AB 1156 Advances with Amendments, Farm Bureau Maintains Opposition
Assembly Bill 1156, authored by Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, D-Berkeley, passed from the Senate Local Government Committee with a 5-0-2 vote. State Sens. Steven Choi, R-Irvine, and Christopher Cabaldon, D-West Sacramento, abstained from voting. Notably, state Sen. Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta, voted in favor of the bill. After the author rejected the Senate Committee’s initial amendments, the bill was pulled from the July 2 hearing. Instead, on July 9, the author accepted revised amendments that make marginal improvements to the bill. These amendments are expected to be formally accepted on July 16, when the bill will be heard in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
Even with the amendments, the bill remains controversial. Because it is a pathway for industrial scale solar and battery projects development on prime agricultural lands without a contractually agreed upon exit payment, Farm Bureau continues to oppose the bill unless it is further amended. Staff contact: Peter Ansel, pansel@cfbf.com
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