Newsom Sucks

It appears that the California Governor decided that campaign donations from agribusiness are more important than farm workers dying of heat stroke.

His decision is not surprising, given that he has a record of favoring the haves over the have nots.

Remember this when he wants to run for President in 2028 or 2032.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today he has vetoed a bill to bolster farmworkers’ heat illness claims as they face the increasing dangers of extreme heat.

The unique proposal would have made it easier for farmworkers to get workers’ compensation when claiming they suffered heat illness on the job. Senate Bill 1299 was pitched by the United Farm Workers, which said it was needed to supplement weakened enforcement of the state’s workplace heat safety rules.

In his veto message, Newsom wrote the enforcement of heat safety rules should be done only by the state’s workplace safety agency, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) and not be determined by the workers’ compensation system.

The outdoor heat rules, in place for nearly 20 years, require employers to provide shade, water and rest breaks for outdoor workers and further monitor them for signs of heat illness in high-risk jobs like agriculture and construction. The state this year added similar rules for indoor workers.

But the understaffed Cal/OSHA has in recent years conducted 1,000 fewer heat inspections of worksites a year, and issued hundreds fewer violations, compared to pre-pandemic, CalMatters reported this summer. That’s despite heat waves in California growing longer and more intense.

The United Farm Workers said SB 1299 would have forced employers to comply with the heat rules, by more strictly tying them to liability for workers’ compensation claims. The bill would have required workers’ comp judges to presume farmworkers who claim heat illness developed it at work.