BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, 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 14, 2014
Consultant: Robert Ingenito
SUSPENSE FILE. AS AMENDED.
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 (as approved on August 14, 2014): 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
AB 1175 (Bocenegra)
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percent of all Agricultural Inspector Aids were granted
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.
Author's amendments specify the percentage of employees to be 75
percent.
AB 1175 (Bocenegra)
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