AB 1362 Advances Despite Concerns Over Redundancy
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved AB 1362, authored by Assembly Member Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, on an 11-1 vote and referred the bill to the Appropriations Committee. AB 1362 would require California-licensed farm labor contractors who employ H-2A workers to also register them as foreign labor contractors with the Labor Commissioner, an agency that is already struggling to manage farm labor contractor licensing. Nearly all the requirements for registering as a foreign labor contractor are already fulfilled by farm labor contractors when obtaining their state licenses. These include securing a wage payment bond and disclosing parties with a financial interest in the contracting business. Farm Bureau opposes AB 1362, citing the redundancy of these requirements and the additional costs and burdens it would place on legitimate businesses that are not engaged in human trafficking, while doing little to deter illegal trafficking operations. Staff contact: Bryan Little, blittle@cfbf.com
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