California to receive 327,000 doses of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine in December [San Francisco Chronicle]
California will receive 327,000 doses of the first coronavirus vaccine in mid-December, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a news briefing Monday. … The 327,000 doses will go to health care workers, but the state’s vaccine committee is still determining which health care workers will go first, Newsom said. … After health care workers, the next groups likely will be residents of skilled-nursing facilities and essential workers, such as people who work in agriculture, utilities and transportation.
Who gets the COVID-19 vaccine first in Fresno? Pressure mounts to focus on this group [Fresno Bee]
Following a brutal summer where California’s agricultural workforce faced harsh working conditions from wildfire smoke, a blistering heatwave, and coronavirus infections, leaders in the central San Joaquin Valley are pushing for farmworkers to be among the first recipients of a COVID-19 vaccination. … The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is slated to vote on which populations would qualify for a vaccine Tuesday.
https://www.fresnobee.com/article247434215.html
Farmworkers’ union sues feds over wage freeze [Courthouse News Service]
The nation’s largest agricultural union is suing the Department of Labor for imposing a two-year wage freeze on farm laborers, who are already among the lowest paid workers in the United States. The new rule published by the Department of Labor on Nov. 5 locks in at 2019 levels the minimum wage employers must pay foreign agricultural workers with H-2A visas, known as the Adverse Effect Wage Rate. … In a federal lawsuit Monday, the United Farm Workers said the rule not only keeps wages artificially low for foreign guest workers but will also cause U.S. farmworkers’ wages to stagnate.
https://www.courthousenews.com/farmworkers-union-sues-feds-over-wage-freeze/
Is California heading for a multi-year drought? The odds aren’t in our favor, experts say [Capital Public Radio, Sacramento]
With no rain in the forecast for the rest of 2020 — thanks to a La Niña weather pattern pushing storms north of the state — the probability of California entering a multi-year drought is increasing. … An autumn with little rain and a forecast for a dry December is reminding weather and climate experts of the patterns that took place before last year’s mild winter. … California leaders begin to worry once there are two years of drought conditions, because the system is designed to weather three years of drought.
California got $1.3 billion in wildfire relief. Victims have received nothing, prompting outrage [Los Angeles Times]
… California has received more than $1.3 billion in federal aid to rebuild after the 2017 wine country wildfires, the 2018 Camp fire in Butte County and other disasters from those years. But disaster-affected homeowners and renters have yet to receive a single penny. The cause: years-long federal and state bureaucratic delays. … Indeed, massive delays have beset disaster relief measures across the country.
How California wine business property transfer rules will change in 2021 [North Bay Business Journal]
Starting in mid-February law changes will tighten rules which currently allow parents to transfer California real estate to the next generation without triggering reassessment. This is stimulating interest in year-end transfers of wineries and vineyards within families. … Proposition 19 allows homeowners over 55, disabled, or wildfire/disaster victims to transfer primary residence’s tax base to replacement residence, changes taxation of family-property transfers and establishes fire protection services fund.
Ag Today is distributed by the California Farm Bureau Marketing/Communications Division to county Farm Bureaus, California Farm Bureau directors and staff, for information purposes only; stories may not be republished without permission. Some story links may require site registration. Opinions expressed in stories, commentaries or editorials included in Ag Today do not necessarily represent the views of the California Farm Bureau. To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this message and please provide your name and email address. For more information about Ag Today, contact 916-561-5550 or news@cfbf.com.
