YOUR DUES DOLLARS AT WORK ANOTHER GOOD YEAR FOR CATTLEMEN ASSESSING CCA’S LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES AT THE END OF THE 2023-24 SESSION by CCA Vice President of Government Affairs Kirk Wilbur California’s two-year legislative session gaveled to a close on Aug. 31, and by the end of September, Gov. Gavin Newsom had completed the work of signing or vetoing each of the bills that made it to his desk. With the ink dry on the 2023-24 Legislative Session, this month’s edition of California Cattleman is an opportune time to take stock of how CCA fared in lobbying its policy priorities. Fortunately, the hard work of CCA’s government affairs team paid off well this year. By the end of June, CCA had achieved all three of its Budget priorities, obtaining renewed funding for the state’s Wolf-Livestock Compensation Program, staving off an effort by the State Water Board to increase its permitting and enforcement staff (and pass the cost off on producers) and stymying plant-based food producers’ efforts to get state subsidies for research and development of “alternative proteins." On the policy front, CCA succeeded in killing most of the bills opposed by the association this session, and those that did manage to get signed into law were significantly watered down through agricultural advocates’ tireless lobbying efforts. Additionally, CCA priorities related to transportation and wildfire resilience were signed into law.
16 California Cattleman November 2024
AB 99 (Connolly) – State roads and highways: integrated pest management CCA-OPPOSED – WIN Vetoed by the Governor A two-year bill first introduced in 2023, AB 99 would have required the California Department of Transportation to limit roadside pesticide application in any city or county in which the local government has voted to limit or discontinue use of pesticides. CCA opposed the bill because it would have diminished pest management on farms and ranches adjacent to CalTrans-managed roadsides. In a veto message, Governor Newsom noted that the measure would have complicated “Caltrans' ability to manage vegetation safely and efficiently across the state.” AB 460 (Bauer-Kahan) – State Water Resources Control Board: water rights and usage: civil penalties NEUTRAL (as amended) Signed into law As introduced, AB 460 increased the maximum fines the State Water Resources Control Board could assess for violations of the Water Code, permitted the Board to issue “interim relief orders” prohibiting alleged Water Code violations without adequate due process and allowed any “interested party” to petition the Board for interim relief – a provision CCA feared would be abused by anti-grazing environmental groups. Strenuously opposed by CCA, the bill stalled in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee last year. The measure was revived as a two-year bill in June, pared down to retain only the provision increasing maximum fines for violations of curtailment order. While CCA does not support increased enforcement authority in the hands of the SWRCB, the removal of the bill’s most toxic provisions resulted in CCA removing opposition and taking a neutral stance on the bill.