AB 63	Cogdill	Taxation: irrigation system improvements.	I-12/05/2002
	03/03/2003-In committee: Set, first hearing. Held under submission.
	The Personal Income Tax Law and the Bank and Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits and deductions in computing the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would provide, under both laws, a credit, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2003, and before January 1, 2008, in an amount equal to 25% of the cost paid or incurred by the taxpayer, not to exceed a specified amount per acre, for the purchase and installation of an irrigation system improvement, as defined, that is used in a business for the production of farm income, and is installed on agricultural land in California that is owned or leased by the taxpayer at the time of installation. This bill contains other related provisions.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link No Action
AB 105	Wiggins	Agricultural land preservation: appropriation.	I-01/10/2003
	04/10/2003-From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Re-referred. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (April 9).
	Existing law establishes the California Environmental Quality Improvement Revolving Loan Program within the Department of Conservation to provide loans to farmers to carry out practices approved for cost-share payments under the federal Environmental Quality Incentive Program. This bill would repeal the provisions establishing that program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link
AB 244	Maze	Wages: overtime.	A-03/26/2003
	04/08/2003-From committee without further action pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a).
	Existing law provides that, except for an employee working an alternative workweek schedule and for certain occupations, hours worked in excess of 8 hours a day, in excess of 40 hours a week, and the first 8 hours worked on a 7th day of work are to be compensated at a rate at least 11/2 times the regular rate of pay, and hours worked in excess of 12 hours a day and in excess of 8 hours on the 7th day of work are to be compensated at a rate at least twice the regular rate of pay. Employers are subject to civil penalties for violating these requirements. The Labor Commissioner is authorized to issue citations for violations. This bill would exempt from existing law employees employed by small businesses, as defined.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link No Action
AB 288	Aghazarian	Taxation: agriculture: irrigation.	A-03/10/2003
	03/17/2003-In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
	The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various deductions in computing the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would provide, under both laws, an election to expense as a deduction any costs paid or incurred for the construction or purchase of water filter systems and equipment used to prevent contaminated agricultural water from entering public waterways or underground aquifers. This bill contains other related provisions.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link No Action
AB 815	Wiggins	Horses: agricultural animals.	A-04/22/2003
	04/23/2003-Read second time. To third reading.
	Existing law regulates livestock operations involving horses, as specified. This bill would classify horses as agricultural animals for purposes of the eligibility of horse owners for federal grants, as specified.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link
AB 923	Firebaugh	State taxes: health care.	A-04/24/2003
	04/29/2003-From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Re-referred. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (April 28).
	The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a tax on the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, or the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, tangible personal property. That law provides various exemptions from that tax, including exemptions for farm equipment and machinery, timber harvesting equipment, racehorse breeding stock, diesel fuel used in farming, and liquefied petroleum gas for use in producing and harvesting agricultural products. This bill would repeal those exemptions. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link This bill would repeal the salses tax exemptions that agriculture received as part of the budget agreement in 2001. It is strongly opposed by all of agriculture, including the CTBA. It passed out of the Appropriations Committee on 4/30 and is expected to be heard on the Assembly floor on Cinco de Mayo. It is co-authored by Speaker Wesson and Assemblyman Firebaugh and strongly opposed by every Republican in the Assembly because it rescinds the budget agreement that got Republican votes for the budget.
AB 924	Maldonado	Trespass.	A-04/29/2003
	04/29/2003-Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.
	Existing law provides that any person who, without the written permission of the landowner, owner's agent, or person in lawful possession of the land, willfully enters any lands under cultivation or enclosed by fence, belonging to, or occupied by, another, is for a first offense guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of $10; and for a 2nd offense guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of not less $100 nor more than $250. This bill would revise the above penalty provisions to instead provide that for a trespass on the same land or any contiguous land of the same landowner, without the permission of the landowner, the landowner's agent, or the person in lawful possession of the land, a first offense is punishable by a fine of$75 and a 2nd offense is punishable by a fine of $250. The bill would make clarifying and conforming changes to these and related provisions.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link AB 924 increases the penalties for trespassing and is supported by CTBA.
