Advocacy in Action

September 24, 2025

The first year of the 2025-26 California legislative session concluded Sept. 13.

Bills that advanced to the governor now await signature or veto. Bills held in their house of origin may be worked on as two-year bills, meaning they are eligible to move forward in the second year of the session.

Water

The Legislature passed Senate Bill 72, by state Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, which requires the California Department of Water Resources to add new analyses and storage targets to the California water plan update. California Farm Bureau supports the bill, which awaits the governor’s signature.

The Legislature also passed Assembly Bill 263, by Assemblymember Chris Rogers, D-Santa Rosa, which codifies an instream flow emergency regulation for the Scott and Shasta rivers for five years or until the California State Water Resources Control Board develops a permanent instream flow rule. Its passage would allow the governor’s office to lift the drought declaration that has been in place for the Klamath Basin and Siskiyou County since 2021. Farm Bureau opposes it.

Meanwhile, several water bills remained in limbo at the end of the legislative session.

Senate Bill 601, by state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, which Farm Bureau strongly opposes, was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and is now a two-year bill. It requires the state water board to develop a new permitting regime for “nexus waters,” a new classification of wetland or water body.

Assembly Bill 1156, by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, was held in the Assembly on the final day of the legislative session and also became a two-year bill. It would allow for a Williamson Act or Farmland Security Zone contract, including on prime farmland, to be canceled at no cost to the landowner due to insufficient water supply. Attempts by Farm Bureau to narrow the bill so that it did not apply statewide were unsuccessful, and Farm Bureau remains opposed to the bill unless amended.

Labor

The Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1136, by Assemblymember Liz Ortega, D-Hayward, which would require employers of 25 or more employees to allow employees to use up to five days of unpaid leave in a 12-month period to deal with immigration matters; require an employer to place an employee who has been detained as a result of immigration or deportation proceedings on an unpaid leave of absence for up to 12 months; and reinstate an employee released from immigration detention if within 12 months they provide valid documentation of their prior position or a comparable position.

Farm Bureau has expressed concern that such a law could force employers to document their awareness of an employee’s lack of legal status, implicating federal immigration law.

Endangered species

The Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1319, which authorizes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to extend protections under the California Endangered Species Act to a California native species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act if the federal government takes actions to decrease federal protections for that species under the ESA.

Throughout the year, Farm Bureau and other stakeholders in the water and business sectors attempted to work with the author and sponsor to narrow the scope of the bill. Despite these negotiations, the author rewrote the bill last month, dramatically altering its impact to the CESA listing process and going far beyond the bill’s original stated purpose of ensuring there is no backsliding of protections for endangered species under the Trump administration.

The bill was amended with troubling language that could pave the way for numerous species to be listed under the CESA. The new version of the bill cuts the California Fish and Game Commission out of the listing process and delegates that authority directly to CDFW staff, allowing them to adopt protections for any federally listed or candidate species as a “provisional candidate” without any public process.

Farm Bureau is part of a coalition of more than 40 organizations requesting a veto.

September 10, 2025

Water

Legislation that enhances the state water plan will head to the governor’s desk for signature.

Senate Bill 72, by state Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, passed the Assembly floor last week. It enjoyed broad support from water users and agricultural stakeholders, including from the California Farm Bureau.

The bill will add new requirements and elements in the California Water Plan, which is updated every five years by the California Department of Water Resources to include long-range water supply storage targets to meet statewide demand.

A water quality permitting bill that Farm Bureau opposed has stalled for 2025.

Senate Bill 601, by state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, was made a two-year bill after it became clear the measure would not advance out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee last month.

The bill would establish a new permitting regime at the California State Water Quality Control Board for wetlands that had previously received federal protection under the “waters of the United States” rule but lost federal protection under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Sackett v. United States.

The author may attempt to move the bill out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee in January but would likely need to make major amendments to do so successfully.

Legislation to block federal agencies from releasing stored water has failed.

Assembly Bill 1146, by Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file last month and will not advance to the Senate floor.

The bill was introduced in response to the Trump administration’s actions last January to release water stored for irrigation from two Army Corps of Engineers dams in the San Joaquin Valley.

AB 1146 would have given the water board a new power to fine federal agencies for water released “under false pretenses.”

Farm Bureau had previously opposed the bill but moved to a neutral position after it was stripped of its major provisions.

