Legislative Update – By Jim Steed, Chair of the Legislative Committee, PAPCO and Third Vice President

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I am very pleased to report our most successful Legislative year to date! Early this year Assembly Member Bloom introduced AB2596, a bill that would ban all second generation rodenticides in the state of California. This is the worst bill that we have seen in the last 10 years and would have had catastrophic effects on public health and huge sectors of California's food industry. The bill quickly gained national attention as other states are quick to follow where California goes. PCOC went right to work. Coordinating with our legislative advocate, Dominic Dimare and the great legal staff at NPMA, we developed a clear message of opposition and a strategy to carry that message to the Capitol. We formed an industry coalition and then expanded that coalition to include over 20 different groups from the Ag, Food Industry and Public Health sector. We mobilized our members for the largest Leg Days event in a dozen years, and as a result the author voluntarily pulled the bill rather than see it lose the vote. This upset the sponsors so much that they sent a group of over 20 people to our meeting at the Capitol to protest PCOC with signs and bull horns.

The good news does not stop there. The three bills that we helped sponsor with the Structural Pest Control Board to improve the Structural Pest Control Act are moving through the legislature on consent. This means that there is no opposition to them. We expect all three to be signed by the governor this year.

We still have a lot of important work to do this year. While our Rodenticide Task Force will continue on, we have also formed a task force at the request of DPR to look at the use of Fipronil on the exterior of structures. Like pyrethroids, Fipronil has been found in surface water and we are looking at ways to keep Fipronil where we put it.

I would like to thank all of you who attended our Legislative Days and helped with our grassroots opposition to AB 2596. I would also like to thank Dominic Dimare and his staff for leading our efforts inside the Capitol building and helping to build such an effective coalition. Thanks to the staff at NPMA for providing critical technical help and national attention and support. Most of all I would like to thank our members who have supported PAPCO and PCOC over the years with time and money. This great outcome belongs to all of you and I look forward to continued success as we work together.

Pest Control Operators of California
www.pcoc.org

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