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Committee advances bill to require local skilled workforce on Salton Sea restoration projects
Summary
SB 369 would codify a requirement that restoration work at the Salton Sea use a local skilled-and-trained workforce, aiming to protect worker safety, provide higher wages and build a local job pipeline for Imperial Valley residents.
Senator Padilla introduced SB 369, which would statutorily require the use of a local skilled-and-trained workforce on Salton Sea restoration projects. Padilla said the lake’s shrinking inflows have raised salinity and dust exposure risks, and that codifying workforce standards will protect workers and create a pipeline of local jobs for the Imperial Valley.
Nut graf: The bill seeks to convert existing administrative workforce requirements into law — ensuring that restoration contractors use workers who have graduated from state-registered apprenticeship programs, that local hiring is prioritized, and that workers receive living wages and health and welfare benefits.
Matt Kremens, representing the California-Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers and a bill sponsor, said the Salton Sea’s toxic lake bed and poor air quality make worker protections essential and that Imperial County’s unemployment rate is exceptionally high (the witness cited 17.4%). Keith Dunn of the State Building Trades emphasized safety and training for workers exposed to hazardous conditions and said the skilled-and-trained requirement also creates career pathways with retirement and benefits.
Supporters included labor and contractor groups, local trade councils and unions, and several building trades organizations. Todd Bloemstein of the Southern California Contractors Association, Mitchell Bechtel of the District Council of Ironworkers, and Elmer Lazardi of the California Federation of Labor Unions spoke in favor.
No witnesses registered opposition during the hearing; committee members asked about local agency positions and tribal input. Senator Padilla said his office has discussed the bill with regional agencies and that he was not aware of any registered opposition from those agencies.
The committee voted to pass SB 369 to the Labor and Employment Committee. The motion carried on roll call (see actions). Senator Padilla closed by stressing the combination of public-health risk at the Salton Sea and the need for generational jobs in the region.
Ending: With the bill advanced to the Labor and Employment Committee, its proponents said codifying workforce standards would lock in protections now applied administratively and help ensure local hiring as restoration work advances; the committee did not record opposition on the floor.
