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Legislative Session Ends with Action on High-Profile Bills
The California Legislature completed its annual business on August 31 and members have departed Sacramento for the remainder of the year. Bills that passed out of the legislature have been submitted to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk. He has until September 30 to issue his signature or veto. The 2016 legislative year was extremely active for ...
2017: The Year Ahead in Sacramento
The California Legislature descended on Sacramento in January to begin the 2017-2018 session. This is a challenging and busy time for Western Growers staff as we meet with the new members of the Assembly and Senate to introduce them to WG and to the myriad of daily challenges that our industry faces. These meetings serve ...
2017 Legislative Session Ends – A Year for the History Books
By Matthew Allen and Gail Delihant The California Legislature completed its annual business in the early morning hours on September 16 and have departed Sacramento for the remainder of the year. At the time of this writing, those bills that have passed out of the Legislature have now been submitted to Governor Jerry Brown’s ...
Update on 2018 Regulatory Issues
The 2018 California legislative year is proving to be very active for Western Growers staff on a wide variety of topics including the perennial issues of labor, water, and the environment. As we continue our engagement on these issues at the Capitol, WG staff is also focused on safeguarding the best possible outcomes for our ...
2019: The Opening of a New Chapter in California
The California Legislature returned to Sacramento in January to begin the first year of the 2019-2020 legislative session. Most notably, its arrival coincided with the inauguration of Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor Newsom’s inauguration marks the completion of Governor Jerry Brown’s historic political career and signals the opening of a new chapter in California executive leadership.…
2019: Making Sense of Nonsense in Sacramento
At the time of the writing of this article, the California Legislature had returned to Sacramento from its summer recess. They are now in session and will be for five more weeks as they complete the year’s legislative business. Governor Gavin Newsom will then have until October 13 to act on those bills that have ...
Perspectives and Insights for the 2020 Legislative Year
By Matthew Allen and Gail Delihant The California Legislature will soon be returning to Sacramento to begin the second year of their 2019-2020 legislative session. The capitol hallways will be bustling with lawmakers, staff and lobbyists, as they scurry to meetings and committee hearings to address the thousands of new bills that will most assuredly ...
California’s Air Quality Goals
California is renowned for its focus, some would say obsession, on climate change and the many laws and regulations that continue to be enacted in order to limit or reduce the emittance of greenhouse gases and other pollutants into the atmosphere. This is not to say that air quality is not important; it is. In ...
California’s Move to 100% Zero-Emission Vehicles
We have witnessed first-hand the unpredictability of 2020. The twists and turns caused by the layering of the COVID-19 pandemic, devastating wildfires, and widespread social unrest have left us wondering what challenge could possibly be next. Our industry has faced enormous obstacles this year with the closure of the foodservice sector and schools. The loss ...
The Road Ahead for California Agriculture in 2021
2020 is finally in our rearview mirror. We’ve been waiting for this moment, feeling on some days that it might never arrive. The personal and financial toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought on our lives and the California agricultural industry has been staggering and incalculable. Yet, we have risen to the occasion as an ...
CA Government Affairs: The California 2020 – 2021 State Budget
By Matthew Allen and Gail Delihant The COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted all aspects of our daily lives, personal and economic. Stay at home orders have caused significant business closures, price disruptions, and an historic increase in the unemployment rate that, at the time of this writing, hovers over 16%. Not surprisingly, this has led to ...
The Importance of a Risk Management Approach to Pesticide Regulation
Our daily life routines consist of many activities including work, school, recreation, and travel. Hopefully, we go about engaging in these activities with a focus on the opportunities and benefits that they will bring to our lives and livelihood. Engaging in life’s opportunities brings both rewards and risks. As a society, we have studied many ...
The 2021-2022 State Budget and Agriculture
“Wildly unpredictable” is the phrase that immediately comes to mind when describing the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on forecasting the California state revenues and the overall state budget. This time last year, the state was predicting an enormous budget deficit of $54 billion. Now, at the time of this writing, Governor Newsom is ...
The Far-Reaching Consequences of Drought
By Matthew Allen, Vice President, State Government Affairs There is simply no industry that brings a value like agriculture to the daily lives of human beings. Farmworkers and growers work together to plant, harvest and distribute an unbelievable variety of sustenance for our state, nation and world. We go to the grocery store, shop online ...
STATE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS: Big 2021 Legislative Successes on Labor
By Matthew Allen, Vice President, State Government Affairs The fall season is the perfect time to take a moment to pause and reflect about the state of the agricultural industry over the past two years. In 2020, our industry faced head-on what seemed at the time to be almost insurmountable challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
California Government Affairs: Is Transparent Government Gone in California?
At the time of this writing, the California Legislature has left town for its annual spring break. It’s a welcome time for all stakeholders in the legislative process to take a breath, evaluate what has happened to the bills so far and determine the next steps forward that will lead to best possible outcomes. Like ...
California Advocacy:Contingency Plans Are Not Superfluous
By Matthew Allen, Vice President, State Government Affairs Growing up, many of us had experience being asked by either parents, educators or other valued mentors what our backup or contingency plans were should expectations and goals face unanticipated challenges. These prompts and questions were often met with blank stares or furled eyebrows but served as ...
California and Sustainable Pest Management
I pondered this article as I was putting out ant bait stations in my yard to help control an impending invasion of our home. Thankfully, the stations worked perfectly, and the “emergency” was avoided. This got me to thinking more about the future of crop protection in California and what specific challenges lie ahead for ...
CA Government Affairs: COVID-19 and Advocacy in California
By Matthew Allen, Vice President, State Government Affairs The arrival of 2022 brings with it renewed hope that the COVID-19 pandemic is waning and that daily life will return to a recognizable normal. This anticipation is bolstered by both state and federal officials, who are increasingly discussing the need to treat COVID-19 as an ...
What a Crisis Highlights
By Matthew Allen Crises generally have a way of highlighting elements in our lives that are important as well as those that are not. The COVID-19 crisis has done so to a degree that is inescapable, across all aspects of our lives. It has impacts upon our health, livelihood, social interactions, education system, and the ...