A groundwater adjudication bill that Farm Bureau opposes has advanced to the Senate floor.

Assembly Bill 1413, by Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, was voted out of the Senate Appropriations Committee last month.

The bill would require that courts overseeing a groundwater rights adjudication in a basin with a groundwater sustainability plan rely on the plan’s finding on the basin’s “sustainable yield” when determining groundwater rights.

Land use

Legislation that would allow Williamson Act and Farmland Security Zone contracts to be canceled at no cost to the landowner, clearing the way for large-scale solar projects, has advanced to the Senate floor.

Assembly Bill 1156, by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, passed from the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Though it was supported by large-scale solar and Kern County Farm Bureau, attempts to narrow the bill so that it did not apply statewide were unsuccessful.

California Farm Bureau opposes the bill unless it is amended.

AB 1156 will likely proceed expeditiously through both houses and to the governor’s desk for signature as large-scale solar companies race to move projects through a pipeline before federal tax breaks end in 2027.

Agricultural employment

Assembly Bill 1109, by Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file last month.

The bill, which California Farm Bureau opposes, would have created a new privilege between union agents and represented employees, similar to attorney-client privilege. This would have hampered employers’ ability to enforce workplace rules related to safety, harassment and other issues.

Legislation that requires employers to release employees to deal with immigration issues has cleared the appropriations suspense file and was ordered to a third reading in the state Senate.

Assembly Bill 1136, by Assemblymember Liz Ortega, D-Hayward, would require employers of 25 or more employees to allow employees to use up to five days of unpaid leave in a 12-month period to deal with legal and administrative meetings, appointments or hearings related to immigration matters. The bill would also require employers to place employees who have been detained or incarcerated due to pending immigration or deportation proceedings on an unpaid leave of absence for up to 12 months and reinstate them to their prior positions or comparable positions for up to 12 months if they provide valid documentation.

Farm Bureau opposes the bill unless it is amended to shorten the timeframes related to reinstatement. The organization has also expressed concern that an employer’s awareness of an employee’s immigration-related detention or incarceration might create constructive knowledge of that employee’s illegal status, implicating federal immigration law.

See related news stories…

July 30, 2025

Water

The California Farm Bureau plans to attend all meetings of the California State Water Resources Control Board’s second statewide agricultural expert panel.

Farm Bureau was involved in the first expert panel and has heavily litigated the issue. Litigation related to the Central Coast Agriculture Order that Farm Bureau was involved in led to convening of the second expert panel.

The state’s second statewide agricultural expert panel will meet in person and virtually Aug. 8 and Aug. 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., to evaluate the data collected as part of the state’s Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program and consider the approaches adopted in waste discharge requirements issued by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board for growers in the eastern San Joaquin River watershed.

To register to participate or to learn more, go to www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/agriculture/2025-expert-panel.html.

Meanwhile, the State Water Resources Control Board last week released a revised draft update to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan and seeks public comment on the document through Sept. 10.

The announcement begins a public review and comment period on the proposal that would update measures in the Bay-Delta plan to protect the Sacramento River, the delta and associated tributaries

The revised draft includes proposed changes based on input and comments received throughout the planning process, including additional options for flow and habitat, and refinements to the water-user-supported alternative titled “Healthy Rivers and Landscapes,” also known as the “voluntary agreements.”

State law requires that the state water board adopt water quality control plans to protect and balance beneficial uses of water, including municipal, industrial, agricultural, and fish and wildlife uses.

The board scheduled a public hearing to receive comments on the revised document on Sept. 8 and 9 in Sacramento.

California Farm Bureau plans to submit written comments. Additional information on opportunities to comment are available on the board’s notice.

Williamson Act

Solano County Farm Bureau member Daniel Jones provided testimony in support of state Senate Bill 5, aimed at safeguarding California’s Williamson Act lands from being swept into infrastructure financing districts.

Jones provided testimony in support of the legislation, authored by state Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, D-West Sacramento, at a July 16 hearing before the state Assembly Committee on Local Government.

The bill would exclude the taxes levied upon a parcel of land enrolled in or subject to a Williamson Act contract or a farmland security zone contract from allocations to an enhanced infrastructure district or community revitalization authority. The legislation passed from the committee with bipartisan support

Ultra-processed foods

California Farm Bureau continues to oppose state legislation that seeks to address public health concerns by classifying food into two categories: ultra-processed food or not ultra-processed food.

