A sigh of relief amid the fires Farmers gain coverage under SB 11
It’s hard to ignore anall-too-common scene looking east to the Sierra, or by stepping outside ontomy Butte County farm and intoaneerily familiar aromatic smoke. It’swildfireseason, again, and I cannot avoid askingmyself whether California is any better prepared. Staring at themassive plume emanating fromthe250,000-plus acreDixieFire fails to instill confidence. Nordoes the recent investigative reporting fromCapital Public Radioprovideany reassurance formy familyandothers living in or near wildfire-prone areas of California. Who’s toblame for thewildfire crisis? Is it anyof California’s investor-ownedutilities, or the federal government—asmost of the firesoccuronfederal lands?Or is it thestate,whichargu- ably has misled the public in overstating the amount of land treated for wildfire? Or is it the environmental community, which helped create an immovable regulatory structure? Or is it local government planners or private homeowners dan- gerously overbuilding in wildfire-prone communities? The absurdity is, we’re running out of fingers to point the blame, and in the echo chamber of wildfire-mitigation rhetoric, po- litical posturing and immovable ideologies, Californians are left to suffer. As frustrationsmount, uncertaintiespresent new unforeseen challenges. The reality is, California’s wildfire situation is a massive, multi-dimensional crisis that creates many compounding challenges. Thewildfires have not only fundamentally altered landscapes, but also the risk-level assessments anddetermina- tionsthatcreateotherchallengesforcommunities.FarmBureau membershaveexpressedtheirfrustrationwithincreasingcostsof insurancepremiumsandthefrequencyofnonrenewalsforfarms and ranches inareas vulnerable towildfires. Thesewildfires are unfortunatelybecoming largerandmore frequent. Devastating our communities, these fires have left home- owners and businesses behind to deal with the aftermath, which often includes the inability to find available and af- fordable insurance coverage in the admittedmarket. Created by statute, the FAIR Plan is an association comprising all insurance companies authorized to transact basic property insurance in California. Established as the state’s “insurer of last resort,” the FAIR Plan provides access to fire coverage for California homeowners and commercial businesses unable to obtain it froma traditional insurance carrier. Whenthevoluntary insurancemarket isunableorunwilling toprovidebasicproperty insurancecoverage topropertyown- ers, they shouldbeable to turn to theFAIRPlan. Yet, California law explicitly prohibited the FAIR Plan fromproviding insur-
ance coverage for “farmrisks.” This languagewas interpreted toexcludenot just cropsand livestockbut all real andpersonal property—thebrick-and-mortar infrastructureof commercial agriculture. As a result, numerous property ownerswhowere beingdeniedbasicproperty insurancecoverage in theprivate marketwerealsounable toobtainsuchcoverage fromtheFAIR Plan for their agricultural enterprise. Commercial agriculturewasabout toexperienceanunmiti- gateddisaster. Thepandemicwascreatingsignificant commu- nication hardships. But, by soliciting the assistance of Senate ProTemToni Atkins andSen. BenHueso, abreakthroughwas made. There wasn’t any question that agriculture was inad- vertently prevented fromaccessing FAIR Plan insurance, but a solutionwas needed immediately. FarmBureau created a multi-stakeholder coalition of our agricultural allies and California’s insurance associations to bring forward a solution to solve our availability crisis. Sen. Susan Rubio agreed to champion Senate Bill 11 on behalf of the state’s agricultural community. FarmBureauelevated the crisis to a national audience, bringing attention to a largely unknownproblemfacingour communityaspart of thegreater wildfire crisis. Indoing so, we gained another significant ally in these con- versations—CaliforniaInsuranceCommissionerRicardoLara. I appreciateCommissioner Lara’swillingness to travel around ourstateandlistentothechallengesandfrustrationsourmem- bers face. The conversations weren’t always comfortable, but our commitment to find solutions only grewat each stop. Just aweekago,Gov.GavinNewsomsignedSB11 (see relat- ed story, Page 6). California agriculture now has access to an insurer of last resort. But thiswill require furtherduediligence fromour community tomake certain farmers, ranchers and vintners are not underinsured. FAIRPlan insurance is themost basicof insurancecoverag- es. It is not designed to be a carbon-copy replacement of lost coverage, andweneed tobeawareof potential coveragegaps. As an organization, we intend to provide the opportunities necessary to ensure that our membership is fully informed and adequately prepared. The signing of this legislation is a welcome relief. As California’swildfirecrisiscontinues,wehope that state leaders move quickly tomitigate the threat but also further examine existing frameworks thatmaybe impacted. It’snot justmitiga- tion and suppression; it’s about anticipation and uncovering those gaps before another unforeseen crisis occurs.
President’s Message
Jamie Johansson
VOL. 48, NO. 28
August 4, 2021
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Thanksgiving, Christmas; and with exceptions, by the Cal i fornia Farm Bureau, 2600 River Plaza Dr. , Sacramento CA 95833 (telephone: (916) 561-5570) . Periodicals postage paid at Sacramento, California. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to AG ALERT, 2600 River Plaza Dr., Sacramento, CA 95833. The California Farm Bureau does not assume responsibility for statements by advertisers or for products adver t ised in AG ALERT nor does the Federation assume responsibility for statements or expressions of opinion other than in editorials or in articles showing authorship by an officer, director, or employee of the California Farm Bureau Federation or its affiliates. No alcohol, tobacco or political ad-
vertising will be accepted. Jamie Johansson , President
Shannon Douglass , First Vice President Shaun Crook , Second Vice President
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