In the News

Long Beach Pride photos: Thousands turn out for 40th annual parade

August 06, 2023

By Cheantay Jensen

The sweltering August heat didn’t deter the thousands of jubilant parade-goers that blanketed Ocean Boulevard for the 40th annual Long Beach Pride Parade in Downtown on Sunday.

Clad in rainbows, glitter, and tulle skirts while waving rainbow flags and fans, members of the crowd cheered and waved at the procession of floats, marching bands, color guards, council members and community groups.

Senator Lena Gonzalez waves at parade-goers during the 2023 Long Beach Pride Parade, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. Photo by Sarahi Apaez.

The Hollywood Times: Dozens of Los Angeles Workers and Caregivers Unite to Demand for More Paid Sick Leave in California

July 27, 2023

By The Hollywood Times

SB 616, introduced by Senator Lena Gonzalez (District 33), would safeguard public health by ensuring that California workers do not have to choose between their health or their loved ones’ health and paying the bills. During the rally, Sen. Gonzalez said the COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave made it clear California can make more paid sick days work.

“All workers in our state deserve to take the time off they need to recover and take care of themselves and their families when they get sick,” said Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach). “During the pandemic we saw the immensely positive outcomes of having COVID-related sick leave, preventing more outbreaks in workplaces, averting prolonged illness amongst employees, and maintaining workplace productivity. We all made it work out with ten days of paid sick leave then, so we can do it now too, we can absolutely do it. Ensuring the health and safety of workers should be just as important now as it was when we were at the height of the pandemic. Three days of sick leave is just not enough.”

CalMatters: CA health care: Premiums rising

July 26, 2023

By Lynn La

Advocates for another health-related proposal — extending  paid sick leave from three days to seven days — rallied on Tuesday in Los Angeles, reports CalMatters’ politics and California Divide intern Rya Jetha.

“Seven days is fair, and we’re going to continue to push for even more than seven days later, after this,” said Sen. Lena Gonzalez, a Long Beach Democrat and author of Senate Bill 616.

Long Beach Business Journal: Rancho Los Cerritos and Rancho Los Alamitos awarded $3.5 million from state

July 25, 2023

By by Tess Kazenoff

Rancho Los Cerritos and Rancho Los Alamitos have received a boost of $3.5 million in funding from the state, secured by state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, which will support much-needed maintenance and capital projects, the organizations recently announced.

STAND.earth: California State another step closer to endorsing call for Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

July 10, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO (Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone Lands) — The State of California is another step closer to formally endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty proposal as the resolution advances to the state assembly.

Gonzalez said: “It is time to end the use of fossil fuels once and for all. SJR 2 is about bringing the global community together to strengthen our ability to meet international environmental targets. It lays out the foundation that is missing—tackling fossil fuels head-on by stopping the expansion of coal, oil, and gas operations and transitioning to a prosperous green economy that promotes economic opportunity for all workers. This is an opportunity for California to step up in alignment with our values as a world climate leader, by encouraging others to join the dialogue to help build a global plan to save our planet and protect our future. I am proud to be the author of this resolution that will reaffirm California’s climate commitments, and I am thankful to the Chair and members of the Assembly Natural Resources committee for helping to move SJR 2 one step closer to the finish line.”

LA Times Boiling Point: The fire right now

June 20, 2023

BY NANCY RIVERA BROOKS

The Times’ Editorial Board urged lawmakers to pass SB 252, legislation by Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) requiring pension funds CalPERS and CalSTRS to shed their investments in the largest fossil fuel companies by 2031 and stop renewing or adding to existing investments starting next year. The headline: “California should stop investing its retirement funds in fossil fuels. They’re risky and immoral.”

LA Times Editorial: California should stop investing its retirement funds in fossil fuels. They’re risky and immoral

June 16, 2023

BY THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD

Helping to fund the destruction of our environment is insanity; profiting from it makes us complicit. We urge California lawmakers to pass SB 252, legislation by Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) requiring CalPERS and CalSTRS to shed their investments in the largest fossil fuel companies by 2031, and stop renewing or adding to existing investments starting next year.

The Press Democrat: California State Senate passes CalPERS/CalSTRS fossil fuel divestment bill

May 26, 2023

BY MARY CALLAHAN

The California State Senate has passed legislation that would require the state’s two powerful public employee pension funds to stop investing in fossil fuel companies. It would also force them to liquidate close to $15 billion in holdings to aid the nation’s transition to clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas production.

The bill, SB 252, would prohibit the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, or CalSTRS, from making or renewing investments in the 200 largest publicly traded fossil fuel companies beginning Jan. 1

KCRW: New hope for people inhaling toxic air in southern LA County

May 08, 2023

By Caleigh Wells

On one side of a chain-link fence, a cluster of toddlers dig in the dirt next to Cabrillo High School in Long Beach. Nearby, a lawn mower prepares the field for the baseball team. It feels safe here, and clean.

But before you even look over the fence, the smell is a dead giveaway.

On the other side, a freight train leaving the Port of Long Beach passes between a convoy of semi-trucks and an endless expanse of oil tanks. A brown haze obscures the blue sky, thick as dust above a recently-driven dirt road.

LA Times Opinion: I grew up next to an L.A. oil well. California can protect others from what I went through

April 24, 2023

BY NALLELI COBO

I grew up 30 feet from an oil well. We couldn’t open the windows of our South L.A. home because of what was in the air. I couldn’t play outside for more than a few minutes without feeling sick.

At the age of 9, I started organizing to shut down the drilling that was making me, my mother, my sister and our community sick. I helped found a grassroots campaign called “People Not Pozos,” Spanish for “wells.” Over a decade later, it’s a campaign I and others are continuing across California as toxic drilling continues in our midst.