay & Neuter Pets (Florez, D-Shafter) Sent to Inactive File
Would have prevented the utilization of intact working dogs by requiring all dogs and cats in California to be spayed or neutered unless the owner obtains an "intact" permit for dogs or keeps cats inside at all times.

SB 789 Unionization in Agriculture (Steinberg, D-Sacramento) Vetoed by governor
Would have failed to protect the work force by stripping workers of the right to a secret ballot election when determining union representation. The bill would have replaced secret ballot elections with a majority signup, where 50 percent-plus-one of the workers sign a card to elect union representation.

Senate Constitutional Amendment 23 Antibiotics in Food Animals (Florez, D-Shafter) Failed in committee
Would have prevented the utilization of production practices that maintain animal health and provide a safe and affordable food supply to consumers by placing a measure before the state's voters to ban the use of antibiotics for growth promotion or preventive uses in livestock.

Renewable Energy Standards Package Vetoed by governor
Intended to improve public infrastructure by guaranteeing reliable energy, the two renewable energy bills, AB 64 (Krekorian, D-Burbank) and SB 14 (Simitian, D-Palo Alto) were joined in the final days of the session with the goal of increasing the amount of renewable energy to be procured by utilities from the current 20 percent by 2010 to 33 percent by 2020.

Take Action

As a FARM TEAM member, you will receive e-mail action alerts so that you can easily contact your legislator to weigh in on bills you are following. With an understanding of the bills that can help or harm family farmers, as a voter you have your voice heard. By making legislative visits, placing phone calls or sending out letters, you contribute to protecting our farming way of life.

(Rich Matteis is the administrator and director of governmental affairs for the California Farm Bureau Federation. He may be reached at rmatteis@cfbf.com.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top