Farm Bureau’s concerns about Assembly Bill 1264, by Assembly Member Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, were shared last week with the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. While the bill advanced out of committee and heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee, many key issues are unresolved.

Concerns remain about liability implications and the lack of clarity on what qualifies as ultra-processed food. Despite amendments, the bill still does not provide the technical specificity for stakeholders to be confident in its direction. Farm Bureau plans to continue working with coalition partners to voice concerns about the legislation.

July 16, 2025

White House meeting

California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass joined state Farm Bureau presidents from across the U.S. and American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall at the White House last week to discuss issues and hear from cabinet members, administration officials and senior White House staff.

Douglass and others participated in discussions with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Lee Zeldin, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They talked about priority issues that included the farm economy, preserving family farms, disaster assistance, trade, labor, Make America Healthy Again policies and regulatory reform.

During the meeting, Rollins said the U.S. Department of Agriculture has started a new round of disaster payments. Producers who suffered eligible crop losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 may now apply for $16 billion in assistance through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program.

Williamson Act

Speaking before the California Senate Local Government Committee last week, Peter Ansel, senior policy director for the California Farm Bureau, said Assembly Bill 1156, which would allow industrial scale and battery projects on prime agricultural land, raises serious concerns for the long-term protection of the state’s farmland.

Unless the bill—authored by Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, D-Berkeley—is amended, Ansel said, it would repeal the requirement of a payment to cancel Williamson Act contracts for solar use easements, expediting the speculation of farmland conversion to solar energy. The bill passed out of the committee and will be heard today in the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality.

Agricultural waste

Senate Bill 279 by state Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, passed out of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee last week. The bill, which Farm Bureau supports, would increase the amount of agricultural material that can be sent to composting. As burning is no longer allowed in the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, farmers need alternative methods for managing their organic waste. The bill will next be heard in Assembly Appropriations.

Immigration

In recent weeks, the White House has offered mixed signals regarding how it intends to protect agriculture and other industries from its immigration enforcement efforts. President Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of allowing farmers and ranchers to vouch for long-term immigrant workers residing in the U.S., even suggesting amnesty could be a viable option.

However, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins contradicted that stance last week, saying amnesty is “completely off the table” for those currently at risk of deportation. She also suggested that about 34 million able-bodied Medicaid recipients could be used to help fill labor shortages in the agricultural sector.

It remains unclear whether Congress will act on a comprehensive solution, said Matthew Viohl, a policy advocacy director for the California Farm Bureau, which continues to work with partners to advocate for legislative reforms.

June 18, 2025

Water quality

The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board approved a first-of-its-kind order last week to protect waterways, groundwater and aquatic species by regulating waste discharge for about 65,000 acres of vineyards in Mendocino and Sonoma counties.

In a years-long process, the California Farm Bureau and the county Farm Bureaus of Mendocino and Sonoma submitted comments and worked with leaders in the wine sector to make the regulation less burdensome for affected vintners, said Kari Fisher, senior counsel and director of legal advocacy for the California Farm Bureau. Because of the efforts, the board agreed to delay the decision for six months so that some local concerns could be addressed.

The order establishes water quality regulations for owners and operators of commercial vineyards. The regulation requires implementation of on-farm practices to prevent or control discharges of sediment, nutrients and pesticides to surface water. Requirements take effect when vineyards begin enrolling under the order in July 2028.

Landline access

Assembly Bill 470, Tina McKinnor, D-Inglewood, would usurp a rulemaking to broadly consider changes related to requirements and procedures for landlines or carriers of last resort, or COLRs. There are 16 COLRs in California. AT&T is the biggest. Frontier is second.

Parties including the California Farm Bureau have been holding meet-and-confer sessions that address potential areas of agreement related to issues raised. The AT&T-sponsored legislation presented unworkable and one-sided processes to implement the COLR revisions. AB 470 made it out of the Appropriations Committee but did not advance to the Assembly floor for consideration. Farm Bureau opposes the legislation and is collaborating with other stakeholders to defeat it.

