Farm Bureau at work California Farm Bureau’s government affairs team is at the Capitol, advocating for farmers, ranchers and agriculture’s future. Here are some key issues Farm Bureau is focused on this week.
Labor On Labor Day, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, which establish- es a Fast Food Council at the Department of Industrial Relations. The council has authority to establish wage, hour and work condition standards for fast food restaurants, if petitioned by at least 10,000 California fast food restaurant employees. The council’s decisions would apply to businesses that have more than 100 restaurants, including franchisees. Under the law, the Fast Food Council cannot set a minimum wage of more than $22 per hour before Jan. 1, 2024, and any such wage will increase by 3.5% or the average rate of the Consumer Price Index each year, which- ever is lower. These standards would not apply to workplaces with collective bar- gaining agreements in place. While the fast-food business was the tar- get of this bill, agriculture is among a host of other business sectors that could find themselves targeted by similar legislation. The bill is Assembly Bill 257 by Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena. It supersedes the regulatory authority of parts of the labor agency, including the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the labor commissioner, encouraging greater regulatory reach in the fast food restaurant sector. This poses a danger of compounding em- ployers’ already serious competitive disad- vantages. Those include California’s high- est-in-the nation minimum wage, stringent safety standards and a Labor Code with in- tricate meal and rest period requirements, payday and payroll requirements. Those requirements are augmented by the Private Attorneys’ General Act’s au- thority for representative party lawsuits against employers. Energy Newsom also signed a bill that extends the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear powerplant for five years and loans Pacific Gas and Electric Co. $1.4 billion to facili- tate the work. PG&E also submitted paperwork to the U.S. Department of Energy Civil Nuclear Credit program, created by the Biden ad- ministration earlier this year, to apply for a portion of the $6 billion federal program aimed at helping the nation’s nuclear fleet remain online. The paperwork was filed Sept. 2, the same day the bill was signed. California Farm Bureau will remain en- gaged at the Public Utilities Commission since there will be implementation steps to be taken. Farm Bureau will also keep an eye on the proposed new sunset dates of 2029 and 2030. A Stanford/Massachusetts Institute of Technology study was a catalyst in re- viving discussions to keep Diablo Canyon open and noted true ratepayer cost savings would be realized in 2035 and beyond. The bill is Senate Bill 846 by Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa.
Pest control Newsom also signed AB 1959, a com- mittee bill. It repeals the sunset date on the use of carbon-monoxide tools to control rodents; use of these tools is now allowed indefinitely. The new law also adds integrated pest management to the list of courses approved by the Department of Pesticide
Regulation for pest control licenses and certificates. The law also requires that all informa- tion obtained by the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Agricultural Commissioner for produce safety inves- tigations remains confidential. The bill text reads: “The names and
addresses of farmers, growers, producers, handlers, or cooler operators, as well as data collected during inspections or in- vestigations... shall not be disclosed except when required by court order in a judicial proceeding.” It also states that “sales data and noncompliance observations ob- tained during a produce safety program inspection shall not be disclosed.”
SAVE THE DATE
annual meeting
December 2-7, 2022, in beautiful Monterey with new features including: AND YF&R STATE CONFERENCE
CALIFORNIA MARKETPLACE
Enjoy live cooking demonstrations and booths highlighting the bounty and artisan goods of Farm Bureau members. Taste, talk and shop!
Delve into topics including water, Senate Bill 11, media training, and membership recruitment and retention.
WORKSHOPS
Dr. Amrith Gunasekara, CAFB director of science and research, introduces the exciting new work being done by the California Bountiful Foundation.
PRESENTATIONS
SUNDAY ACTIVITIES
Kick off the meeting with a FarmPAC ® cornhole tournament, farm tours, golfing and whale watching.
• Continuing Education (CE) sessions on pesticide licensing • Annual award banquet recognizing counties and individuals • Receptions and networking • Silent and live auctions • YF&R State Conference workshops, awards and networking PLUS
For more information, visit cfbf.com/annual-meeting or call 916-561-5594
September 14, 2022 Ag Alert 17
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