California has long been the global leader in enacting the world’s most ambitious climate policies, including landmark legislation to establish California’s cap-and-trade program, a first-in-nation corporate climate disclosure law, and aspiring legislation requiring that all retrial electricity be sourced from zero-carbon resources by 2045. Samson Advisors is at the forefront of nearly all major climate negotiations on behalf of some of the world’s largest corporations, clean tech startups focusing on carbon dioxide removal, and producers of zero carbon materials.
While often lumped together with climate policy, California energy policy is a separate and distinct policy area in California with its own suite of legislative proposals every year, ranging from grid reliability, transmission planning, procurement practices, wildfire preparedness, energy efficiency standards, to grid regionalization. Samson Advisors’ vast experience working in the trenches of energy policy for publicly owned electric utilities, renewable energy developers, and energy efficiency materials suppliers makes it one of the most sought-after firms in this space.
California consumer product and labeling laws have nationwide impact because they apply to all products sold in California, regardless of where they are manufactured. Samson Advisors is regarded as the premier lobbying firm in Sacramento for consumer product issues. We have represented some of the largest consumer product manufacturers and materials suppliers in the world on the most consequential proposals, including legislation requiring the disclosure of ingredients in cleaning and cosmetics, legislation establishing a regulatory framework for use of microplastics, and regulations related to warning requirements for coffee under California’s Proposition 65.
In 2022, Governor Newsom signed into law the world’s most comprehensive and stringent plastic waste reduction and recycling legislation. SB 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, will require packaging producers to work through a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) to “source reduce” plastic and ensure their packaging materials meet certain recyclability rates. Samson Advisors was one of the leading industry negotiators of this historic legislation and continues to help companies engage in regulatory implementation at CalRecycle.
As the hub for technology and innovation, the California Legislature is on the forefront of the intersection between policy and technology. California is home to the landmark California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and will continue to lead the way on emerging issues such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) regulation. Our firm works on behalf of some of the largest users and producers of emerging technologies to ensure that California legislative and regulatory proposals protect the public while also allowing technological innovation to thrive.
The California Legislature, often sensing a lack of federal action, is quick to introduce legislation to regulate foods and agricultural products, including bills seeking to regulate synthetic food dyes, ban certain food additives, impose new labeling requirements, or regulate the use of treated agricultural seeds. Samson Advisors is engaged day-to-day on these issues on behalf of one of California’s largest food producer organizations and one of the world’s largest providers of agricultural science and technology.
California is well-known for passing some of the most sweeping labor and employment laws in the country. Whether related to minimum wage, flexible scheduling, wage theft, meal and rest periods, the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), or other labor proposals, Samson Advisors helps clients navigate the high volume of labor bills introduced by the California Legislature every year.
California legislators introduce a myriad of transportation and infrastructure bills and budget proposals every year impacting a broad range of stakeholders. Samson Advisors has helped clients sponsor and engage on many of these issues, ranging from one of the largest legislative reforms to California’s motor vehicle franchise law in decades, a suite of bills seeking to regulate embodied emissions in transportation materials, a proposal to incentivize production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, and a budget proposal to streamline environmental review for certain energy infrastructure projects.
California is known for having one of the most challenging litigation climates in the country for businesses. Samson Advisors, whether seeking to reform existing litigation pitfalls or stopping new ones from passing, guides some of the largest companies in the world on a broad spectrum of litigation issues, ranging from civil liability damages, class actions, arbitration, CEQA, ADA, PAGA, privacy, Proposition 65, and private rights of action.
California’s natural resources are diverse, as is the suite of legislative and regulatory proposals seeking to protect them each year. Samson Advisors has developed in-house expertise to develop legislative and regulatory strategies for clients on a broad spectrum of natural resources issues, including the development and use of “mass timber” as a low-carbon infrastructure material, wildfire mitigation, drinking water quality, habitat conservation planning, and endangered species issues.
California is home to some of the largest life sciences companies in the world, and as such, the California Legislature has taken a keen interest both in its regulation and innovation. Samson Advisors engages on these issues day-to-day in representing one of the largest biopharmaceutical companies in the world.
With the cost of living at an all-time high in California, the Legislature introduces dozens of bills each year seeking to address California’s ongoing housing shortage. With a former land use and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) litigator on staff, Samson Advisors is viewed as one of the premier firms on housing and development issues, particularly as it pertains to CEQA reform and permit streamlining.