There are no great victories in life without adversity. Just a few weeks ago, it looked all but certain that second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) were going to be banned in California, AB 1788 was going to become law with Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature, and after four years of successfully fighting off a ban our industry was destined to lose one of the most essential tools for managing rodents—and then something changed. The relentless advocacy of our industry achieved the impossible on Thursday, August 22, 2019. Yesterday, AB 1788 was pulled from the Senate Appropriations Committee, (the last committee before it would head to the Senate floor and the Governor’s desk), effectively killed for this year, and placed into the suspense file to be taken-up in 2020.
What happened? The structural pest control industry happened. Our army of PMPs sent 7,285 grassroots messages to CA lawmakers and 2,001 grassroots messages just to Governor Newsom in opposition to the bill. NPMA SPARs Jim Steed, Darren Van Steenwyck, and Mike Bullert, PCOC Executive Director Chris Reardon, and countless other members that never took their foot off the gas. Members of our industry walked many miles in the halls of Sacramento, attended hundreds if not thousands of meetings, and brought their A-game to every single committee hearing. By preventing this bill from becoming law in 2019, we better protected the health of nearly 40 million Californians and our country’s food supply. For a moment, this moment—we changed the world.
CAL EPA and DPR convinced Governor Newsom not to sign the bill. The bill content would result in a public health disaster. The Governor realized that AB 1788 was comprised of “terrifying text.” This halted the bill in its tracks. After meeting with CAL EPA and DPR, and seeing he had no path forward, AB 1788’s author Rep. Bloom (D) decided to place the bill in the suspense file.
The activist groups are angry. They are going to put up another fight. But so are we. Our industry remains electrified, organized, and unified. Together, we are going to continue our persistent pursuit to protect public health, like we always do. When it comes to advocacy in 2020, our industry is ready and waiting.
Thank you to our membership for showing how it is done and defending our livelihoods in the face of great adversity.