Assembly Standing Committee on Agriculture

So, good afternoon. Good afternoon, folks. This hearing of the Committee on Agriculture will be called to order. Before we begin, I'd like to cover a few logistics.

So as we proceed with the witnesses and public comment, I want to make sure everyone understands that the Assembly has rules to ensure we maintain order and we run an efficient and fair hearing. We apply these rules consistently to all people who participate in our proceedings, regardless of the viewpoint they express.

In order to facilitate the goal of of hearing as much from the public. Within the limits of our time, we will not permit conduct that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of legislative proceed.

For all those who will be providing comments today, we ask that you please state your name and the organization you represent, and if you support or oppose the bill being considered. Any Member of the public may also submit written comments to our Committee through email.

Emails may be sent to the address found on the Committee website, which is agri.committeeassembly.ca.gov Today we have a short agenda. We have two bills on the file. Today we will hear the bill presentations in file order.

If the author of the next bill on the file is not in the room, we immediately move to the next bill on the file. That should be easy. Today I do believe we have a quorum, so secretary, please call the roll. Once the roll is established, we will continue Soria here. Great, we have a quorum.

Before we open it up to Assembly woman or Majority leader Aguiar-Curry. I did want to say happy New Year to everyone. Welcome back. We're excited to be continuing our second year of a two year session.

I also just really quickly wanted to highlight because I did some tours over the interim and wanted to quickly just share a fun fact. You guys know I started this when I took over as chair and because I was out visiting avocado farms, I wanted to highlight a fun fact related to avocados.

I don't know if you guys knew, but California grows about 90% of US avocados, so obviously that makes us the nation's powerhouse. And if you did not know, avocados are mostly grown in Southern California. I was actually in Ventura and I want to thank Mr. Chris Sawyer for opening up his farm.

And so they grow predominantly in San Diego, Ventura, Riverside and Santa Barbara, which I had no idea. And so I was excited to actually learn that. And then just to correct the record, because some folks think avocados are vegetables. Avocados aren't vegetables. They're actually considered a fruit. So how about that?

Anyway, Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry, you can actually proceed with the first bill, which is related to farm—AB 52—Farm Equity Advisory Committees.

Chair and Members, farmers and ranchers of color, as well as small scale producers, have faced long standing discrimination in agriculture, resulting in lower incomes and fewer resources.

That's why I authored the Farmer Equity Act in 2017, and I can't believe it was 2017, to ensure that socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers were included when CDFA developed policies that affect them. In response, the Department created two advisory committees, the California BIPOC Producer Advisory Committee and the Small-Scale Producer Advisory Committee.

These committees play a critical role in implementing the Farmer Equity Act by bringing the lived experience of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers into the CDFA's program development and policy making. However, while these advisory committees are necessary for implementing the Farmer Equity Act, they are not currently codified in statute.

As a result, they remain vulnerable to shifting priorities or changes in the Administration. By codifying these advisory committees, AB 52 ensues—ensures—that CDFA designs and implements programs that are more equitable, effective, and responsive to the needs of California's diverse Agricultural Committee. With me today, I have Maretta Brown on behalf of the Berkeley Basket CSA.

Great. Thank you. Now, we can move forward with those testifying in support.

Good morning, Chair and Members. My name is Maretta Brown, and I am the owner and operator of Berkeley Basket CSA, which is a small-scale urban farm located entirely within the city of Berkeley. My work centers around food production, farmer education, and community stewardship within the neighborhoods I serve.

I am here today to speak in strong support of AB 52 which would codify the California BIPOC Producer Advisory Committee and the California Small-Scale Producer Advisory Committee.

In addition to the work of a farmer, I am also a participant in the Urban Agricultural Policy Committee through the Community Alliance with Family Farmers where I see firsthand how important it is for farmers with lived experience, like myself, to be meaningfully included in policy conversations.

Farmers of color and small scale producers like myself have long faced systemic barriers to land access, capital, and technical assistance which have been, and I've often been excluded from agricultural decision making.

The Farmer Equity Act of 2017 was an important step, which I was also distantly involved with, and those advisory committees created by CDFA have helped ensure that state programs are more responsive to the needs of producers like myself. However, these committees that were created are created administratively and not in statute and so, therefore, they are vulnerable.

AB 52 would provide stability and accountability to ensure that small scale and socially disadvantaged farmers continue to have a protected seat at the table and CDFA develops and implements these programs. Codifying these advisory committees is essential to honoring the intent of the Farmer Equity Act and to build an agricultural system that is more equitable and inclusive.

I respectfully urge you to vote yes on AB 52. Thank you for your time and consideration.

