BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE on AGRICULTURE
Senator Cathleen Galgiani, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1175 HEARING: 06/17/14
AUTHOR: Bocanegra FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 03/13/14 CONSULTANT: Anne Megaro
Food and agriculture: cooperative agreements: agricultural
inspector associates.
SUMMARY :
This bill would prohibit the California Department of Food and
Agriculture from entering into cooperative agreements with Los
Angeles County for agricultural inspection services unless an
unspecified percentage of agricultural inspector associates are
afforded protections as permanent employees.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW :
Existing law authorizes the secretary of the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (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 to administer and enforce programs
and inspections on the local level (Food and Agricultural Code
�481-6).
CDFA's Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services Division is
responsible for the prevention and control of plant pests and
works cooperatively with county agricultural commissioners 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 the legislature passed AB 185 and AB 1896 which
prohibited CDFA from entering into cooperative agreements for
agricultural inspections with the county of Los Angeles unless
at least 66% of all agricultural inspector aids were afforded
permanent job classifications. Considering that these aids were
hired on a temporary basis to work on year-long contracts with
CDFA, this bill determined that these positions should be
AB 1175 - Page 2
permanent. These bills also provided $380,000 in funds to aid
this transition and reduce costs to the county.
Existing law defines "counties of the first class" to be
counties whose populations exceed four million residents.
According to the California Department of Finance, only the
county of Los Angeles exceeds this threshold, with nearly 10
million residents in January 2013. The next two most populated
counties are Orange and San Diego, both with just over three
million residents (Government Code �28020-22).
PROPOSED LAW :
This bill:
1. Prohibits the secretary of CDFA from entering into
cooperative agreements with certain counties (Los Angeles
County) for year-round agricultural inspector services
unless not less than 66% of the agricultural inspector
aides and ___ % of the agricultural inspector associates
are afforded protections as permanent employees under the
county's civil service or personnel system.
COMMENTS :
Need for this bill: 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."
Opposition concerns: 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 LA County agricultural
commissioner from entering into agreements to perform
AB 1175 - Page 3
inspections for CDFA in the future.
Civil Service Rule 6.02: According to this LA County ordinance,
"an applicant for an interdepartmental promotional examination
must be a permanent county employee." According to this same
ordinance, the director of personnel may allow employees in
training programs to take these exams for permanent appointment
to the class for which they have been prepared.
The committee may wish to consider whether this issue would be
more appropriately addressed on the county level rather than
requiring a statutory change.
RELATED LEGISLATION :
AB 74 (Ma), Chapter 666, Statutes of 2011. Among other
provisions, re-enacts the prohibition against CDFA entering into
cooperative agreements with specified counties unless at least
66% of agricultural inspectors are afforded protections as
permanent employees.
AB 120 (Budget), Chapter 133, Statutes of 2011. Repeals the
prohibition against CDFA entering into cooperative agreements
with specified counties unless at least 66% of agricultural
inspectors are afforded protections as permanent employees.
AB 1896 (Horton), Chapter 631, Statutes of 2004. Prohibits CDFA
from entering into cooperative agreements with specified
counties unless at least 66% of agricultural inspector aids are
afforded protections as permanent employees.
AB 185 (Horton), Chapter 832, Statutes of 2003. Prohibits CDFA
from entering into cooperative agreements with specified
counties unless all agricultural inspector aids are afforded
protections as permanent employees.
PRIOR ACTIONS :
Not applicable
SUPPORT :
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
AFSCME District Council 36
AB 1175 - Page 4
OPPOSITION :
County of Los Angeles