A $3.1 billion food and ag bond proposal has been pulled ahead of a committee hearing. With the Legislature’s tight schedule this year, the bill will likely not be heard again but could return in 2022 in time for the ballot in November.Industry raised concerns the measure provided little funding to actual farmers and excluded dairy digesters and water infrastructure projects. Butte County rancher and former president of the California Cattlemen’s Association Dave Daley praised the conservation easement grants listed in the bill.
Daley would likely be disappointed that a proposal to ease grazing permits was also dropped last week. Daley wrote an op-ed just two days beforehand that called for the state to expand grazing as a wildfire prevention tool.
A natural resources bond proposal for $7 billion was pulled as well, but returned this week for a special hearing for Assembly Natural Resources to focus on just this bill. A similar proposal for $6 billion has been advancing through committees. Both support “natural infrastructure” projects, but not above-ground water storage.
