As chair of the Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response, I will be hosting several oversight hearings over the next few months on our state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past we have addressed key issues such as testing and contact tracing efforts, skilled nursing facility concerns and the impact of COVID-19 at the California border region. Moving forward, we will be conducting oversight hearings on the state’s management of workplace health and safety, and the inequities that exist in our education system including distance-learning disparities for our most vulnerable students and lack of internet access.
On Tuesday, September 1, 2020 the California Legislature adjourned its two-year session, bringing a constitutionally mandated close to a historic and unprecedented legislative session. Despite facing a number of unique and extraordinary challenges, the Legislature continued to work throughout the year to serve the people of California. Legislation focused primarily on topics that would better address the immediate health and safety impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the subsequent economic repercussions. An on-time and balanced budget was passed in June and this month the Legislature concluded its work by sending over 400 bills to the Governor’s desk that will help our neighborhoods thrive in the face of this shared adversity.
Lawmakers in California have approved a bill that would prohibit life and disability income insurance providers from denying coverage to HIV-positive individuals.
The Equal Insurance HIV Act, sponsored by Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), passed the Senate 39-0 after being unanimously by the State Assembly as part of a larger omnibus bill.
Khmer Girls in Action, a nonprofit active in the Long Beach Cambodian community for 23 years, has been selected as the 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year by Senator Lena Gonzalez.
As a result of COVID-19 many aspects of work, school, healthcare, and even family time, have moved online. Getting connected to the internet has never been more important than it is today, and this in turn calls for immediate attention to the issue of the digital divide in our state. The internet access inequity that exists today means that not everyone has the high-speed broadband they need to meet the demands of current day-to-day life.
We are living a moment in history that is unlike any other. We are grappling with a global pandemic and nationwide unemployment, which brings with them widespread healthcare and economic challenges for all our communities. Amidst these challenges, something else has happened. Voices from all over the nation and the world are coming together to stand up for the rights of Black Americans through the advancement of justice and pathways that lead to success and equity for all.
Nearly 1 in 3 school-aged children lack access to the robust broadband networks they need for remote learning, SB 1130 would help close the digital divide.
