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A bill to establish a new wage floor for some California farmworkers is intensifying a larger debate over the state’s growing dependence on H-2A guestworkers, with labor advocates arguing the program depresses wages and agricultural groups countering that farms simply cannot find enough domestic labor.
Assembly Bill 2646 by Asm. Maggy Krell, D-Sacramento, would require a minimum wage of $19.75 an hour for certain agricultural employees beginning in 2027, with annual increases tied to the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.
Though the bill does not explicitly mention the federal H-2A guestworker program, opponents and supporters alike see it as targeting the rapidly expanding use of temporary foreign agricultural labor.
Asm. Maggie Krell (office photo)Krell framed the measure as a response to poverty and workplace abuses among farmworkers in the nation’s leading agricultural economy.
“It is a $60 billion industry. We produce more fruits and vegetables in agriculture than anywhere in the world,” Krell told lawmakers. “And we do it on the backs of our farmworkers, most of whom are living in poverty.”
The bill would apply to “approved agricultural employees,” defined as temporary or seasonal out-of-state workers brought in through an approved labor application process, along with “corresponding employees” performing substantially similar work for the same employer in the same county.
Supporters argue the measure is necessary because farmworkers continue to experience wage theft, low annual earnings and unsafe conditions.
A University of California, Merced, farmworker health study finds that 19% of surveyed farmworkers reported experiencing wage theft and 36% said they would not be willing to report workplace violations. Krell also cites a recent $6 million settlement the California Labor Commissioner’s Office secured in February involving more than 10,000 farmworkers over alleged wage and hour violations.
Ignacia Hernandez, a Yolo County farmworker who testified in support of the bill, described juggling multiple jobs while struggling to support her family.
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“My rent is $2,560 a month and my take-home pay is just $500 a week after taxes,” said Hernandez. “Sometimes I go to the food bank, and I share an apartment with another family just to survive.”
Hernandez said she also works a second job at a restaurant while helping support two children in college.
“There are times where I have to choose between helping my son and buying the medication I need for my chronic pain,” she said.
The bill is sponsored by United Farm Workers, which argues California has already established precedent for industry-specific wage standards through laws affecting fast-food and healthcare workers. Yet a recent analysis by UC Santa Cruz researchers shows California’s $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers has increased labor costs for businesses by about 25%.
H-2A debate spills into Capitol fight
The fight over AB 2646 has become intertwined with a broader public debate over the H-2A guestworker program.
In a recent Los Angeles Times opinion piece, UC Santa Barbara Community Labor Center researcher Matt Kinsella-Walsh argues growers are increasingly relying on guestworkers while local farmworkers struggle with rising living costs and stagnant wages. He described AB 2646 as an “essential” response to downward pressure on farm labor wages.
Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia responded in a sharply worded rebuttal on LinkedIn, accusing Kinsella-Walsh of misrepresenting both the H-2A program and the economics of farm labor. Puglia argues the column is “painting [the program] as a driver of lower wages, worker abuse and economic harm to local communities” and that it is “an exercise in advocacy and is not grounded in fact.”
Puglia specifically disputed claims that H-2A workers could effectively earn below California’s minimum wage after housing deductions. He wrote that employers must pay either the federal Adverse Effect Wage Rate or the state minimum wage, whichever is higher.
He also rejected the notion that growers are bypassing local workers in favor of foreign labor.
“California farmers are not choosing between local and foreign workers,” Puglia wrote. “They are choosing between harvesting crops or leaving them in the field.”
Citing federal recruitment data, Puglia said more than 415,000 farmworker jobs were advertised nationwide in fiscal year 2025 at nearly $20 an hour, yet only 182 domestic applicants applied.
Matthew Allen, vice president of state government affairs at Western Growers, echoed those arguments at the hearing, saying the H-2A program exists because growers cannot secure enough domestic labor.
Andrea Lynch (CalChamber photo)“The H-2A program is not designed or intended to replace the domestic workforce,” said Allen. “It offers temporary assistance in filling labor gaps that exist at varying levels each year.”
Allen warned the bill “would make it ever more difficult for us to maintain a viable farm economy in California.”
Industry warns of rising costs and competitiveness pressures
Agricultural groups argue the proposal would further strain an industry already grappling with rising labor expenses, overtime mandates, water shortages and mounting regulations.
Andrea Lynch, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce, said the proposal could increase annual farm labor costs by between $256 million and $736 million statewide.
“Tying ag wages to the index artificially inflates costs every year regardless of how farms are actually performing,” said Lynch.
Puglia expanded on those concerns, arguing that higher labor mandates would ultimately “show up in the form of higher food prices, fewer farms, and a steady shift by big box and grocery chains to buy fresh produce from foreign countries at far lower cost.”
The opposition coalition includes more than two dozen agricultural associations.
The bill is also raising concerns with the state’s fiscal gatekeepers, as it awaits a critical vote this week in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The Department of Industrial Relations anticipates a 50% increase in labor violation reports in agriculture if the measure becomes law, with 15% of those triggering new investigations and wage claim cases. That would lead to new ongoing costs for the department as the state tries to reign in a multiyear budget deficit.
Krell, meanwhile, acknowledged the industry opposition but signaled little willingness to retreat.
“This seems like one of those issues where we're going to just have to agree to disagree about the needs of these vulnerable workers,” she said.