AB 944	Matthews	Agricultural lands: local plans.	A-04/07/2003
	04/29/2003-From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (April 23).
	The Planning and Zoning Law requires that the general plan of a city or county include specified elements, including a land use plan that designates the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the uses of the land for, among other things, housing, business, industry, and open space, including agriculture. The act also requires that every city and county adopt and submit to the Secretary of the Resources Agency a local open-space plan for the comprehensive and long-range preservation and conservation of open-space land within its jurisdiction and that the plan contain an action program consisting of specific programs to implement the open-space plan. This bill would change references from open-space lands to agricultural and open-space lands, would rename the open-space plan of the general plan as the agricultural and open-space element of the general plan, and would make other conforming changes. The bill would also permit this element of a county general plan to include a specified land inventory segregating open space from agricultural land, and goals, objectives, and feasible implementation measures that support these purposes.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link
AB 1285	Salinas	Vehicles: special license plates: agricultural design.	A-04/09/2003
	04/29/2003-Hearing postponed by committee. (Refers to 4/25/2003 hearing)
	Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to design and issue special interest license plates containing the distinctive design or decal of organizations that meet certain criteria. This bill would require the department , in consultation with the California Future Farmers of America Foundation, to issue agricultural special interest license plates, as specified. After deducting its costs in administering this special license plate program, the bill would require the department to deposit all revenue derived under the program , except as specified, in the Agricultural License Plate Account, which the bill would establish in the General Fund. This bill contains other related provisions.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link No Action
AB 1454	Canciamilla	West Nile virus.	I-02/21/2003
	04/29/2003-In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
	Existing law provides that before a pesticide can be distributed or sold in California, it must first be registered by both the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Existing law also requires the director of the DPR to regulate the use of environmentally harmful materials, including pesticides, that may have an adverse effect on the environment. This bill would enact the Public Health Pesticide Act of 2003, which would require the director of DPR, in considering the new or continued registration of, or any regulatory action involving, any pesticide registered for use for, and used predominantly in, public health programs for vector control or other health protection uses, to weigh the risks of the use of the public health pesticide against the health risks to be controlled, or the human health protection benefits to be provided, by use of the public health pesticide. The director would be required to consult with the Director of the State Department of Health Services and to conduct studies, as specified, with respect to the risks and benefits of the new or continued registration of any public health pesticide. This bill contains other related provisions.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link No Action
AB 1780	Committee on Governmental Organization	Gambling establishments.	I-03/26/2003
	04/28/2003-From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. Re-referred. (Ayes 25. Noes 0.) (April 28).
	The Gambling Control Act provides for the licensure and regulation of various legalized gambling activities and establishments by the California Gambling Control Commission. A recent legislative enactment, Chapter 738 of the Statutes of 2002, reorganized various sections and article headings within the act. This bill would renumber a provision within the Gambling Control Act to correct its placement among those reorganized sections and make conforming changes to it in accordance with that legislative enactment.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link
ACR 33	Nation	Day of the Horse.	I-02/14/2003
	04/28/2003-Read second time. To Consent Calendar.
	This measure would designate December 13, 2003, as the Day of the Horse.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link
SB 57	Burton	Minimum wage.	A-03/28/2003
	04/28/2003-Placed on APPR. suspense file.
	Existing law requires establishment of a minimum wage for all industries of not less than $5.75 per hour on and after March 1, 1998. This bill would adjust the hourly minimum wage on January 1, 2004, and annually thereafter, to maintain employee purchasing power. The automatically adjusted minimum wage would be calculated using the California Consumer Price Index, as specified. The commission would also be required to publicize the automatically adjusted minimum wage. This bill contains other related provisions.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link On Suspense in Senate Appropriations Committee
SB 75	Burton	Agricultural labor relations.	I-01/22/2003
	04/24/2003-In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
	Existing law provides a mediation procedure applicable to specified agricultural employers and labor organizations that are certified as the exclusive bargaining agent of a bargaining unit of agricultural employees. The procedure permits either party to seek assistance from the Agricultural Labor Relations Board in the event that the parties are unable to reach a collective bargaining agreement. This bill would require the board, by July 1, 2004, to compile a list of all certified labor organizations that have not obtained a collective bargaining agreement with the employer of the agricultural employees represented by the labor organization and to post the list, along with specified information, on the board's Web site. This bill contains other related provisions.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link No Action
SB 103	Alpert	Sales and use taxes.	A-04/02/2003
	04/29/2003-From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 3.)
