SACRAMENTO, CA – Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) today introduced legislation to protect the livelihoods of southern Central Valley workers while strengthening the hydraulic fracturing regulatory review process in California.

“The oil debate in California often leaves out an important detail – oil workers make real money to provide for real families and that generates real economic activity that won’t be replaced by a slogan or a banner,” Senator Hurtado said. “The people of Kern County live in one of the top oil producing counties in the Nation, and they ought to be leading any discussion of how state policy affects their economy and environment. The Valley is also home to some of the poorest communities in the state, hit hard by this raging pandemic, so reforms to this regulatory system must come with effective investment in, and support of, the workers and communities of the southern Central Valley.”

SB 25 is an “intent bill” in its current form. The purpose of an intent bill is to ensure there is a legislative process for continued discussion, comment and negotiation in a particular issue area. SB 25 states the intent of the Legislature to “strengthen the regulatory review process for well stimulation treatment projects to protect public health and safety, and the environment, while protecting the livelihoods of essential workers in the San Joaquin Valley.”

The bill also states the Legislature’s intent to “ensure that any jobs or economic activity affected by the strengthening of the regulatory review process for well stimulation treatment projects are fully compensated for, and retained, in order to ensure the employees and communities affected by these actions are not adversely affected.”

In Kern County, where the majority of the state’s well stimulation occurs, this work contributes $2.5 billion to the county’s Gross Domestic Product. The county receives approximately $120 Million in tax revenue that goes to local education, fire and police needs. Workers in this industry earn on average $95,000 per year, in a region with unemployment rates that are twice as high as the statewide average. Even more individuals are indirectly employed by this work, participating in transportation and retail. Still more are employed by providing for the needs of the workforce and their families, including in food production.

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents the 14th Senate District, which includes cities in Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties. She is the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and a product of immigrant parents. She fights for small, disadvantaged farmworker communities in rural California. Senator Hurtado focuses on rural community issues that often go unheard — access to clean air and water, food insecurity and poverty, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture and access to health care.

###