The State Capitol

Session two was a look at the State Legislation and political process. I found it very interesting how it worked. After unpacking my bags I walked to The Broiler where we were going to meet Gary Conover, a lobbyist for Western United Dairymen. As a group we visited with him and a political veteran Jim Collin, and learned about the lobbyists role and Mr. Collin’s role as the Committee Consultant. Gary gave us a review of what was planned for the next day and the different bills that we would be able to watch in action.
Early the next morning we started in the Capital, with a tour of the buildings. I had never been inside so it was amazing to see how nice it was. Kathy Potopaulos gave the tour. I learned that the Capital was constructed when Abraham Lincoln was President. Indeed, it was a very old building. We walked to the assembly room where there are 80 assembly men or women. There needs to be a simple majority to pass a bill.  Next we walked to the Senate where there are 40 Senators. Inside the Senate room, the voting is non-electronic which was interesting. A bill can start in either house and a session always starts with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. From there we walked to the State Park outside. We viewed many different plants and trees that had been given as gifts to the State from Foreign Governments. There are a total of 2,000 different plants and trees there. I really enjoyed seeing the non native plants that the world had to offer. While outside we also witnessed a large group of protestors, this group was bigger than normal, protesting for the budget completion.
Our first introduction was to Senator Anthony Cannella, who is the Chair of the Senate Ag Committee. We talked for a short minute, for we could meet with him again the following day. Assembly woman, Connie Conway, was intriguing to talk to. Her son has a large dairy in Tulare, so she was very informative about all of the latest dairy issues. Next we visited with David Valadao from Hanford, who has two dairies in Tipton. David has big plans for his future; he was looking to get elected to Congress in Washington, D.C. to represent dairies and our interests on a bigger scale. Assembly woman Fiona Ma was next; she is a Democrat from San Francisco with an open mind and common sense towards the Agriculture of California. The Berryhill brothers were up next. They both realized both houses need to eliminate the Bipartisanship and agree that everyone needs to work together to tackle the tough issues. Bill Berryhill being a farmer understands the need to get our water resources on track. He proposed a plan to build a pipeline to move water from the Delta to a reservoir in Las Vegueros for storage. I agree that is an issue that needs to be looked at before we have major problems. In Summary this trip was very interesting and beneficial for all of us! 

David deWit, California Dairy Farmer