California's Overtime Law Not Working and USDA Warns of Job Cuts
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**In 2023, UC-Berkeley, assistant professor Alexandra Hill published research showing California’s 2016 agricultural overtime law had not achieved its goal of increasing earnings for farmworkers.
She found that Assembly Bill 1066 caused workers to lose hours and pay as farmers shortened the workweek to balance their wage bills.
Hill says farmworkers have earned roughly $100 less per week on average than they would have without AB 1066.
**USDA has warned its 100,000-plus employees that major staff cuts are coming, offices closed, and people will be forced to relocate to keep their jobs.
The President's executive order in February implementing the DOGE Initiative warned of more cuts to come.
While final plans are still under development, USDA aims to be transparent about what employees can expect.
USDA employees would get up to six months’ severance pay if they choose to quit.
**The House Ag Committee held a committee hearing recently and made it clear that Congress must reassert the connection between receiving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP benefits, and securing employment and long-term independence.
Despite repeated claims from Democrats that most SNAP recipients work, House Ag Republicans say the data tells a different story.
According to USDA’s own numbers, only 28% of nondisabled, childless adults aged 18–54 are employed while receiving benefits.
