Highlights of CalCAN’s Advocacy on Farmland Conservation

2018 — Approved by voters in June 2018, Proposition 68 is a state parks and natural resources bond that includes $20 million in funding for the California Farmland Conservancy Program to permanently protect farmlands at risk of development.

2017 – Introduced by Senator Stern and and supported by CalCAN, SB 732, is signed into law. It incentivizes local governments to do a better job of identifying and prioritizing their farmlands for conservation and identifying land suitable for urban in-fill development.

2015 — Senator Wolk introduces SB 367, co-sponsored by CalCAN. Among other things, the bill calls for increasing the insufficient SALCP allocation to 2% of total cap-and-trade investments. The bill wins almost unanimous bipartisan support in the Senate and the Assembly, and many supporters, but fails to advance.  

2014 — Assemblymember Eggman introduces  AB 1961, co-sponsored by CalCAN, AFT and CAFF,  which requires local governments to establish and create public inventories of remaining agricultural lands and a plan to retain them. The bill moved out of the first two policy committees but continued strong opposition from the building industry blocked it in the Assembly appropriations committee.

2013 — Assemblymember Eggman introduces AB 823, co-sponsored by CalCAN, AFT and CAFF, requires local governments to adopted a minimum standard of 2:1 farmland mitigation when a project results in the conversion of farmland to non-agricultural uses. The bill met with significant opposition from the building industry and stalled in the Assembly Agriculture Committee.