2005 Legislative Updates - July/Aug/Sept

AB 48 (Lieber, D-Mountain View) passed the Senate to the Governor on a largely partisan vote, which would increase the minimum wage.

AB 755 (De La Torre, D-South Gate) was vetoed by the Governor which would have required growers to pay their piece-rate employees extra wages on top of their piece-rate earnings for state-mandated rest periods.

AB 1011 (Matthews, D-Tracy), which will ensure a fair and open marketplace, was approved in the last hours of the 2005 legislative session and now moves to the Governor’s desk.

SB 453 (Poochigian, R-Fresno), the extension of the Rural Crime Prevention Program, passed both houses last night and is on its way to the Governor’s desk.

SB 646 (Kuehl, D-Santa Monica) a water quality fee and enforcement bill, was decisively defeated by the Assembly.

SB 820 (Kuehl, D-Santa Monica) which will require farmers and ranchers statewide to install water meters on their wells and report annual groundwater use, was approved by the Assembly and sent to the Governor.

SB 109 (Ortiz, D-Sacramento) did not get to the Governor’s desk which would have imposed both civil and criminal penalties for air quality violations.

SB 999 (Machado, D-Linden) also did not get to the Governor’s desk which would have given authority to appoint representatives to the San Joaquin Valley Unifies Air Pollution Control District.

SB 655 (Ortiz, D-Sacramento), which would have created a new unfunded statewide regulatory program to deal with naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) was defeated on the Assembly floor and became a two-year bill.

SB 281 (Maldonado, R-Santa Monica) was passed and sent to the Governor’s desk, which would create the California Fresh Start Pilot Program.

AB 826 (Nava, D-Santa Barbara), a bill that works to reduce barriers that prevent successful implementation of direct marketing programs for California farmers, also passed both houses and was sent to the Governor’s desk.

AB 1061 (Matthews, D-Tracy), which creates a streamlined process for growers to contest payments to CDFA’s Market Enforcement Branch for claims under $30,000, passed both houses.

SJR 16 and SB 905 (Machado, D-Linden), both bills dealing with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy did not go to the Governor.

Governor Schwarzenegger’s appointment of Cindy Tuck to Chair the California Air Resources Board was rejected by the Senate Democrats along straight party lines.

Second Vice President Paul Wenger’s testimony was instrumental in getting AB 1011 (Matthews, D-Tracy) approved in the Senate Agriculture Committee this week.

AB 365 (Simon Salinas, D-Salinas), which would establish greenhouse agriculture as a statutorily declared “agricultural use” in the Williamson Act, was unanimously concurred in the Assembly and was sent to the governor.

SB 820 (Kuehl, D-Santa Monica) was amended on the Assembly Floor but still exposes California farmers and ranchers to needless reporting requirements and costs.

SB 453 (Poochigian, R-Fresno), the bill to extend the Rural Crime Prevention Program was released from the Assembly suspense file.

AB 826 (Nava, D-Santa Barbara), the Farm to School bill, which would work to improve opportunities for farmers to sell their products in school was released from the Assembly suspense file.

AB 48 (Lieber, D-Mountain View) that would increase the State Minimum Wage has moved a step closer to reaching the Governor with its passage out of the Senate Appropriations Committee to the Senate floor.

AB 1011 (Matthews, D-Tracy), which would streamline the generic pesticide process will be heard for the second time in the Senate Agriculture Committee.

SB 109 (Ortiz, D-Sacramento), which would allow both civil action and criminal prosecution for the same air quality violation, moved out to the Assembly Appropriations committee this week and will now be heard on the Assembly floor.

SB 600 (Ortiz, D-Sacramento) and (Perata, D-Oakland), a biomonitoring bill, passed out of the Assembly Appropriations committee on an 11-4 strict party line vote.

AB 1328 (Wolk, D-Davis), which would designate 31 miles of Cache Creek in Yolo County as part of the state Wild and Scenic Rivers System, was approved by the Assembly and now goes to the governor’s desk.

SB 646 (Kuehl, D-Santa Monica) a water bill which would have many adverse effects on family farms and ranches, moved from the Assembly Appropriations Committee to the Assembly floor.

SB 820 (Kuehl, D-Santa Monica) a bill that would require individual reporting of groundwater pumping to the State Water Resources Control Board was sent to the Assembly floor.

There will be a Senate confirmation hearing for the appointment of Cindy Tuck to the chair of the Air Resources Board (ARB) on August 31st, 2005.

SB 109 (Ortiz, D-Sacramento) which could criminally prosecute growers who are filling out air permit applications was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee due to its cost of $150,000.

SJR 16 and SB 905 (Machado, D-Linden) which would allow voluntary testing for BSE in California so that beef may be labeled “BSE tested” failed to get the necessary votes to pass out of the committee, but was granted reconsideration.

SB 872 (Denham, R-Merced), a bill to continue the CDFA’s Vertebrate Pest Control Research Program, passed the Assembly unanimously on Thursday.

SB 999 (Machado, D-Linden) which would add two new appointed members to the Air Resources Board, was approved by the Assembly Appropriations committee this week and now moves to the Assembly Floor

SB 820 (Kuehl, D-Santa Monica), a bill that jeopardizes water rights, was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on the suspense file because of costs that the bill would impose on the State Department of Water Resources.

SCA 15 (McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks) has been introduced to amend California’s constitution to stop the use of eminent domain for private reuse.

SCA 12 (Kehoe, D-San Diego) and (Torklakson, D-Antioch) is a constitutional amendment that would create the “California Homeowners’ Protection Act” to prohibit the taking of owner-occupied residential property for private use.

SB 53 (Kehoe, D-San Diego) would give local voters a bigger voice in how their redevelopment agencies use eminent domain.

SB 1026 (Perata, D-Oakland) is an urgency bill that would immediately stop all use of eminent domain on owner-occupied residential property for private reuse.

SB 1099 (Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta) would restrict the use of eminent domain to acquire agricultural property for public use unless the condemner retains direct ownership of the property for the stated public use.

The Assembly and the Senate approved California's new State Budget.

Highlights of the State Budget

• An increase in education spending by $384 per pupil over last fiscal year.
• No new taxes although there are approximately $19 million in new civil court filing fees.
• $1.3 billion in gasoline sales tax revenues for highways and transit projects.
• A $1.3 billion loan from local governments will be repaid a year early.
• Cost of living adjustment for CalWORKS will be frozen two years.

The budget also includes an important item of tax bill relief for water right holders in Northeastern California who participate in the California Department of Water Resources' Watermaster Program.

This year's budget will fully fund the Central Valley Rural Crime Prevention Program by raising the initial allowance from $1.4 million to $3.3 million. However, SB 453 (Poochigian, R-Fresno), which would extend the program, is currently on the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense file.

SB 879 (Martha Escutia, D, Whittier), which would mandate that fines be imposed where there is an actual health or environmental hazard, was denied approval in the Assembly Agriculture Committee but will be given reconsideration.

SB 409 (Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego) was defeated by the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee on a vote of 6 to 8, but was granted reconsideration and now becomes a two-year bill.

The Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee narrowly approved SB 820 (Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica) after the author committed to make several significant amendments to the bill.

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is accepting comments on its proposed fee schedule for the streambed alteration agreement program.