BILL NUMBER: AB 2373	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gray

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2016

   An act relating to the Merced Irrigation District and making an
appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2373, as introduced, Gray. Merced Irrigation District
   The Irrigation District Law provides for the formation of
irrigation districts with prescribed powers, including acting to put
to any beneficial use any water under the district's control.
   This bill would appropriate $45,000 from the General Fund to the
Merced Irrigation District for implementing irrigation and water use
efficiency strategies for small communal farms in the County of
Merced.
   This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the County of Merced.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares that the
implementation of irrigation and water use efficiency by farms
benefits the public as a whole, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in
the production of food and reducing the production costs of food,
helping to keep food prices affordable for all Californians.
  SEC. 2.  There is hereby appropriated forty-five thousand dollars
($45,000) from the General Fund to the Merced Irrigation District for
implementing irrigation and water use efficiency strategies for
small communal farms in the County of Merced. For purposes of this
appropriation, small communal farms may include a farm that is
operated through an informal agreement by one or more families.
  SEC. 3.  The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because many communal farms in the County of Merced lack adequate
economic opportunities as the county is home to a disproportionate
number of disadvantaged communities with traditionally high levels of
unemployment and poverty.