CALIFORNIA - The efforts of Western Growers (WG) and its business community partners to reform the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) are proving to be successful. In a recent industry update, Western Growers announced new developments in its push toward PAGA reform.

“For months, the Fix PAGA coalition has been in discussions with the Newsom Administration and labor lobbyists,” Western Growers Chief Executive Officer Dave Puglia wrote in an announcement yesterday, June 18. “Today, legislation capturing that agreement was introduced. The goal is to secure its passage, and the Governor’s signature, before the end of the day, June 27, which is the deadline to withdraw our qualified initiative from the November ballot.”

To support WG’s efforts to reform the PAGA, 130 members contributed $1.4 million to the organization’s successful ballot qualification campaign in 2022.

As the organization shared in its release, the coalition believes that these changes will significantly reduce both the number and severity of PAGA cases.

“Make no mistake, this is a win for California—for both employers and the workers we support,” Puglia continued. “This deal was the result of an extraordinary collaboration between WG and our Fix PAGA coalition partners—in particular, our original allies who were with us since the beginning of the 2022 ballot qualification campaign: the California New Car Dealers Association, California Chamber of Commerce, and California Restaurant Association. This process proves what is possible when the California business community links arms—and checkbooks—in support of smarter public policy.”

Puglia also applauded the hard work of his team, including Matthew Allen, who pushed hard alongside our coalition partner lobbyists to elevate PAGA as one of the biggest issues in the Capitol, and Jason Resnick, who worked with a small team of Fix PAGA Coalition lawyers to draft, edit, analyze, and criticize a high volume of legislative text over the last few weeks as negotiations went into high gear.

Click here to access a summary of changes to the existing PAGA statute.

ANUK will continue to report as more developments come to light.