On the Record: Juan Alanis talks serving on legislative committees

Assembly Member Juan Alanis, R-Modesto, represents District 22 in the California State Assembly. The district encompasses parts of Merced and Stanislaus counties. Alanis spoke with Ag Alert^® last week by phone. The below conversation was edited for length and clarity.

What personal connections do you have to agriculture? It was a big part of my family growing up. My grandparents lived in migrant camps. They made their way up from Mexico to Southern California to Northern California—up to where we live now in Riverbank, which was where their last migrant camp was. My dad grew up out in the fields. I was brought to the field to remember where I came from and learn what hard work is all about. 

I know my dad and my grandparents picked peaches and apricots. My grandpa used to can a lot of fruit. I have fond memories of a room that looked like it was full of gold, but it was jars and jars of nectarines and peaches. I learned early on not to pick peaches without long sleeves on. You get really itchy from all the fuzz. 

I really love agriculture. It’s a big part of California and hopefully it will be our
future. I want to do the best I can to provide for farmers and educate others about where our food comes from.

You hold important positions as vice chair of the Assembly Agriculture, Natural Resources and Public Safety committees. You also represent an agriculture-rich part of the state. What are your priorities for this year, especially on issues that affect agriculture? I’ll be focusing mostly on water and supporting farmers trying to comply with state regulations. I introduced Assembly Bill 430 last month. It would bring transparency to water users by requiring the State Water Resources Control Board to release a report on the economic and environmental impacts of water curtailments. 

What role do legislative committees play in making or shaping state policies? Committees provide a space to hold discussions on issues. We try to engage in bipartisan conversations, see what questions come up and hopefully find some solutions. The committee is where we should be discussing all the technical, down-and-dirty kind of questions. 

In the Agriculture Committee, for example, to be effective, we try to include farmers, environmentalists and local communities, to raise all the questions that should be asked. It also gives me an opportunity to share my own perspectives or experiences with my colleagues. 

Ultimately, we decide if a bill should pass through the committee and move forward either to another committee or to the floor for a vote.

Can constituents or organizations play a role in the committees’ process? Yes. That is really the time for them to come and shine. Constituents and organizations can communicate their concerns or questions either to my office prior to a committee hearing or bring them to the committee. Their
engagement with the committee process is very important. Without their feedback, members on the committees, whether in the state Senate or Assembly, can’t really make an effective vote. Public testimony about how constituents may be affected can have a huge impact on how the members view bills.

These are challenging times for California agriculture. What actions should the Legislature take to ensure we continue to be the No. 1 agricultural state in the country?  We need to support manufacturers working to advance ag tech. At the World Ag Expo, I saw a lot of autonomous vehicles there, and other technology that will make things better for farmers and laborers, and better for the environment. There are a lot of advancements. 

We need to make sure lawmakers are keeping up with them to ensure there is a clear path for farmers to use them. Currently, Cal/OSHA regulations do not allow farmers to use autonomous vehicles. That’s something I think we need to work on.

What specific challenges do farmers in your district face? We have a lot of small farms. Obviously, it’s nothing new that farmers have been struggling with limited water access. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is something that has been hurting a lot, and there have been more conversations about it this year.

What are your thoughts on challenges that rural communities in California face today? For small businesses, dealing with burdensome regulations can be really difficult. Labor is another big thing. My colleagues thought they were helping the ag community by giving them overtime after a certain amount of hours. What they didn’t understand is unlike an eight-to-five job, we have something called a harvest. 

Water is probably the biggest thing. We need to make sure we are making the infrastructure and water storage that we need. I think that’s the biggest challenge.

How can California better manage its water resources? The state is so big, and we have diverse regions with different priorities. We need to expand storage and encourage more efficient irrigation technologies. Why have we not spent money taxpayers already approved for projects? So, we need to hold their feet to the fire sometimes. And the committees need to hear from people about what it’s doing to families and communities.

How can the state better manage its forests to mitigate wildfire risks? By supporting our firefighting agencies and policies to expand brush clearing. We need to keep our forests healthy. We need to take clues from those that were in California years and years and years before us—who would set fires in their forests to keep them smaller so they wouldn’t become a bigger problem. 

We should bring logging back, so that we’re not only producing our own lumber but also reducing wildfire fuels. That will help mitigate wildfire risks while also creating jobs and boosting the economy.