Ag Coalition Applauds Lawmakers and Newsom Administration for Grant Program to Offset Losses of Small Businesses in California’s Farm Economy
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — The California legislature today approved Assembly Bill 157 which creates a $75-million drought grant program to provide relief to many small agricultural businesses that support production agriculture, according to Western Plant Health (WPH).
AB 157 targets agricultural businesses that have experienced drought related losses of at least 30 percent in 2022. The program offers grants of up to $100,000 to qualified businesses with fewer than 100 employees. It is open to dryers, mills, ag suppliers, ag aircraft, ag service providers, ag trucking and small or socially disadvantaged farmers.
“This is a groundbreaking measure that recognizes the devastating impact of drought on a wide range of small but vital businesses in California’s agricultural sector,” said Renee Pinel, President & CEO of WPH, one of the bill’s sponsors. “We greatly appreciate this bi-partisan solution – it offers genuine relief to businesses that have been hard hit by the drought.
“We look forward to this bill being signed into law by Governor Newsom, who first initiated funding for this program in his May budget proposal,” said Pinel. “In addition to thanking the Governor for his support we would also like to recognize the efforts of California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Karen Ross, and CDFA Undersecretary Christine Birdsong for their leadership on this program, as well as members of the legislature for recognizing the importance of this issue by passing AB 157.”
In addition to WPH, the AB 157 coalition included the California Rice Commission, California Warehouse Association, California Agricultural Aircraft Association, California Tomato Growers, Ag Council of California, and Northern California Water Association.
Media Contact
Stevan Allen, Western Plant Health, 1 916-718-2999, stevan@allenstrategic.com
SOURCE Western Plant Health
Source link
The content is by PR Newswire. Headlines of Today Media is not responsible for the content provided or any links related to this content. Headlines of Today Media is not responsible for the correctness, topicality or the quality of the content.
