Amid political promises of mass deportation under the incoming Trump administration, Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez introduced legislation Monday that will prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from entering school campuses.
First, let’s examine how massive unemployment is leading to more competition for every job opening. The surge in applicants, combined with stay-at-home orders, likely will result in employers relying on digital tools to evaluate and hire candidates. Many of them are turning to the artificial intelligence and algorithm-based hiring innovations that have cropped up in recent years. As someone who knows how to look under the hood and understand what’s been built ethically and what hasn’t, I can tell you many of these tools haven’t. Just take the notorious Amazon AI recruiting tool that rejected women’s resumes for engineering roles. I also have serious questions about technologies that rely on facial recognition, which have a history of bias against women and people of color.
California Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) was joined by several community organizations and social justice advocates at Centro CHA in Long Beach as she announced the introduction of Senate Bill (SB) 1241, the Talent Equity for Competitive Hiring Act.
On Friday, lawmakers in California introduced SB 1241 or the Talent Equity for Competitive Hiring (TECH) Act. The bill sets a new legal high bar against discrimination in hiring by writing clear guidelines for employers to follow that allow them to modernize their recruiting processes using technological tools that reduce bias, leading to a more diverse workforce.
As the Senator representing the 33rd Senate District, I am proud to share with you our latest e-newsletter that highlights the legislative updates and community engagement in early 2020. I invite you to stay engaged with our newsletters, as they offer an effective way to keep you informed about the work we do in Sacramento and upcoming issues affecting all our cities: Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Lakewood, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Lynwood, Maywood, Paramount, Signal Hill, South Gate, and Vernon.
Two bills that call for the partial banning and water testing of chemicals called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were introduced to the Senate on Tuesday.
Port directors from across California marked California Ports Day on Wednesday by meeting with state policymakers, legislators, and administration officials to highlight the economic importance of the state’s 11 ports and issue a call to action to keep them competitive in a challenging environment. California ports are a critical link in the U.S. and international supply chain, are tied to more than 5 million jobs nationwide and generate an estimated $700 billion in annual revenue.