Labor

The California Farm Bureau and five other western state Farm Bureaus last week joined in a letter to urge the U.S. Department of Labor to consider dropping its defense of the Biden-era Farmworker Protection Rule, which resides within the H-2A program.

Farm Bureau submitted comments last year critical of the original proposal, which effectively attempts to circumvent the National Labors Relations Act by offering union-related benefits to H-2A workers. The program has long been plagued by complex regulatory requirements, which were made worse through this and several other rulemaking. With the rule tied up in litigation, dropping the legal defense of it would effectively help to reverse the rule, offering at least some reprieve for those currently using the guestworker program.

Electric vehicles

President Trump signed several resolutions last week that effectively overturned California’s electric vehicle mandate, its phaseout of medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicle sales and a rule related to tailpipe emissions from trucks.

Historically, California has relied on waivers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement more stringent environmental regulations. However, concerns from other states that California’s policies could have nationwide effects helped drive efforts in Washington, D.C., to reverse initiatives by the California Air Resources Board.

CARB is weighing legal options to preserve portions of its emissions mandates, meaning this issue may soon head to the courts. California Farm Bureau will continue to monitor developments and provide updates to members.

May 21, 2025

Workforce

The California Farm Bureau is working with federal lawmakers and partners to find a solution to workforce challenges faced by those in agriculture.

Related to this effort, U.S. Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., this month reintroduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

The legislation is also supported by Reps. Jim Costa , D-Fresno; David Valadao, R-Hanford; and Adam Gray, D-Merced.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which has struggled to find enough Republican support in the Senate, remains unchanged from previous iterations.

Water

The California Farm Bureau supports California Water for All, a statewide coalition working to educate policymakers on the urgent need for Senate Bill 72, by state Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced. The bill would create the state’s first-ever statewide water supply target and improve the California Water Plan, which is updated every five years and has guided the state’s effort to meet water demand since the 1950s. SB 72 calls on state, federal and local partners to collaboratively develop 9 million acre-feet of new water supply by 2040 through investments in stormwater capture, recycling, desalination and storage. While conservation remains essential, the research shows it can cover only 20% to 30% of the expected water shortfall—making bold, coordinated action critical.

A new economic study led by experts from the University of California, Davis, and UC Merced highlights the staggering cost of continued inaction. The research finds that California could lose up to 9 million acre-feet of water annually—enough to serve 9 million households—resulting in economic losses ranging from $3.4 billion to $14.5 billion per year. The impacts include up to 3 million acres of fallowed farmland, 67,000 lost jobs, and lasting harm to rural communities and the broader state economy.

Learn more at www.cawaterforall.com.

Litigation

Oral arguments are set to occur later this summer for a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals case for which the California Farm Bureau and Pacific Legal Foundation joined together in filing a “friend of the court” brief. The document argues that the lower court incorrectly issued injunctive relief under the federal Endangered Species Act regarding Lopez Lake Dam.

The amicus brief was filed Jan. 31 in San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper v. County of San Luis Obispo. San Luis Obispo County was sued by environmental groups alleging that Lopez Lake dam threatens steelhead trout under the ESA. A federal judge determined that the operation of the lake threatens the trout and ordered the county to immediately release more water from Lopez Lake.

Species

This week, the California Farm Bureau submitted comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding two proposed federal listings under the Endangered Species Act.

In comments on the proposal to list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species, Abby Carlson, assistant director of legal advocacy at the California Farm Bureau, emphasized that regulatory authority over pesticide use should remain with the Environmental Protection Agency rather than the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She highlighted the importance of maintaining the Section 4(d) rule to support agricultural flexibility and said Conservation Reserve Program lands should be treated as cropland and not be subject to unnecessary restrictions.

For the proposed federal listing of the Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee as an endangered species, Carlson submitted comments opposing the listing on behalf of Farm Bureau. Comments highlighted the absence of recent sightings of the species in California and the lack of sufficient scientific data on its habitat or threats. Carlson added that regulatory decisions must be based on clear, reliable and verifiable data, which she said is lacking for the species.

Legislation

Senate Bill 353, authored by California Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, R-Jackson, passed from the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee with bipartisan support. The bill, supported by the California Farm Bureau, would remove a sunset provision from existing law that would otherwise end a tax credit program for donations of fresh fruits, dairy products and vegetables to California food banks. SB 353 would make that tax credit permanent. The bill moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

May 7, 2025

Solar

Assembly Bill 1156, authored by Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, passed out of the Assembly Committee on Agriculture. The bill would repeal the requirement of a payment to cancel Williamson Act contracts for solar use easements.

