Farmworkers Rally at Capitol in Support of Ag Overtime Tax Credit
Published Friday, April 24, 2026
On Wednesday, April 22, the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee heard Senate Bill 921 by state Sen. Shannon Grove, R–Bakersfield, and state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D–Bakersfield, the California Farm Bureau-sponsored legislation to allow agricultural employers to claim a payroll tax credit to offset the cost of overtime premium wages already paid to farmworkers.
Emmanuel Torres of Bar 20 Dairy in Fresno and Bryan Little of the California Farm Bureau testified in support, joined by numerous farmworkers wearing shirts reading “Mas Horas, Mas Pago,” or “more hours, more pay.” The California Federation of Labor Unions and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation testified in opposition, repeatedly asserting that SB 921 would exempt employers from paying overtime premiums, which the bill does not do.
During committee discussion, state Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, engaged in a broader conversation about the economic challenges facing California agriculture, including high regulatory and input costs, and raised concerns about growers’ ability to recover those costs in the marketplace. Despite this, Cortese joined other committee Democrats in opposing the bill, while state Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Huntington Beach, supported it.
While the vote ends SB 921’s path for the current legislative session, the issue gained traction in 2026. Bipartisan support emerged, several gubernatorial candidates raised concerns about the impacts of the 2015 agricultural overtime law, and members of the legislative majority began engaging in discussions around production cost relief.
Staff contact: Bryan Little, blittle@cfbf.com.
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