Gubernatorial debate. (Photo: Hector Barajas)
Gubernatorial Rivals Agree: California Got This Farmworker Law Wrong
Farmworkers can work longer hours during peak seasons, not as a loophole, but as a lifeline
By Hector Barajas, April 2, 2026 6:30 am
Political agreement is rare. What happened this week at Fresno State demands attention.
On April 1, 2026, Republican and Democratic candidates for governor shared the stage and acknowledged a hard truth: California’s elected leaders got it wrong. The Legislature and the Governor enacted a law that is now hurting the very farmworkers it was supposed to help.
That kind of consensus is unusual. It signals something undeniable. The damage is real, measurable, and no longer defensible.
Assembly Bill 1066, backed by the Assembly Bill 1066,, was presented as a way to increase wages by changing how overtime is calculated in agriculture.
Farmers and farmworkers warned of what would happen. They asked the state to reconsider. Those warnings were ignored. Once the law took effect, the outcome was exactly what they had feared.
A UC Berkeley study confirmed it: the law “is not benefiting the workers it intended to protect.” Farmworkers’ take-home pay dropped by about 30 percent. Hours were cut. Work became less available. Paychecks shrank.
The individuals and organizations who pushed for AB 1066 misunderstood the nature of the work.
Agriculture does not follow a fixed schedule. Crops don’t wait for an eight-hour workday. Harvests occur when they are ready, driven by weather, timing, and risk. When a crop is ready, every hour counts. When it isn’t, there might be no work at all.
For generations, California understood that reality. Farmworkers can work longer hours during peak seasons, not as a loophole, but as a lifeline. Those weeks of intense work made it possible to earn enough to support their families through the rest of the year.
AB 1066 broke that system.
The consequences are real and tangible. They show up in kitchens and on bills. Families are choosing what to delay and what to go without. Rent, groceries, utilities, and medical care. Workers are earning less when they need to earn the most.
That is why the moment at Fresno State matters.
When leaders from both parties agree that a policy has failed, the question is no longer who supported it. The real question is whether anyone is willing to fix it.
Other states faced the same issue and responded with more care. Oregon and New York combined overtime changes with tax credits to protect workers’ income and keep jobs safe. California did not. Farmworkers here are paying the price for that choice.
There is no reason to allow this to go on. Each delay increases the damage.
The responsibility clearly rests with the Legislature and the Governor. They made this decision and have the power to correct it. Admitting a mistake isn’t a weakness; refusing to fix it is.
The path forward isn’t complicated. Restoring hours, safeguarding earnings, and aligning policy with the realities of agricultural work are essential.
Farmworkers are not requesting new promises. They are urging the state to fulfill its commitments.
- Gubernatorial Rivals Agree: California Got This Farmworker Law Wrong - April 2, 2026
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Government Involvement in food harvesting and production is blatantly dangerous; not only to supply but quality also.
Tour California’s agricultural regions and witness first hand the food production and harvesting: You’ll wonder how it is we acquire produce as inexpensively as we do.
Government involvement in food harvesting and production is blatantly dangerous? No doubt Newsom’s troll Eyeinthesky would like to see minor children working in the fields to be exploited and abused?
Touring California’s agricultural areas, one would see there has been dramatic success in mechanizing processing many crops like tomatoes, where 95% of the processing tomato crop is now harvested mechanically. Advanced robotics, including 3D imaging and hydraulic arms capable of mimicking human touch, are being used to pick premium wine grapes and handle fragile produce like lettuce.
In the early 90s, my husband and I were on a farm-oriented tour in Washington State and Alaska. We visited a bulb farm in Washington State, where we were told that up until the nuts in Washington, DC decided that children doing farmwork was somehow cruel, they had children picking up the bulbs after the soil was turned, exposing them. The farmers had to invent a machine to do that work, which cost just the same as paying the children to do it. As he said, “Now those kids are standing on street corners getting in trouble”, instead of earning spending money. I’m certain that at least some of that money was going to clothing and other expenses. I know many adults in Oregon, who as kids, picked berries, beans, and other crops, and paid for their own clothing. My husband grew up on a farm and did all kinds of farmwork, which taught him the value of working for something; he in turn taught our children that value. Taking that away from children is just another way for the evil Dims to make them dependant on government.
This is just another instance where Democrats in this state got their hands on it and destroyed it. I bet when Assembly bill 1066 passed, there was even a lot of virtue signaling going on. Sad, because once it’s passed and law. It never goes away or gets changed.