CAWG Priority Legislation

The California Association of Winegrape Growers is advocating in Sacramento during the deliberation on these proposed changes in law. As a strong voice for California winegrape growers, CAWG helps make lawmakers aware of the potential effects of the legislation they are considering. In many cases this includes unintended, but devastating, consequences.

CAWG sponsors and supports legislation that positively impacts grape growing in California and opposes legislation that can have a negative impact on the industry, our workers and our communities.

Below is a partial list of 2021-2022 priority legislation for CAWG.

2021 Priority Bill List

CAWG SUPPORT

AB 73 (R. Rivas, D-Hollister) would provide N95 masks from the state stockpile to ag employees exposed to wildfire smoke (when N95s are otherwise unavailable).  STATUS:  Governor’s Desk

AB 239 (Villapudua, D-Stockton) would allow the reuse of wine bottles at wine tasting rooms. STATUS:  Signed into law.

AB 654 (Reyes, D-San Bernardino) would clarify the reporting requirements that employers must follow for workplace COVID-19 exposures. STATUS:  Governor’s Desk

AB 1267 (Cunningham, R-Paso Robles) would allow wineries to donate a portion of the purchase price of an alcoholic beverage to a nonprofit charitable organization.  STATUS:  Signed into law.

SB 11 (Rubio, D-Los Angeles) expands access to FAIR Plan for commercial structures on farm land. This is important for growers having difficulty getting insurance due to wildfire risks. STATUS:  Signed into law.

SB 19 (Glazer, D-Orinda) would allow a licensed winegrower or brandy manufacturer to operate two off-site tasting rooms under its winegrower license. STATUS:  Governor’s Desk

CAWG NEUTRAL

AB 1103 (Dahle, R-Bieber) would create a county livestock pass program allowing ranchers to get access to their land during wildfires. In early form, the bill would have unintentionally limited the ability of counties to do broader agricultural pass programs around the state.  STATUS:  Governor’s Desk

CAWG OPPOSE

AB 616 (Stone, D-Santa Cruz) would have created a process whereby the union would control the process by which an election is conducted for employees to choose whether to join a union. STATUS:  Vetoed.

AB 364 (Rodriguez, D-Pomona) would create a new foreign labor contractor registration process with the California Labor Commissioner. This is in addition to and duplicative of existing state and federal processes already in place. STATUS:  Two Year Bill

AB 377 (R. Rivas, D-Hollister) would expand state and regional water board authority with respect to how they regulate discharges. This could substantially reduce water supplies for agriculture. STATUS:  Two year bill.

AB 548 (Carrillo, D-Los Angeles) would eliminate collection of penalties and interest for overpayment of unemployment benefits, even when the claim is fraudulent. This increases unemployment insurance rates for employers. STATUS:  Two year bill.

AB 857 (Kalra, D-San Jose) would create a new notice to agricultural employees that would provide a new right to compensation for travel time (which is provided by the employer for voluntary use). STATUS:  Two year bill.

AB 995 (Gonzalez, D-San Diego) would expand mandatory paid sick leave from three to five days annually. STATUS:  Two year bill.

SB 410 (Leyva, D-Chino) would eliminate fiscal review of proposed costly new workplace safety regulations. This would result in no consideration by regulators of less costly alternatives. STATUS:  Two year bill.

CAWG’s State Government Relations Committee determines whether CAWG will sponsor, support, or oppose any specific legislation.  If you have any questions about CAWG's position on any given bill, please feel free to contact Michael Miiller, Director of Government Affairs at (916) 379-8995.