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Committee advances Adrienne’s Act to require heat protections in California correctional facilities
Summary
AB 24 99 would direct Cal/OSHA to develop enforceable heat-safety standards for workers and incarcerated people after testimony about fatal and near-fatal heat exposures inside state prisons; the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee voted to refer the bill to Appropriations.
Assemblymember Gibson presented AB 24 99, known in testimony as "Adrienne’s Act," which would require Cal/OSHA to develop a heat-safety standard for work and living conditions inside California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities.
Gibson invoked the 2024 death of Adrienne Bowyer and said that incarcerated people and staff are routinely exposed to extreme indoor temperatures. "No one, regardless of their status, should be subject to dangerous, inhumane conditions," Gibson said. He framed the bill as closing an accountability gap so that conditions that would violate workplace safety laws elsewhere do not persist behind prison walls.
Stephen Knight, co-executive director of WorkSafe, testified that the bill would ensure workers in correctional facilities receive the same protections as other California workers and urged an I vote. Janice O’Malley of AFSCME and multiple witnesses described specific facility incidents: temperatures that reached 93°F in treatment rooms, staff told to continue working despite symptoms, and an office at Valley State Prison that reached 109°F during hot weeks.
Family members of Adrienne Bowyer — including her granddaughter and daughter — addressed the committee and asked lawmakers to act. "I respectfully ask for your I vote for Adrienne's Act," one relative said.
Committee members expressed strong sympathy for witnesses and stressed the need to hold CDCR accountable; the Chair and the author said they will seek to ensure Cal/OSHA follows through on development of the standard. The committee filed AB 24 99 (Gibson) and voted to refer it to Appropriations, holding the roll open for absent members.
What happens next: AB 24 99 goes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. If advanced, it would direct Cal/OSHA rulemaking; the bill as presented prevents Cal/OSHA from proposing a weaker standard for CDCR than the standard set for other workplaces.
