[excerpt:]
...With California divided in its opinions about genetically engineered foods, state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter (Kern County), has introduced a bill that would stop counties from regulating genetically altered crops. While the four counties that already have bans in place would be exempt, California's remaining 54 counties would be required to look to the state for regulation of the industry.

But because the state doesn't have a policy on genetically engineered crops, opponents say, the bill would leave Californians dependent on federal regulations that tend to rely on the industry for most product safety guarantees.

...[O]pponents say the bill would make organic farmers less competitive, burdening them with the added cost of protecting against contamination from neighboring genetically engineered crops.

...Florez says his bill is "sponsored by all of agriculture," including Monsanto, a biotech company that sells 88 percent of the world's genetically engineered seeds. Monsanto has supported similar bills in 16 other states, contributing large amounts of money for campaigns to prevent counties from banning Monsanto's seeds.

Opponents of the bill question its pre-emptive nature.

"The state is pre-empting local governments from legislating about this issue while the state has no policy, which doesn't make sense," said Pete Price, a lobbyist who represents a number of the bill's opponents...

The full article is available on the Chronicle website.