2014 Legislative Update – Key Bills on the Governor's Desk

The California State Legislature has now adjourned the 2013-2014 Legislative Session.  Some key bills were dealt with in the final week of Session and now sit on the Governor’s desk awaiting his action. The Governor has until September 30, 2014 to sign or veto legislation presented to him.

 

AB 1522 (Gonzalez):  Employment:  Paid Sick Days

Summary: Enacts the Healthy Workplace, Healthy Families Act of 2014. The Act entitles an employee who, on or after July 1, 2015, and works in California for thirty or more days a year, to paid sick days accrued at a rate of no less than one hour for every thirty hours worked.

Outcome: Passed out of the Assembly 52-25; Passed out of the 22-8.

 

AB 1739 (Dickinson):  Groundwater Management

Summary: This bill is part of a groundwater management package that also includes SB 1168 (Pavley) and SB 1319 (Pavley). The bill would authorize the Department of Water Resources (Department) or a groundwater sustainability agency (as defined in SB 1168) to provide technical assistance to entities that extract or use groundwater to promote water conservation and protect groundwater resources. Groundwater sustainability agencies would be required to submit a groundwater sustainability plan to the Department for review. The bill authorizes the California State Water Resources Control Board (Board) to designate a basin as a probationary basin, and would authorize the Board in consultation with the Department to develop an interim plan for a probationary basin if a local agency has not remedied a deficiency.

Outcome: Passed out of the Assembly 47-28; Passed out of the Senate 26-11.

 

AB 1897 (Hernandez):  Labor Contracting:  Client Liability

Summary: Would require a client employer to share with a labor contractor all civil legal responsibility and civil liability for all workers supplied by that labor contractor for the payment of wages and the failure to obtain valid workers’ compensation coverage.

Outcome: Passed out of the Assembly 47-24; Passed out of the Senate 22-12.

 

AB 2416 (Stone):  Liens:  Laborers and Employees

Summary: Enacts the California Wage Theft Recovery Act which would authorize employees to request the Labor Commissioner record, on his or her behalf, a wage lien upon real and personal property of an employer for unpaid wages and other compensation owed to the employee.

Outcome: Held in the Senate 13-15.

 

SB 25 (Steinberg):  Agricultural Labor Relations:  Dispute Resolution

Summary: Provides that an action to enforce the order of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board may be filed within sixty days whether or not the other party is seeking judicial review of the order.

Outcome: Passed out of the Senate 22-12; Passed out of the Assembly 42-25.

 

SB 605 (Lara and Pavley):  Short-Lived Climate Pollutants

Summary: Would require the State Air Resources Board to complete a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants.

Outcome: Passed out of the Senate 23-12; Passed out of the Assembly 53-24.

 

SB 1168 (Pavley):  Groundwater Management

Summary: This is one of two senate bills that complete the groundwater management package. SB 1168 would create a state policy that groundwater resources be locally managed for long-term reliability and multiple economic, social and environmental benefits. The bill would require groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority by the Department of Water Resources and designated as basins subject to critical conditions of overdraft to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan by January 31, 2020. It would require all other groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan by January 31, 2022. The bill authorizes a local agency to elect to be a groundwater sustainability agency which would have specific authority including, but not limited to, the ability to require registration of a groundwater extraction facility, to require that groundwater extraction facility be measured with a water-measuring device, and to regulate groundwater extraction.

Outcome: Passed out of the Senate 25-10; Passed out of the Assembly 47-27.

 

SB 1319 (Pavley):  Groundwater

Summary: Would authorize the California State Water Resources Control Board (Board) to designate certain high- and medium-priority basins as a probationary basin if, after January 21, 2025, prescribed criteria are met, including that the state board determines that the basin is in a condition where groundwater extractions result in significant depletions of interconnected surface waters. AB 1739 would authorize the Board in consultation with the Department of Water Resources, to develop an interim plan for a probationary basin if it determines that a local agency has not remedied a deficiency. This bill would prohibit the Board from establishing an interim plan before January 1, 2025.

