SACRAMENTO, CA – State Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) released the following statement upon the announcement of additional Central Valley Project water contract conversations by the United States Bureau of Reclamation:

“These contracts will ensure water for thousands of farmworkers, farmers and a reliable food supply chain for two-thirds of the United States. Water is life and when there is a shortage, lands are fallowed, farmworkers are displaced and crops are gone forever. I want to thank President Joe Biden and his team for acting quickly to secure these negotiated clean water deals that will benefit many families in need for my district, California and this Nation.”

SANGER, CA – Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) issued the following statement urging Governor Gavin Newsom to change California’s COVID-19 strategy to include increased access to monoclonal antibody treatment:

“We are nearly a year into this pandemic and it has been one crisis after another. Vaccine approval and distribution has brought hope to our communities, but we need to be realistic about the current movement. We are facing a surge, and vaccine distribution has been slow to say the least...

SACRAMENTO — Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) issued the following statement today after Congress passed an appropriations bill last night that includes $206 million to repair the Friant-Kern Canal:

“I’m thrilled that Republicans and Democrats — led by the persistent Dianne Feinstein — pulled together to recognize the strategic importance of the Central Valley to our Nation’s food supply and economy.

SANGER, CA - California State Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) released the following statement regarding the nomination of Xavier Becerra to United States Secretary of Health and Human Services:

“President-elect Joe Biden made an excellent choice by selecting California’s Xavier Becerra to be U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and the first Latino to hold the position.

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.”

SACRAMENTO, CA - Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) today reintroduced a pair of bills that will help curb chronic poverty, put people back to work and increase access to health care in Central Valley rural communities and beyond.

“The pandemic has only made the long-term economic and health disparities in the Central Valley much worse,” Senator Hurtado said. “These two bills provide targeted support and opportunities to people who have also been historically left out of opportunities for a better life but are building their dreams and committing themselves to make our communities healthy and safe – such as foster youth and farmworkers. These bills represent a good start for communities that are already behind.”

SACRAMENTO, CA – Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) today issued the following statement in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest COVID-19 order:

“This is a crisis calling for national leadership from both sides of the aisle. It’s unbelievable that testing access is still haphazard without instantaneous results for everyone. It’s unbelievable our families and businesses are being asked to sacrifice without Congress stepping up to make us whole with effective, targeted relief to the states. It’s unbelievable that some leaders are still using the pandemic as a political weapon as hospitalizations and deaths increase. We all have COVID-19 fatigue – no one likes the situation we find ourselves in. But we must pull together at this critical time to defeat this deadly disease and get California, and our Nation, moving again.”