Gov. Jerry Brown’s $122.5 billion initial state spending plan for 2017-18 calls for a slight boost for its main agriculture agency to fund efforts to regulate marijuana, fight plant pests and manage antibiotics in livestock.
Brown would provide $284.4 million to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, up from its $253.9 million in the current budget, and add nearly 300 new positions for a total of 1,752.1 full-time-equivalent employees, according to his Jan. 10 proposal. The CDFA’s overall budget would be $411.5 million, down slightly from the $414.5 million allocated to the agency in the 2016-17 ledger. Federal funds and fee programs also contribute to the CDFA’s finances.
The governor’s proposal would include nearly $22.4 million in new spending to regulate cannabis production, which voters legalized for non-medical uses in November, and about $2 million apiece to implement the Produce Safety Rule and new antibiotics controls. Read More