TOM NASSIF | PRESIDENT AND CEO, WESTERN GROWERS PRESIDENT’S NOTES
This is Jerry’s Last Year, What’s Next? With several initiatives and numerous statewide and Congressional offices up for grabs, 2018 will be a busy political year. I recently wrote about Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, whose strong economic policies and sensible approach to regulation have set him on course for a successful reelection campaign.
California, as always, is a different story. Much has happened in California since 1975, and 37 percent of that time, Jerry Brown has been governor. Due to term limits, this year is definitely his last as the state’s chief executive, so it seems a good time to take a brief look back at his impact on our industry. During his first stint as governor, Brown famously espoused his canoe theory of politics: paddle a little on the left, then a little on the right, and go straight down the middle. However, as evidenced by his alliance with Cesar Chavez, support for the United Farm Workers (UFW) and signature on the landmark
quality regulators have imposed costly requirements on farmers while simultaneously seeking to reduce water availability from key rivers. I provide this abbreviated analysis not as a critique of the Governor, but as a means to set up the significance of the 2018 gubernatorial election. While it may seem that Brown is constantly paddling in the opposite direction of California farmers, he has proven reasonable in certain situations, and is usually open to debating the pros and cons. For all the well-deserved criticism, Brown does have a fundamental appreciation for agriculture and has often served as the only
Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRB), Brown banked his political canoe hard left his first go around, at least when it came to agriculture. After a period of political desert wandering, Brown reemerged—first as mayor of Oakland, then as state attorney general, and finally as Governor Part Deux—slightly less ideological and a bit more pragmatic. Indeed, during his first term in this second go-round, Brown steered his canoe on a somewhat straighter course. Shortly after coming into office, Governor Brown sent shockwaves through Sacramento when he vetoed card check legislation, the then-crown jewel of the UFW’s legislative agenda.
check—a backstop, to use a baseball reference—to the radical excesses of the majority in the California Legislature. The obvious question is whether the next governor might have a similar approach. This is the reason why Western Growers directors and staff have been so diligent in reaching out to the major candidates. To date, we have had substantial interactions with former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, State Treasurer John Chiang and Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. Villaraigosa and Chiang have already addressed our Board of Directors in person, and Newsom will join us for our next
Based on our private conversations and public statements made by the current frontrunners, each of the candidates projects a desire to understand and help support agriculture, to different degrees.
Brown rejected other UFW-sponsored bills, including a punitive heat illness measure that would have paved the way for a rash of class action lawsuits. Unfortunately, in the current and final four-year term, and without another statewide election confronting him, Brown dealt California agriculture a devastating one-two punch by approving legislation that mandates massive hikes in minimum wage and overtime rates. On environmental policy, the record is similarly mixed. For example, at Brown’s insistence, renewal of the “cap and trade” system at the heart of the state’s greenhouse gas reduction strategy included provisions to aid the agriculture industry. Less helpfully, the Governor’s water
Board Meeting in March. Based on our private conversations and public statements made by the current frontrunners, each of the candidates projects a desire to understand and help support agriculture, to different degrees. Villaraigosa clearly understands the direct connection between California agriculture and the economic livelihood of his most significant voter base: Latinos. He supports efforts to increase our water supply and has expressed his desire to “look out for the interests of farmers.” Additionally, he has shown an independence from the unions that are so powerful in Democratic campaigns. As mayor, Villaraigosa clashed
4 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2018
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