So, we have a motion and a second. We'll see if there's any opposition. Seeing none. For all those who are in support and want to state your position, if you can come forward, please, at this time, state your name and who you're representing and whether you support or oppose the Bill.

Thank you. Good afternoon. Lizzie Guansona, on behalf of the Office of Cat Taylor, in support.

Brian Shub, on behalf of the California Climate and Agriculture Network, in support. Thank you.

Sakira Mascow, on behalf of Pesticide Action and Agroecology Network and Californians for Pesticide Reform, in support.

Katherine Van Dyke, with Community Alliance with Family Farmers, in support.

Beth Smoker, with the California Food and Farming Network, in support.

Great. Now we will come to the Committee. There is a motion and a second, but I did want to see if the Members had any questions or comments. No? Seeing none. Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry, would you like—yeah, we did. Yeah, I'm being efficient. Great Bill.

Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry, would you like to close on your Bill?

You know, I, I would and I appreciate the, the apparent vote of support. This program, when we started, we just didn't know where to go, but we knew the importance of it. And to have some of those farmers come by my office still today and say thank you, you gave me an opportunity that I would have never received, just fills my heart. And that they're feeding other people in their communities.

So, this program really took off and I'm very proud that we were able to author it and continue to get it codified. Thank you.

Great. Thank you so much. The motion on the Bill is do pass to Appropriations Committee. So, Madam Secretary, if you can please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Well, we have four votes right now, but we will leave the roll call open for the absent members. Thank you again and great Bill.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Welcome.

Welcome, Assemblywoman Ramson. We will go to our final bill file item 2, which is Assembly Bill 230 by Assembly Woman Ransom. So you can proceed when you are ready.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. To everyone, I am here to present Assembly Bill 230, which is a straightforward bill that extends the sunset sunset of the Pierce's Disease Control Program and the Pierce's Disease Glassy Wing Sharpshooter Board to the year 2037.

These entities were created 25 years ago to combat Pierce's disease, a disease that is deadly to our grapevines and the insects that spread it. When Pierce's disease first arrived in California, more than 300 acres of grapevines were infected and had to be destroyed to ensure that we never see a widespread outbreak like that again.

These entities support research on the ground effort to control the glassy wing sharpshooter and to minimize the impact of Pierce's disease. This important work is funded through a combination of federal and industry funds and wine grower assessments. These programs have received unanimous support in prior years and continue to have robust backing from the California grape growers.

With me today is Michael Miller from the California Association of Wine Grape Growers. Thank you.

I will be very brief. Then. Thank for her leadership. The program is critically important to the wine industry. This has been so successful that people think that Pierce's disease has been eradicated. It hasn't. It's just been controlled. It's because of the effort of this board. And we appreciate the committee's consideration and past support of the program.

Thank you.

Thank you, Michael. At this time, we will open it up for public comment. Obviously, we have a motion and a second. So do we have Members of the audience who would like to register their support or opposition for the bill? Please come forward.

Good afternoon, Chair and Members. Anna Ferreira with the Wine Institute. We represent over a thousand wineries and their affiliates up and down the state. We appreciate the author and the importance of the program and the board. Thank you. In support.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair. Members Madison Dwelly with political solutions on behalf of the Family Winemakers of California in support. And thank you to the authority. Good afternoon. Taylor Trifo. On behalf of the California Fresh Fruit association, support. Hi.

Isabella Quinones with the California Farm Bureau in support. Great. Thank you. So, Assemblymember Ramson, would you like to close on your Bill? And again, we do have. zero, sorry. Comments or questions from Committee Members. Assemblymember Gonzalez, Majority leader Maggie Okhuri.

Same here. From.

Great. So great support on the Bill. Any. Oh, Looks like most of the folks on the Committee want to add on. So great. I did want to give you an opportunity, Assemblywoman Ramson, if you would like to close on the bill. Obviously there is a motion and a second. And the motion is to pass.

Due pass to Appropriations Committee, so you may proceed. Great. Thank you. Madam Secretary, if you could please call the roll.

Motion due pass to Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

So we have 7 votes. Oh, there we go. Do you want to call them.

On AB230? Ransom. [Roll Call]

Great answer.

Great. It looks like AB230 has 8 votes and is out of Committee. Thank you so much. So we're going to go back to file item one. We do have the roll open for those Members that weren't here on AB52.

[Roll Call]

Great. So that AB52 has seven. 7. 7, 0 votes. And it's out of Committee. Thank you again, everyone, for your participation. To all the Members that came early, and we are adjourning at this moment, so thank you so much.