BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 702
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: salas
VERSION: 6/22/10
Analysis by: Mark Stivers FISCAL: no
Hearing date: June 29, 2010
SUBJECT:
Farmworker housing
DESCRIPTION:
This bill expands the universe of who may reside in farmworker
housing to include specified persons employed off the farm in
the processing of agricultural commodities.
ANALYSIS:
Under current law, the Department of Housing and Community
Development administers the Joe Serna Jr., Farmworker Housing
Grant Program (FWHG), which funds the development of ownership
or rental homes for agricultural employees and their families
through grants to local governments and non-profit
organizations.
The statute defines "agricultural employees" as persons engaged
in agriculture as well as persons who work at a packing shed for
a labor contractor or other entity that contracts with an
agricultural employer in order to perform services in connection
with handling, drying, packing, or storing any agricultural
commodity in its raw or natural state.
This bill , for purposes of the FWHG Program, expands the
definition of "agricultural employees" to:
Include persons engaged in the processing of agricultural
commodities;
Include persons engaged in the handling, drying, packing,
processing, or storing of agricultural commodities at any
point in the processing cycle, not just when the commodities
AB 702 (SALAS) Page 2
are in their raw or natural state; and
Clarify that persons may perform services in connection with
handling, drying, packing, processing, or storing agricultural
commodities on or off the farm.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose of the bill . According to the sponsor, in 2008
Congress, for purposes of federal housing programs, expanded
the definition of domestic farm labor to include workers
engaged not only in the handling of agricultural commodities
in the unprocessed stage but also in the "processing of
agricultural or aquacultural commodities." Moreover, the
federal legislation clarified that farm labor may be performed
off the farm, not just on the farm. This bill more closely
conforms the state's definition of agricultural employee to
the analogous federal definition, which will:
Allow operators of farmworker housing to rent out units
financed with both federal and state funding using one set
of eligibility rules rather than two.
Increase the financial viability of state-financed
farmworker housing by expanding the eligible population
that may rent such units.
Eliminate confusion and instability among agricultural
workers who perform more than one kind of agricultural
activity (e.g., field work and processing).
Provide a stable and well-housed workforce for local
employers engaged in the cultivation, handling, drying,
packing, processing, or storing of agricultural products.
1.Case examples . Staff has heard of two anecdotal cases in
which this bill may have an impact. The first involves an
existing farmworker housing development in Brawley that
suffers from vacancies as a result of a second similar
facility in the vicinity. By expanding the range of eligible
tenants, this bill may help the development owner fill vacant
units and meet the housing needs of other low-income workers
in the agriculture industry generally. The second cases
involves a Sacramento-area affordable housing developer that
would like to construct affordable housing for employees of
the region's many agricultural processing plants but believes
such housing is currently ineligible for the FWHG Program.
2.Expansion limited to labor contractors . The current state
AB 702 (SALAS) Page 3
FWHG program statute defines an agricultural employee as a
person who is engaged directly in agriculture (i.e., field
work) or who works "at a packing shed for a labor contractor
or other entity that contracts with an agricultural employer"
in order to perform specified agriculture-related services.
While this bill expands the definition's list of specified
agriculture-related services, it does not alter the
requirement that the employee work at a packing shed for a
labor contractor or other entity that contracts with an
agricultural employer. Presumably, most agricultural
processing operations are not under contract to the growers,
rather they buy from the growers. Moreover, many or most
agricultural processing operations presumably hire their own
employees directly rather than working through labor
contractors. As a result, the bill's expansion to cover
processing plant employees may be very limited. The committee
may wish to consider an amendment to include all processing
employees regardless of who the employer is.
Previous votes irrelevant.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 23, 2010)
SUPPORT: California Coalition for Rural Housing (sponsor)
OPPOSED: None received.