CLFP Engaging in Key Bills Impacting the Food Processing Industry

CLFP is actively engaging on some key bills that will impact the food processing industry. CLFP is opposing several labor and employment bills as part of a larger employer coalition.

These measures include:

• AB 2095 (Kalra) forces employers to publicly disclose information regarding labor and employment issues for employees across the entire company. That information will unfairly be used to label employers as “high road” or “low road” and subject them to a loss of state opportunities and incentives and to frivolous litigation. This measure is a shameless ploy to use the power of the State to force companies to develop an extensive database to enable fishing expeditions in support of litigation or public relations campaigns.

• SB 1127 (Atkins) would change the investigation timeline for workers’ compensation claims from 90 to 60 or even 30 days, impose harsh new penalties on all presumption-related claims (even COVID-19 claims) and increase the duration of temporary disability for public safety cancer claims. 

• SB 1044 (Durazo) allows employees to leave work or refuse to show up to work if employee subjectively feels unsafe regardless of existing health and safety standards or whether the employer has provided health and safety protections and subjects employers to costly PAGA lawsuits if they dispute the employee’s decision or need to have another employee take over any job duties.

CLFP has concerns with water legislation introduced by Assembly Member Rivas.

• AB 2106 imposes new permitting requirements on stormwater discharges from commercial and institutional facilities that may expose permittees to citizen lawsuits. Constrains State Water Board discretion in addressing stormwater that may have unintended consequences on regulated entities.

• AB 2108 imposes overly prescriptive requirements on the composition of State and Regional Water Boards. Injects new, burdensome, and inflexible analyses and mitigation requirements for State and Regional Water Board decisions on water projects, planning and water quality permits.

In addition to new legislation, CLFP continues to work with Senator Ben Allen and stakeholders on SB 54 relating to packaging recycling. While negotiations on the bill are ongoing, there is pressure for stakeholders to reach a compromise soon in order to ensure that an initiative on the November 2022 ballot does not move forward.

Written by Trudi Hughes, CLFP Government Affairs Director