Improving the Day-to-Day Quality of Life for All Californians
This marked Speaker Robert Rivas’ first full legislative year leading the Assembly. As Speaker, his top priority was for the Assembly to improve the day-to-day quality of life for all Californians: lowering costs for families, expanding housing opportunities, protecting businesses and workers and enhancing public safety.
Protecting Workers & Expanding Housing Opportunities
Speaker Rivas and the Assembly Democratic Caucus passed landmark legislation to protect hardworking Californians and uplift the state’s most vulnerable workers. Beginning in 2024, California workers are guaranteed at least five days of paid sick leave per year and new laws raised the minimum wage for fast food and health care workers, ensuring fairer pay in some of the state’s largest industries.
Speaker Rivas also authored legislation to help farmworkers and expand housing opportunities for their families:
AB 2240: Prevents families from being forced to leave farmworker housing centers due to outdated requirements, mandating the Department of Housing and Community Development to submit a report to the Legislature, which analyzes the feasibility and impact of transitioning housing units at Office of Migrant Services (OMS) centers to year round availability.
AB 3035: Addresses the housing shortage faced by agricultural workers in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties by expanding site eligibility for agricultural employee housing developments, and increasing the number of units from 36 to 150. It also streamlines the development process for housing located within 15 miles of designated agricultural areas thereby transforming the living standards for all agricultural workers, expanding affordable housing and resources.
Keeping Businesses, Employees and Customers Safe from ‘Smash & Grabs’
Speaker Rivas led the Assembly’s bipartisan package to combat retail theft, protecting business owners and their employees. The package toughens penalties on serial shoplifting, enables aggregation of thefts for felony charging, and expands enforcement tools.
In addition, Speaker Rivas and the Assembly advanced new tools to stop fentanyl trafficking, helping law enforcement respond to the devastating impact of synthetic opioids on California communities.
A full list of the retail theft legislation can be found here.
Lowering Costs for Families
Speaker Rivas convened a special legislative session in 2024 to address gasoline price spikes and help Californians stabilize prices at the pump. The session produced legislation requiring oil companies to maintain minimum fuel reserves to stabilize gas prices, while also protecting industry workers and frontline communities
AB x2-1: Requires refineries to maintain adequate reserves and properly plan for refinery shutdowns. Specifically, the California Energy Commission will have the authority to require the state’s petroleum refiners to have minimum supply inventories and resupply plans for refinery maintenance periods—only if it first determines that they are in the best interests of consumers, will lead to lower average retail prices, increase the fuel supply and reduce the price volatility at the pump.
AB x2-9: Directs the California Air Resources Board to complete its review of increased ethanol fuel blend by summer 2025, among which will also address supply concerns and other provisions.
Together, these laws aim to stabilize California’s oil supply and reduce the burden of unpredictable price spikes for working families.