Floods, fires, droughts show California needs bigger safety net for farmworkers, advocates say
Torrential rains and floods submerged whole towns and killed more than 20 people in parts of California in January. They also caused thousands of farmworkers to lose weeks of pay because the flooded fields and orchards were surrounded by treacherous, watery and muddy roads. The steep storm-related losses — along with recent revelations that some farmworkers are living in substandard conditions — are bolstering advocates’ argument that California should expand its safety net to help its agricultural workforce survive such setbacks. Some lawmakers are listening to them. State Sen. María Elena Durazo and Assemblymembers Wendy Carrillo and Miguel Santiago — all Democrats from Los Angeles — introduced SB 227, which would create an Excluded Workers Program to pay undocumented, unemployed workers $300 per week for each week of unemployment, up to 20 weeks.