BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1175
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          Date of Hearing:   August 27, 2014

                          ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
                           Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair
                  AB 1175 (Bocanegra) - As Amended:  August 18, 2014
          
          SUBJECT  :  Food and agriculture: cooperative agreements:  
          agricultural inspector associates.

           SUMMARY  :  This bill prohibits the Department of Food and  
          Agriculture (CDFA) from entering into cooperative agreements  
          with Los Angeles (LA) County for agricultural inspection  
          services unless not less than 75% of agricultural inspector  
          associates are afforded protections as permanent employees.  

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Authorizes the secretary of CDFA to enter into cooperative  
            agreements to carry out and enforce programs that promote and  
            enhance agriculture, combat invasive pests and diseases,  
            inspect poultry and meat, or other activities to administer  
            and enforce these provisions.  Specifically, the secretary  
            enters into cooperative agreements with county agricultural  
            commissioners (CAC) to administer and enforce programs and  
            inspections on the local level.

          2)Defines "counties of the first class" to be counties whose  
            populations exceed four million residents.

          FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Committee on  
          Appropriations, would not have a direct fiscal impact to CDFA.   
          The bill could result in potential cost pressures to CDFA in the  
          low hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

           COMMENTS  :  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 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  








                                                                  AB 1175
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          local CAC's staff, which includes aids, associates, and  
          inspectors.

          In 2003-04, legislation was enacted which prohibited CDFA from  
          entering into cooperative agreements for agricultural  
          inspections with Los Angeles County (County) unless a minimum of  
          66% of all agricultural inspector aids were granted permanent  
          civil service status as a county employee.  Prior to that  
          legislation, 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.

          According to the author, this bill would ensure that  
          agricultural inspector aids would not lose their permanent  
          status when attempting to receive a promotion by going through a  
          year-long, temporary associate position.  Furthermore, "Last  
          year, the County realized that agricultural inspector associates  
          are not eligible for the [promotional] exam because they are not  
          technically permanent employees.  There is currently no process  
          for associates to be promoted, except at the discretion of the  
          Agricultural Commissioner.  This has created a totally arbitrary  
          process for evaluating which employees should be promoted."

          Those in opposition are concerned that this bill "would  
          eliminate the entry-level class in the Agricultural/Weights &  
          Measures Inspector series, and would preclude incumbents from:  
          1) gaining the necessary on-the-job-training; 2) meeting all  
          educational requirements; and 3) competing for permanent  
          inspector positions."  Furthermore, this bill does not provide  
          the funding needed to mandate staffing with permanent employees,  
          and the increased staffing costs could preclude the Los Angeles  
          County Agricultural Commissioner from entering into agreements  
          to perform inspections for CDFA in the future.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          AFSCME, District Council 36

           Opposition 
           
          County of Los Angeles








                                                                  AB 1175
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          Analysis Prepared by  :    Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916)  
          319-2084