Governor Signs CLFP Opposed Bills

Gov. Brown had until September 30, 2014, to sign or veto bills that were sent to him by the Legislature. While CLFP was successful in keeping several onerous bills off the Governor’s desk by defeating them in the Legislature, some key measures were passed and signed into law.

Groundwater Management: As anticipated, the Governor signed Senate Bill 1168 (Pavley), Senate Bill 1319 (Pavley) and Assembly Bill 1739 (Dickinson), which set up a regulatory regime for groundwater management. In brief, these bills require the adoption of a "groundwater sustainability plan" (GSP) for all high or medium priority basins. These bills allow any local agency or combination of agencies to establish a groundwater sustainability agency (GSA) for the purpose of developing and implementing a GSP.

CLFP was actively engaged in opposing these measures. While CLFP agrees that sound groundwater management by local entities to maintain basin use within safe yields is a worthy, compelling goal, this legislation goes substantially beyond that goal and severely threatens existing water rights.

Labor: Two CLFP-opposed labor bills that will increase labor costs and liability exposure landed on the Governor’s desk and were signed. These measures include:

A complete CLFP Legislative Report for the 2014 Legislative Session can be accessed here.

Article written by Trudi Hughes, Government Affairs Director, California League of Food Processors

California League Of Food Producers