Legislative Update
State
Water Diversions
SB 565 (Fran Pavley, D-Santa Monica) passed out of the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee June 29 with a vote of seven to six. CFBF is opposed. The bill would give the State Water Board the authority to require surface water diverters to perform expensive studies evaluating the effect of their diversions on the environment, to establish fines at the highest market value of water in the region and to evaluate each diverter’s ability to pay.
Card-Check
SB 1474 (Senate Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento), card-check legislation similar to past years, was passed out of committee and sent to the Assembly Floor for the first reading. SB 1474 is opposed by a broad coalition of agricultural and business associations, including CFBF and the California Chamber of Commerce. The agriculture industry has opposed SB 1474 because it will strip agricultural workers the right to choose or refrain from union representation by a secret ballot, allowing a simple petition signed by a majority of workers to impose unionization on the entire workforce.
Heat Illness Standards
SB 477 (Dean Florez, D-Shafter) was approved by the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. SB 477 would codify long-awaited revisions to the Cal/OSHA heat illness standard that the agency anticipates proposing in the next few months. The industry supports these revisions because they reflect enforcement guidance Cal-OSHA gave the industry last summer, and which CFBF and other agricultural associations have used to train and educate producers, farm labor contractors and farm workers. However, the agricultural industry opposes SB 477 because the heat illness regulation will reduce Cal/OSHA’s future flexibility to modify the regulation if needed; SB 477 would also subject violations to the Private Attorneys General Act, subjecting producers to much higher penalties, court costs and attorneys’ fees.
Employment
AB 2187 (Juan Arambula, I-Fresno) was passed by the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee. Arambula’s bill would criminalize many legitimate employer-employee wage disputes by creating a separate violation of the Labor Code for failure to resolve any wage dispute within 90 days, regardless of whether the dispute is being contested by either party. CFBF and a broad coalition of California businesses oppose AB 2187. The Committee passed the bill with a “do-pass” recommendation but referred it to Senate Appropriations.
SB 565 (Fran Pavley, D-Santa Monica) passed out of the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee June 29 with a vote of seven to six. CFBF is opposed. The bill would give the State Water Board the authority to require surface water diverters to perform expensive studies evaluating the effect of their diversions on the environment, to establish fines at the highest market value of water in the region and to evaluate each diverter’s ability to pay.
Card-Check
SB 1474 (Senate Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento), card-check legislation similar to past years, was passed out of committee and sent to the Assembly Floor for the first reading. SB 1474 is opposed by a broad coalition of agricultural and business associations, including CFBF and the California Chamber of Commerce. The agriculture industry has opposed SB 1474 because it will strip agricultural workers the right to choose or refrain from union representation by a secret ballot, allowing a simple petition signed by a majority of workers to impose unionization on the entire workforce.
Heat Illness Standards
SB 477 (Dean Florez, D-Shafter) was approved by the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. SB 477 would codify long-awaited revisions to the Cal/OSHA heat illness standard that the agency anticipates proposing in the next few months. The industry supports these revisions because they reflect enforcement guidance Cal-OSHA gave the industry last summer, and which CFBF and other agricultural associations have used to train and educate producers, farm labor contractors and farm workers. However, the agricultural industry opposes SB 477 because the heat illness regulation will reduce Cal/OSHA’s future flexibility to modify the regulation if needed; SB 477 would also subject violations to the Private Attorneys General Act, subjecting producers to much higher penalties, court costs and attorneys’ fees.
Employment
AB 2187 (Juan Arambula, I-Fresno) was passed by the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee. Arambula’s bill would criminalize many legitimate employer-employee wage disputes by creating a separate violation of the Labor Code for failure to resolve any wage dispute within 90 days, regardless of whether the dispute is being contested by either party. CFBF and a broad coalition of California businesses oppose AB 2187. The Committee passed the bill with a “do-pass” recommendation but referred it to Senate Appropriations.
Federal
Estate Tax
HR 5475 (Michael Thompson, D-California), the Family Farm Estate Tax Relief Act of 2010 would amend the Internal Revenue Code to: exclude from the value of a decedent’s gross estate farmland used by an heir for farming purposes; impose a recapture tax on an heir who disposes of such farmland after the decedent’s death or who ceases to use such farmland for farming purposes; and increase the limitation on the estate tax exclusion for land subject to a qualified conservation easement to $5 million and the percentage of the value of such land that is excludable. HR 5475 was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means on May 28. CFBF supports.
Dairy Price Stabilization
HR 5288 (Jim Costa, D-California), the Dairy Price Stabilization Program Act of 2010 would amend the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to publish in the Federal Register a proposed order to establish the dairy price stabilization program that shall apply to all dairy facilities within the contiguous United States that produce milk for sale commercially. The goal of the legislation is aimed at giving individual dairy facilities a financial incentive to manage their milk production. Proponents say that by creating this incentive, the industry can better align national supply and demand, avoiding the extreme booms and busts we see in the milk price. This bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry on June 18.
HR 5475 (Michael Thompson, D-California), the Family Farm Estate Tax Relief Act of 2010 would amend the Internal Revenue Code to: exclude from the value of a decedent’s gross estate farmland used by an heir for farming purposes; impose a recapture tax on an heir who disposes of such farmland after the decedent’s death or who ceases to use such farmland for farming purposes; and increase the limitation on the estate tax exclusion for land subject to a qualified conservation easement to $5 million and the percentage of the value of such land that is excludable. HR 5475 was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means on May 28. CFBF supports.
Dairy Price Stabilization
HR 5288 (Jim Costa, D-California), the Dairy Price Stabilization Program Act of 2010 would amend the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to publish in the Federal Register a proposed order to establish the dairy price stabilization program that shall apply to all dairy facilities within the contiguous United States that produce milk for sale commercially. The goal of the legislation is aimed at giving individual dairy facilities a financial incentive to manage their milk production. Proponents say that by creating this incentive, the industry can better align national supply and demand, avoiding the extreme booms and busts we see in the milk price. This bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry on June 18.