Outcome: Passed out of the Senate 24-10; Passed out of the Assembly 48-26.

 

The Associations have opposed these bills and have sent, or are in the process of sending, veto requests to the Governor.

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Governor Signs Ag Overtime Bill

Ignoring the pleas of real farmworkers and the agricultural industry, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed AB 1066, the ag overtime legislation. This means that California will have the most stringent trigger of any state in the country for overtime for farmworkers, with 45 states having no overtime protection at all. The Governor signed this bill, supposedly to bring “equality to all workers”, yet taxi cab drivers, commercial fishermen, car salesmen, student nurses, computer programmers, and carnival workers all work without any overtime provisions whatsoever. The Governor signed this ag overtime bill in the same year that minimum wage legislation was also passed that will take California to the highest minimum wage as well as legislation forcing California to adopt additional greenhouse gas regulations for businesses in California. California is the only state in the country subject to such regulations. Today’s signing occurred despite numerous requests by the agricultural industry to meet with the Governor to discuss our concerns. The message is clear. California simply doesn’t care. These provisions will be phased in over the next few years ending with the overtime provisions to be triggered at 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

In the Beginning As folks transitioned out of cotton and into tree nuts, the industry recognized the need to have active and effective representation at the local, state and national levels. Having enjoyed such effective representation over the years from the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, these folks yearned for the same representation in the tree nut processing industry. Issues such as air quality, food safety, labor, taxes, employee safety, and environmental concerns are at the forefront, and there is a significant need for an aggressive and dynamic Association to lead the industry into the next decade and beyond. In recognition of this, the Western Agricultural Processors Association was created in 2009. The Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) shares staff and office space with the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations taking advantage of a unique and opportunistic situation. WAPA is a voluntary dues organization with four shared staff and one dedicated staff person. Regulatory, legislative and legal issues fall under the purview of this new organization for the tree nut processing industry, which includes almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts. From air quality permits to conditional use permits, from regulatory hearings on greenhouse gases to federal legislation on food safety, and from OSHA violations to assisting members on hazardous materials business plans, no issue is too small or too large for WAPA. WAPA has assembled one of the best and most capable staffs in the industry, and the results are already starting to show Membership The Western Agricultural Processors Association represents facilities involved in the processing of almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts.Membership in the Association is classified as Regular memberships are limited to almond hullers or processors, pecan and pistachio processors, and walnut dehydrators and processors. Associate memberships are limited to any individual or business entity which is not engaged in agricultural processing, but which provides products or services directly related to the agricultural processing industry. WAPA Associate members include, but are not limited to, commodity brokers, accounting firms, and insurance brokers. Organization The Western Agricultural Processors Association is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by its membership.The Board consists of up to 15 members from throughout the state, and throughout the industry.The Board meets on a quarterly basis and conducts an Annual Meeting in the spring of each year.WAPA, in conjunction with the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, conducts a special training school for its members focused on safety.In combination with the school, the Association holds a Labor Management Seminar for all of the managers. Consulting Services In researching and considering the concept of forming a new organization, the Boards of Directors for the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations instructed staff to perform some of the work on a consulting basis first. The point was to determine the workload from consulting and to determine if there was sufficient interest. In November of 2007, the Association began conducting services under consulting contracts for such services as air quality permits and safety plans.The effort has been so successful that demand has progressed outside the tree nut industry into other agricultural processing facilities, including vegetable dehydration facilities, tomato processing facilities, and wheat mills, as well as cotton gins in Arizona.It was determined by the new Board of Directors of WAPA, that WAPA would maintain the consulting services to provide offsetting income to help with the expenses of getting the new organization up and running.Today, WAPA provides for a long list of satisfied clients in the agricultural processing industry, by providing critical services such as air quality, safety, food safety, and environmental issues (Hazardous Materials Business Plan, Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans, etc.).