California Governor Jerry Brown had until September 30 to sign or veto bills that were sent to him by the California 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.  These measures will take effect in January 2017.

Brown signed legislation expanding climate change emission goals. SB 32 (Pavley; D-Agoura Hills) mandates a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, with no consideration of the economic side effects or ongoing oversight for the Legislature. Also signed was a companion measure, AB 197 (E. Garcia; D-Coachella), which creates the guise of regulatory accountability and legislative oversight regarding the blank check granted to the California Air Resources Board for implementing the post-2020 climate change goals.

AB 2530 (Gordon; D- Menlo Park) was also signed by Brown. This bill will require beverage manufacturers to annually report - under penalty of perjury - to CalRecycle the amount of virgin and postconsumer recycled content in their plastic beverage containers. CLFP was strongly opposed to this measure arguing that while we support efforts to increase recycling and source reduce our packaging, AB 2530 would impose unnecessary cost burdens on beverage manufacturers without any corresponding public policy benefit.

CLFP joined California agricultural producers in opposing AB 1066 (Gonzalez; D-San Diego) which would repeal the longstanding 10-hour daily overtime requirement for agricultural employees. However, the bill passed the Legislature and was signed by Brown. 

The Governor also signed SB 1167 (Mendoza; D-Artesia), which directs the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) to adopt a standard to protect the health and safety of indoor workers from heat-related illness and injury. CLFP opposed this measure as it limits the discretion and authority of Cal/OSHA to determine the scope and application of the regulation.