California governor Gavin Newsom submitted his 2019-20 “California for All” budget proposal to the Legislature today – a fiscal blueprint that builds a strong financial foundation by investing an unprecedented $13.6 billion in budget resiliency and paying down unfunded pension liabilities
The total proposed state budget is $209 billion. For CDFA, the budget would be $565.9 million. Here are the highlights:
Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Resources – This proposal requests $2.5 million and 65 positions to build a dedicated Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Division within CDFA to enhance Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) and Huanglongbing (HLB) detection, suppression, and eradication activities throughout the state. HLB is the most devastating of all citrus diseases. A dedicated Citrus Division will allow CDFA to better handle the sudden and unexpected increase in HLB detections in 2017 and 2018, and the establishment of ACP in citrus growing regions. This will help preserve California’s $3.4 billion citrus industry and protect California’s economy.
Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation – A request for $18 million for the implementation of conservation management techniques to improve soil health, sequester carbon, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on California’s farmlands and ranchlands through CDFA’s Healthy Soils grant program.
Also, $25 million is proposed for for the reduction of methane through CDFA’s Dairy Digester and Alternative Manure Management grant programs.
Both of these items would be funded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Biodiversity Initiative –This proposal requests $4.22 million and eight positions to initiate planning and coordination of the workload associated with the “California Biodiversity Initiative – a Road Map for Protecting the State’s Natural Heritage.” This proposal also requests funding to restart CDFA’s noxious weed management program.
The goals of this proposal include establishing the California Biodiversity Initiative working group to be co-chaired by the Director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture; accelerating and streamlining prevention,detection, and management of invasive species and pests; expanding seed and germplasm banking as a hedge against permanent loss of native plant biodiversity; and establishing a soil carbon map of California.
Industrial Hemp –A request for six positions for development, enforcement, and administration of the Industrial Hemp Program. CDFA anticipates registrations to begin in Spring 2019 with approximately 300 registrants and enforcement activities in all 58 counties in the first year, and 1,000 registrations by FY 2020-21.
Turlock Animal Health and Food Safety Lab – This proposes $3.946 million for the Performance Criteria Phase of the design-build project to build a new full-service California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHFS) facility in the northern San Joaquin Valley to replace the existing, obsolete CAHFS Turlock laboratory. The new work site will be multifunctional, serving as a regional incident command post for emergency animal disease and food safety outbreaks, directly benefiting animal agriculture through rapid detection and disease eradication response.
CDFA’s major revenue sources (in millions):
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Agriculture Fund (AF) | 179.4 |
| Federal Fund | 107.7 |
| General Fund (GF) | 116.2 |
| Cannabis Control Fund | 43.7 |
| Reimbursements | 37.5 |
| CA Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access Fund | 8.1 |
| Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund | 43 |
| Other Funds[1] | 26.4 |
| General Fund, Capital Outlay | 3.9 |
[1] Other funds include: Motor Vehicle Account, California Agricultural Export Promotion Account, Fair and Exposition Account, Drainage Management Subaccount, Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund, Pierces Disease Management Account, Antiterrorism Fund, Specialized License Plate Fund, Cost of Implementation Account, and Prevention of Animal Homelessness and Cruelty Fund.