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Assemblymember Aguiar‑Curry urges codification of CDFA advisory committees in AB 52
Summary
AB 52 would codify two CDFA advisory committees created under the Farmer Equity Act (2017), which supporters say will protect the role of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in departmental policymaking and improve grant turnaround, language access, and feedback mechanisms.
Assemblymember Aguiar‑Curry introduced AB 52 to write two existing advisory bodies—the California BIPOC Producer Advisory Committee and the Small Scale Producer Advisory Committee—into statute so the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) cannot remove or weaken them by administrative action.
"Farmers and ranchers of color, as well as small scale producers, have faced long standing discrimination in agriculture," Assemblymember Aguiar‑Curry said, recounting that the Farmer Equity Act of 2017 created the committees but did not codify them. "By codifying these advisory committees, AB 52 ensures that CDFA designs and implements programs that are more equitable, effective, and responsive to the needs of California's diverse agricultural community."
Minka Toharka, a Calaveras County farmer and coordinator of the California Farmer Justice Collaborative, said she serves on the BIPOC advisory committee and urged a yes vote. "These committees are just one example of what it can look like when socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers are offered space to advocate for themselves as the experts of their own lived experiences," she said, adding that advisory work has helped push for faster grant turnaround times, anonymous feedback options, and better language access.
Several organizations and individuals registered support during the hearing including the office of Kat Taylor, the California Climate and Agriculture Network, Pesticide Action Network affiliates, the California Food and Farming Network, and farmers who said codification would protect hard-won program access.
Chair Senator Caballero said she liked the bill and that codifying the advisory committees was a forward‑looking step. The committee did not vote immediately because it convened initially without a quorum; when a quorum was later present the bill was moved out with recorded committee support and referred to the Appropriations Committee for further consideration.
Because AB 52 would change the statutory framework for CDFA advisory bodies, supporters argued the bill narrows the chance that future administrations could dissolve or sideline the committees. Opponents did not appear at the hearing.
The committee recorded the bill as moved out to Appropriations; a final floor or policy committee vote is the next procedural step.
