Sacramento, Calif. – On June 19, 2024, Majority Leader Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), teachers, workers, and climate advocates will rally at the Capitol in response to recently proposed committee amendments that would erode the core purpose of Senate Bill 252, The Fossil Fuel Divestment Act. The proposed amendments were brought forward only days before a decisive and long-anticipated hearing in the Assembly Committee on Public Employment and Retirement, and would allow for two decades of continued investing in Big Oil amongst other loopholes and giveaways. Due to the committee’s damaging proposed amendments, and refusal to negotiate, Majority Leader Gonzalez decided to shelve the bill and is committed to reintroducing the legislation next year.

“As author of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act, I am deeply disappointed that the bill will not be moving forward this year—but not discouraged,” said Majority Leader Gonzalez (D-Long Beach). “We’ve heard it all before. Big Oil wants to maintain the status quo, using their outdated rhetoric to try to make us believe that phasing out fossil fuels is nothing but a faraway fantasy. But thousands of California teachers and workers know the truth is quite the opposite—that fossil fuels are a declining industry and that divesting is a smart financial decision that will help protect their retirement futures and our planet from climate risks, like the devastating fires we are seeing this week. This legislation has been three years in the making and our California teachers and state workers have waited long enough. We need fossil fuel divestment NOW, not later. And today, I reaffirm my commitment to passing this legislation, because we are not giving up.”

“The proposed amendments were a poison pill for divestment. We stand with Senator Gonzalez as she pulls SB 252 and will be back stronger than ever next year to advocate for CalPERS and CalSTRS divestment from fossil fuels,” said Miriam Eide, Executive Director for Fossil Free CA. “As Californians evacuate their homes and breathe smoke from fires across the state, it is unconscionable to block key climate legislation like divestment. The State of California is suing the very same companies SB 252 targets–why are our pensions still underwriting Big Oil?”

"With over a dozen wildfires raging across California as of yesterday, it's deeply disheartening to see this crucial climate legislation stalled once again," said Bryan Ha, Director of Government Relations for the California Faculty Association. “Fossil Fuel Divestment is a matter of environmental justice and financial responsibility. Faculty members do not want to see their pension dollars invested in fossil fuel companies that harm the environment, contribute to devastating climate change and jeopardize their retirement futures. As a member-led priority, CFA’s support remains firm in advocating for the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act.”  

"Big Oil is spending record amounts on lobbying and misinformation campaigns to deceive the public about the harmful effects of their pollution," said Kendra Harris, Government Affairs Manager for The Climate Center. "California should be holding fossil fuel corporations accountable for decades of pollution and destruction, not propping them up with $14 billion from our largest public pension funds. While we are disappointed to see this bill stall, we remain committed to divesting from Big Oil and investing in clean air, clean water, and a climate-safe California." 

Majority Leader Gonzalez teachers, workers, and climate advocates will be available for questions at the event.

WHEN: June 19, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. PDT

WHERE: State Capitol Park World Peace Rose Garden 1317 15th St, Sacramento, CA 95814

RSVP: Media interested in attending should RSVP to Leoda.Valenzuela@sen.ca.gov

LIVESTREAM: available on Majority Leader Gonzalez’s website and Facebook. 

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Majority Leader Gonzalez represents the 33rd Senate District, which includes the City of Long Beach and portions of South Los Angeles and Southeast Los Angeles including the cities of Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Lakewood, Lynwood, Maywood, Paramount, Signal Hill, and South Gate. She lives in Long Beach with her family. Website of Majority Leader Gonzalez: www.sen.ca.gov/gonzalez

Fossil Free California works to end financial support for climate-damaging fossil fuels and promotes the transition to a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. Our campaigns center on pressuring California's state pensions to divest from fossil fuels.

The California Faculty Association is an anti-racist and social justice union that represents more than 29,000 tenure-line instructional faculty, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches on the 23 campuses of the California State University system, from Cal Poly Humboldt in the north, to San Diego State in the south. They advocate for students, higher education, and faculty rights. Learn more about CFA at calfac.org.

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California. We are a think-tank, do-tank working to turn bold ideas into action for a climate-safe future. Our flagship Climate-Safe California campaign is a unique and comprehensive effort to make California the first state in the nation to reach carbon negative. www.theclimatecenter.org