For Immediate Release: August 30, 2022

Media Contact: Michelle.Sherwood@sen.ca.gov

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) released the following statement after her bill, Senate Bill 1066—the Farmworker’s Drought Resilience Pilot Project passed the Senate Floor and is now headed to the Governor:

“As California continues to struggle through another year of drought, many farms and farmworkers are being hurt in ways we have not seen before,” said Senator Hurtado. “So far, the drought has caused $1.2 billion in damage to the agricultural industry, and is responsible for the loss of over 8,500 jobs. The Farmworker’s Drought Resilience Pilot Project will provide assistance and much needed help to the many farmworkers who are struggling to feed their families as food prices, and the cost of living soars. SB 1066 is just the beginning--we must secure our water and our food supply chain to prevent additional losses.”

Senate Bill 1066 will create a state-funded supplemental pay program that will provide cash assistance to eligible farmworkers. The bill directs the Department of Social Services to develop and implement the program, ensuring they have the flexibility they need to carry out the pilot project, while also meeting the needs of the farmworker population.

Last session, Senator Hurtado introduced Senate Bill 464, the Comida Para Todos (Food for All Act.) This bill would have provided greater food security to low-income immigrant workers by expanding eligibility for state funded nutrition benefits to anyone ineligible for CalFresh due solely to their immigration status. The bill received implementation funding in the 2021-2022 State Budget, and funding for a targeted age-based expansion of benefits for those ineligible due solely to their immigration status in this year’s budget.

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and a product of immigrant parents. Senator Hurtado represents the 14th Senate District and 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. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis – the only two California Latinas on the Committee.

For more information, visit Senator Hurtado’s Website here or find her on Twitter at @Senator_Hurtado

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