As the final day of 2025 legislative activity in the State Capitol nears on September 12, the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees took center stage today holding hearings to release decisions on over 600 bills.
The actions taken determine whether bills move forward to a floor vote in the respective Assembly and Senate chambers. Outcomes include the following decisions:
- SB 601 (Allen) Water quality permits – Two-year bill; not moving forward in 2025
- SB 72 (Caballero) Water supply target – Passed Assembly Appropriations Committee
- AB 1264 (Gabriel) Ultra-processed food – Passed Senate Appropriations Committee
- AB 1331 (Elhawary) Workplace surveillance – Passed Senate Appropriations Committee
Cap-and-trade reauthorization is a priority for Ag Council, as we have members required to comply with the program. Legislative discussions are taking place given the Assembly is circulating a reauthorization measure that will replace language currently in AB 1207 (Irwin). Ag Council is involved in amendment discussions regarding the bill along with others in agriculture and business.
Ag Council supports an extension of the existing market-based program through 2045 to lower greenhouse gas emissions while recognizing the needs of the food processing sector, including free allocations and allowing offsets. We are hopeful the discussions will be fruitful and result in passage of a bill prior to the end of the legislative session.
Importantly, crucial ag programs are funded through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which only exists through cap-and-trade dollars. To read more about our GGRF priorities, please click HERE.
The Assembly released a draft approach to allocate GGRF dollars as the chamber considers how to proceed, and agricultural programs such as FARMER, the Food Production Investment Program, livestock methane reduction programs and others are grouped together and listed as potentially receiving a 10 percent share of GGRF dollars. Conversations are ongoing, and Ag Council will continue to advocate to support the programs our members utilize that are successfully reducing emissions.