Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
Assemblymember Marie Waldron
AD-75 (R)
The state budget agreement earlier in June was really only the beginning of a series of intense discussions involving "trailer bills" that deal with specific issues not included in the main budget itself.
Senate Bill 88 is one such bill. This legislation, which I opposed, will have significant impacts on California agriculture. SB 88 received final approval on June 19, passing the Assembly in a 52 – 28 party-line vote.
Specifically to address complex issues relating to management of groundwater and providing adequate supplies of safe drinking water, SB 88 bypasses existing laws by granting massive new authority to the State Water Resources Control Board. Among these are new powers to require consolidation of virtually any local water agency in California deemed to have limited water supply reliability.
SB 88 allows restrictions on drilling new wells and on deepening existing wells. Cities and counties would be allowed to limit crop changes on farms, even potentially limiting planting altogether if new crops increase demands on groundwater.
Local jurisdictions will be allowed to deputize enforcement officers to issue citations with penalties as high as $10,000 per violation. These penalties, often for relatively minor infractions, would be imposed administratively and without due process, something American citizens rightfully expect as a basic civil right.
If these new powers were limited to drought years, they might be acceptable. But these, adopted after less than one month of discussion and review, represent a permanent expansion of government power, an assault on liberty, and a serious threat to California’s agricultural economy.
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