	The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a tax on the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, or the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, tangible personal property. That law imposes the sales tax upon "retailers," and defines a "retailer engaged in business in this state" to include specified entities. Existing law provides that every retailer engaged in business in this state and making sales of tangible personal property for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, that engages in specified activity in this state shall, at the time of sale or at the time the storage, use, or other consumption becomes taxable, collect the tax from the purchaser. This bill would clarify that a retailer is engaged in business in this state if a retailer authorizes an employee, representative, or independent contractor operating in this state for the purpose of servicing or repairing tangible personal property. This bill contains other related provisions.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link
SB 707	Florez	Environmental quality: confined animal facilities.	A-03/27/2003
	04/28/2003-Do pass as amended, and re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations.
	The existing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. This bill would prohibit the certification of an environmental impact report and the approval of a negative declaration, for any project that includes the construction or alteration of a confined animal facility, as defined, within 3 miles of a city or a "census defined place," as defined, of at least 5,000 persons, unless specified requirements are met. The bill would also prohibit a public agency from approving or carrying out the project unless the public agency finds that a specified buffer zone is incorporated into the project. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link Passed Senate Environmental Committee on 4/28. It is a concern to many animal agricultural organizations, especially the dairy industry. The Department of Food and Agriculture has not taken a position on it.
SB 993	Poochigian	Criminal threats.	A-04/22/2003
	04/24/2003-Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.
	Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to willfully commit a trespass by engaging in specified acts, including, entering upon any lands owned by any other person whereon oysters or other shellfish are planted or growing; or injuring, gathering, or carrying away any oysters or other shellfish planted, growing, or on any of those lands, whether covered by water or not, without the license of the owner or legal occupant; or destroying or removing, or causing to be removed or destroyed, any stakes, marks, fences, or signs intended to designate the boundaries and limits of any of those lands. This bill would make it a trespass to enter upon lands or buildings owned by any other person whereon cattle, goats, pigs, fowl, or any other animal is being raised, bred, fed, or held for the purpose of food for human consumption; or to injure, gather, or carry away any animal being housed on any of those lands, without the license of the owner or legal occupant; or to damage, destroy, or remove, or cause to be removed, damaged or destroyed, any stakes, marks, fences, or signs intended to designate the boundaries and limits of any of those lands. By increasing the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link SB 993 would make it a misdemeanor to trespass on property used of the raising or processing of food animals. CTBA is working with the author to expand the bill to include other species if there are animals released and the release results in an accident.
SBX1 1	Poochigian	State economy: suspension of statutes.	I-01/06/2003
	01/06/2003-Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on L. & I.R.
	Various statutes enacted in the 2001-02 Regular Session of the Legislature, relating to workers' compensation, labor standards, and agricultural labor relations, will take effect on January 1, 2003. This bill would provide that these statutes shall not become operative until the date the Governor issues a proclamation declaring that the California economy has fully recovered from the recession that began in 2000. This bill contains other related provisions.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link No Action
SCA 10	Florez	Legal gaming.	I-02/21/2003
	03/13/2003-To Coms. on G.O. and C.A.
	The California Constitution prohibits various gaming activities within the state, including casino-style gambling, but authorizes the Legislature to provide for the regulation of horse racing, charitable bingo games, the California State Lottery, Indian gaming pursuant to tribal-state compacts, and charitable raffles. This measure would prohibit any further expansion of legal gaming, as defined.
	Click here for Bill text, analysis, votes, etc. Leginfo Link No Action