The committee’s 6-1 vote did not fall along party lines, with Assembly Member Jeff Gonzalez, R-Coachella, voting against it, and Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, abstaining.

Assembly Member Damon Connolly, D-Marin, and Assembly Member Rhodesia Ransom, D-Stockton, voted in favor of the bill but expressed concerns that it was too broad. Ransom proposed an idea to redirect cancellation payments toward local community benefits instead of the state’s general fund.

Assembly Member Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, who chairs the committee, voted to move the bill out of the committee, though she raised concerns about the potential for widespread Williamson Act cancellations, including the conversion of prime farmland to solar development, and she is requiring amendments to the bill. Soria has also asked for a community benefit investment from solar developers.

Assembly Member Juan Alanis, R-Modesto, and Assembly Member Heather Hadwick, R-Jackson, spoke in favor of the bill, citing the rights of landowners.

Participation in the Williamson Act and its cancellation have always been voluntary. AB 1156 does not enhance landowner rights. It merely waives the contractual obligation to pay a cancellation fee.

The Large-scale Solar Association and Almond Alliance supported the bill, while California Farm Bureau led the opposition and remains opposed unless the bill is amended. American Farmland Trust and similar organizations opposed the bill for its potential to allow cancellation of agricultural conservation easements.

Labor

The California Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee declined to advance Senate Bill 801, which would have exempted sheep and goat herders from California’s agricultural overtime law.

The bill’s author, state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger, agreed to withdraw her request for a vote on the bill in exchange for continued dialogue about challenges created for farmers and ranchers by Assembly Bill 1066, the 2016 law that requires farmworkers be paid time and a half when they work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week.

Since 2019, the minimum wage for herders who work on call around the clock has more than doubled as a result of a combination of state labor laws and regulations, including AB 1066.

California sheep and goat ranchers have cautioned that applying the overtime law to on-call herders could bankrupt them, some of whom provide targeted grazing of wildfire fuels that is a crucial part of the state’s wildfire prevention strategy.

SB 801 failed to make it out of the labor committee just a week after the same committee similarly rejected SB 628, another bill that sought to address the consequences of AB 1066 on farms and farmworkers.

Although both SB 628 and SB 801 failed to advance, the hearings appear to have sparked new interest in developing a more flexible approach to overtime requirements in agriculture, a unique industry in which a one-size-fits-all policy does not work. Farm Bureau sponsored SB 628 and supported SB 801. The latter bill was drafted following advocacy efforts by California ranchers and by the Kern County Farm Bureau.

Water

Alexandra Biering, a California Farm Bureau policy advocacy director, provided lead testimony last week on three bills considerd by the California Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife committee. She encouraged support for AB 430, legislation that requires the California State Water Resources Control Board to conduct an environmental and economic study for nonfee emergency regulations in place for more than a year and for it be released to the public. She said the bill brings transparency and accountability when emergency water regulations are used consecutively for more than one year.

“We’ve seen a trend where the state water board is using emergency regulations as a water management tool, even when there’s no longer a drought in place,” Biering said, citing the emergency regulation for the Scott River and Shasta River watersheds as an example.

For AB 929, a bill that exempts managed wetlands and small community drinking wells from groundwater sustainability plans under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the Farm Bureau opposes it unless it is amended because Biering said the bill sets up overdrafted groundwater basins to fail.

Biering called AB 1146 “unnecessary,” saying the bill prohibits the release of stored water from a reservoir in the state if the release is done under false pretenses. The bill serves as a countermeasure to the release of water this past January by the Trump administration. Biering said had the bill been in place in January, it would not have stopped the federal release of water or held anyone accountable.

All three bills passed the committee and are headed to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Clean Water Act

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reviews the definition of “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, Kari Fisher, senior counsel and director of legal advocacy for the California Farm Bureau, submitted public comments on behalf of farmers and ranchers, and participated in a listening session held by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In addition, she participated in a Voice of California Agriculture podcast on the topic that is set to air May 15. Access the podcast at www.cfbf.com/ag-news/voice-of-california-agriculture-podcast.