BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Kevin de León, Chair AB 1175 (Bocenegra) - Food and Agriculture: Cooperative Agreements: Agricultural Inspector Associates Amended: March 13, 2014 Policy Vote: Agriculture 4-0 Urgency: No Mandate: No Hearing Date: August 4, 2014 Consultant: Robert Ingenito This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: AB 1175 would prohibit the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) from entering into cooperative agreements with Los Angeles County (County) for agricultural inspection services unless a currently unspecified percentage of Agricultural Inspector Associates are granted permanent County civil service status. Fiscal Impact: This bill as currently drafted, would not have a direct fiscal impact to CDFA. However, the bill could result in potential cost pressures to the Department in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars annually (See Staff Comments). Background: Current law authorizes CDFA to enter into cooperative agreements with counties to carry out and enforce programs that, among other things, combat invasive pests and diseases. CDFA specifically contracts with county agricultural commissioners (CACs) to administer and enforce local programs and inspections. CDFA's Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services Division is responsible for the prevention and control of plant pests, working cooperatively with CACs to accomplish these goals. Depending on the specific requirements for pest monitoring, trapping, and inspections, work is typically performed by the local county agricultural commissioner's staff which includes aids, associates, and inspectors. In 2003-04, legislation was enacted (AB 185 and AB 1896) which prohibited CDFA from entering into cooperative agreements for agricultural inspections with the County unless a minimum of 66 percent of all Agricultural Inspector Aids were granted AB 1175 (Bocenegra) Page 1 permanent civil service status as a county employee. Beforehand, these employees were hired on a temporary basis to work on year-long contracts with CDFA. The legislation increased labor costs for the County, and state funds were provided to aid this transition and reduce fiscal impact to the County. Proposed Law: This bill would additionally prohibit CDFA from entering into a cooperative agreement with the County unless a portion of Agricultural Inspector Associate positions are also given permanent county civil service status. The required percentage is currently not specified in the bill. Related Legislation: AB 1896 (Horton), Chapter 631, Statutes of 2004. Prohibits CDFA from entering into cooperative agreements with specified counties unless at least 66 percent of agricultural inspector aids are afforded protections as permanent employees. Staff Comments: This bill does not directly impact the fiscal operations of CDFA; however, it could result in unknown General Fund cost pressures. Specifically, the conversion of the Agricultural Inspector Associate positions to permanent status could lead to higher labor costs for the County, potentially in the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually (depending on the percentage that is ultimately placed in the bill). Unlike AB 1896, this bill does provide funding for the County. Thus, the County's future response could lead it to opt either (1) to seek to recoup those costs when negotiating contracts with CDFA, or (2) not to enter into agreements to perform inspections on behalf of with CDFA. The latter scenario could lead to the department doing some of the inspections itself, which would likely increase costs to CDFA (especially start-up costs) relative to the current arrangement.