- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
UC ANR held its annual advocacy day on April 10, meeting with state legislators to build awareness of how Californians are benefiting from its work across the state. The group, led by Vice President Glenda Humiston and Associate Vice President Brent Hales, met with Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Esmeralda Soria, Assemblymembers Vince Fong and Juan Alanis, and Senators John Laird, Bill Dodd and Anna Caballero.
They also met with the staff of President pro Tempore Mike McGuire, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Senators Monica Limón, Steve Padilla, Roger Niello and Josh Becker, and Assemblymembers Bill Essayli, Cottie Petrie-Norris, Jesse Gabriel, Damon Connolly and Steve Bennett.
This year, Anne Megaro, government and community relations director, and Sheron Violini, associate director government and community relations, added a midday coffee break to showcase UC ANR's wildfire resiliency research and outreachand offer resources for legislative offices to share with their constituents in May, which is Wildfire Preparedness Month. Assemblymember Vince Fong sponsored the room in the Capitol for the briefing. Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Fire Network director, spoke about the importance of prescribed burns and forest management practices and associated job opportunities. Missy Gable, director of UC Master Gardener Program, described how UC ANR is helping communities become more resilient and prepared.
“Our knowledge and prepared outreach materials could be used by offices to help their constituents mitigate wildfire risk,” said Violini. “We garnered great interest from representatives of several caucuses and offices and we are already working with them to share information.”
In meetings with legislators and their staff, the UC ANR representatives shared a one-pager that included the new Luna UCR avocado, reducing food insecurity, and pest management in urban communities as well as on farms.
Humiston and Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer, discussed the merits of CropManage, an app used by growers to reduce water and fertilizer inputs while harvesting the same crop yields. The decision-support tool developed by Michael Cahn, UCCE irrigation and water resources advisor, will be showcased at the UC Innovation Fair at the state Capitol on May 8.
Cindy Chen, UC Cooperative Extension woody biomass and forest products advisor in the Central Sierra, and Haris Gilani UCCE biomass and bioenergy advisor in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, described UC ANR's role in ARCHES, California's initiative to accelerate renewable hydrogen projects and the necessary infrastructure. The scientists are identifying ways to use biomass to provide energy and consumer products while creating job opportunities in rural areas.
To continue the learning relationship, they invited the legislators and staff to attend UC ANR events in their respective districts.
- Author: Lara Schröder
Representatives of UCANR visited the legislative building in Sacramento for UCANR Advocacy Day on April 18 and engaged with members of the Legislature and staff to advocate for UC's budget priorities. Attendees included Glenda Humiston, vice president; Deanne Meyer, interim associate vice president; Anne Megaro, director of government and community relations;Sheron Violini, associate director of government and community relations; and Lara Schröder, graduate student assistant. They were joined by UC Cooperative Extension advisors, statewide program representatives and two 4-H youth State Ambassadors .
The UC ANR team visited 16 legislative offices and were honored to meet directly with Assemblymember Vince Fong and Senator John Laird.
UC ANR representatives provided insights into how UC ANR delivers applicable research tools and knowledge and adds value to local communities. Zheng Wang, UCCE vegetable crops advisor, shared how farmers in Stanislaus County have been able to increase their profits by growing grafted watermelons using the same amount of water for a greater yield, while Susie Kocher, forestry and natural resources advisor, talked about her workshops for small forest landowners to prevent catastrophic wildfires and to help recover after a wildfire. 4-H State Ambassadors Megna and Sruthi told their stories of how the youth development leadership program has improved their personal skills and also how they engage with low-income schools and introduce STEM and agriculture to elementary school students.
Amira Resnick, statewide director of community nutrition and health, Stephanie Mar, associate organic waste management advisor, and Hanif Houston, associate director of communications and marketing for The VINE, also shared success stories and how UC ANR has made significant progress within the past year.
Resnick and Mar explained how UC ANR's nutrition and organic waste management programs teach Californians about nutrient dense foods, food preservation and composting. Houston highlighted how robots and drones play an important role in agriculture production. The UC ANR representatives also invited the legislators and staff to visit UC ANR's Elkus Ranch Environmental Education Center and UC ANR Research and Extension Centers in members' districts.
This valuable work is achieved through supportive state funding. These visits underlined the importance of the 5% base budget increase as currently proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom for the upcoming fiscal year and asked staffers and members to support the proposal.
A special highlight of the day was a short tour of the State Capitol. Thanks to Sheron Violini, the group viewed the governors' portraits, peeked into the Senate Floor and learned the history of the Reagan statue.
Several follow-up opportunities stemmed from these meetings, and Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris is already planning to visit South Coast REC, and Assemblymember Vince Fong doesn't want to wait for the December citrus tasting to visit Lindcove REC. The government and community relations team is looking forward to extending future invitations for members to visit UC facilities, and especially to a forest management and prescribed burning tour at the Blodgett Forest Research Station.
The UC ANR representatives also met with legislative staff for Senators Josh Becker, Nancy Skinner, Dave Min, Marie Alvarado-Gil, Anna Caballero, Melissa Hurtado and Steve Padilla, and Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Carlos Villapudua, Robert Rivas, Luz Rivas and Juan Alanis.
- Author: Christina Becker
County report templates populated with 2021 data are available on the Government Relations templates web page. Check out examples of how some UCCE offices use the templates. These reports highlight key metrics and measured outcomes captured in UC ANR program information systems.
Use of the data is encouraged to help with the following:
- Advocacy - share with county government officials/staffers
- Accountability - can help meet local reporting requirements
- Communications - build understanding and support for UCCE programs
“These reports are fantastic – they are colorful, rich with imagery and fun to read. Most importantly, the content is easy to absorb by using infographics and photos,” said Anne Megaro, government and community relations director.
For help, please contact Christina Becker in UC ANR Program Planning and Evaluation at christina.becker@ucop.edu. There is also a recorded training at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--hQ55hLqpk.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Governor Newsom signed the first budget bill (SB 154) on June 27, and the second budget bill (AB 178) June 30. Together, these bills fund the core of the state budget. Provisions include:
- 5% increase for UC ANR's budget (This allows UC ANR to adjust employee salaries effective July 1, 2022, as described in the May 20 UC ANR Update.)
- $2.4 million in one-time funds for Nutrition Policy Institute to evaluate
- “School Meals for All”
- $125 million in one-time funds for UC deferred maintenance, seismic mitigation and energy efficiency projects.
- $185 million in one-time funds to support UC climate change research
“The state budget process is not finished and we expect several Budget Trailer Bills to be taken up in August after the Legislature returns from Summer Recess. Stay tuned!” said Anne Megaro, director of government relations.
See President Drake's comments about the state budget at https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-statement-2022-23-california-budget-0.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Governor Newsom released his May Revision budget proposal for 2022-23. Together with the funding proposed in the governor's January budget, the governor is proposing a total of $4.9 billion for the University of California. This total allocation represents a combined increase of $322.5 million, or 8.0%, in ongoing funding to the University's budget over 2021-22 levels, plus $607.9 million in one-time General Fund appropriations. The governor also announced a compact agreement between the governor and the university that proposes funding levels and articulates policy goals for the next five years.
The proposal includes $2 million to support UC fire advisors, with a similar level of support intended in 2023-24.
See the UC Office of the President's story and read President Drake's statement to learn more.
"I encourage people to invite members for tours, site visits and events," said Anne Megaro, director of government and community relations.
"Summer break is coming and they'll be in their districts in July (State Legislature) and August (Congress). Just this past week we had Senator Dianne Feinstein's staff meet with Lenya Quinn-Davidson and Matthew Shapero to learn about prescribed burns."
