California lawmakers address housing shortage for wine workers

Californian lawmakers have called for more state help to solve the workers’ housing shortage that is currently blighting the state’s wine industry.

Vineyards in California’s Napa Valley (Photo: Wiki)

Speakers at a joint-hearing of the Assembly Select Committee on Wine and the Senate Select Committee on California’s Wine Industry last week called for a regular funding source from the state so that the wine industry can solve the problem of housing shortages without resorting to yearly top-ups, according to the Napa Valley Register.

California State Assembly member Cecilia Aguifar-Curry, who chairs the Assembly Select Committee on Wine, argued that the number one topic for the farming community was farmworkers’ housing.

Steven Moulds, president of the Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation, said housing for workers was a critical issue, Wine-Searcher reported, and the level of skill in the industry had increased over the last twenty years as farming had changed.

The number of migrant workers working in the wine industry has also fallen by around 40% in the last few years, according to Kathryn Amann, from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the Napa Valley Register said, and the number of women workers in the industry has also increased. Both these factors have led to an increased the need for houses for permanent workers and the increase of publicly-privately funded farmworker housing centres that can accommodate women and families in addition to those that already cater for single men.

Southern California lawmaker Blanca Rubio pointed out that that it was important that legislators from the south of the state sat on wine industry committees in order to fully understand the impact of laws they rule on, particularly where funding was involved.

Sustainability

The hearing also discussed the importance of sustainability in California’s wine industry, and the strides that have already been made in this area. It highlighted examples such as the minimisation of erosion into the Napa River, the lowering of greenhouse gases, the reduced use of groundwater by wineries, and the lowered use of cars on the state’s country roads.

Michelle Novi of Napa Valley Vintners said grant funding has been “critical” to the growth and success of sustainability programmes such as its certification programme, Napa Green, the Napa Valley Register reported.

The meeting was chaired by California State Assembly member Cecilia Aguifar-Curry and Napa Valley Senators Bill Dodd and Senator Mike McGuire of Healdsburg.

McGuire praised the industry in being a proactive leader in the agricultural sector.