Six candidates running to be California’s next governor said last week during a televised forum in Fresno that if elected, they would roll back regulations that have made it challenging to farm in the state.
Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat and former mayor of Los Angeles, referred to a study from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, that found the cost to California lettuce growers of complying with the state’s environmental, labor and food safety regulations increased by more than 1,300% from 2006 to 2024. “That’s not sustainable,” Villaraigosa said. “There actually is agreement that things are broken in Sacramento.”
The forum, which was hosted by the California Farm Bureau and more than two dozen other agricultural groups, kicked off the final stretch of campaigning ahead of a June 2 primary election that will determine which two candidates advance to the general election in November. “We found it to be a critical time to highlight to candidates that agriculture and our rural counties are important,” California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass said.
