Senate Bill (SB) 20, the Silicosis Training, Outreach and Prevention (STOP) Act, introduced by State Sen. Caroline Menjivar last year, was placed on the “suspense file” in the Senate Appropriations Committee, possibly threatening its passage.
The act is an attempt to protect stone fabrication workers from exposure to silicosis, a terminal, yet preventable, occupational lung disease. Workers who fabricate artificial stone countertops are at risk of inhaling crystalline silica dust, which scars the lungs and leaves them unable to breathe. With no cure, only preventative measures, and eventually, a lung transplantation can help treat the deadly disease.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has confirmed 294 cases of silicosis, 30 lung transplants and 15 deaths in the state, with the Northeast San Fernando Valley being “ground zero.”
The STOP Act proposes requiring CDPH to: adopt a training program on best practices related to fabrication activities; develop a certification process for fabrication shops; begin issuing three-year certificates to fabrication shops that meet CDPH requirements; and create and maintain a public database and tracking system that shows which fabrication shops are in compliance with California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) safety standards and their certification status.
Congresswoman Luz Rivas previously attempted a similar bill while serving in the California Assembly. She pulled the bill when it was clear that there would not be the support to pass it in time due to pushback from administrators.
Following Rivas, Menjivar said her team would work hard to ensure the success of SB 20.
“It’s not going to die this time,” said Menjivar. “And we’re going to be persistent about it.”
However, the bill may be under threat now that it has been placed on the suspense file. Any bill whose fiscal cost is estimated to be above $50,000 in the Senate is referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee’s suspense file. Although it is an open secret that the suspense files are where hundreds of bills are sent to quietly die each year. The fate of these bills will be announced during a single hearing known as “Suspense Day,” scheduled for mid-May.
“Placing SB 20 on the Senate Suspense File in the Senate Appropriations Committee was strictly procedural and expected due to the fiscal threshold for suspense,” Menjivar wrote in a statement to the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol. “In May, there will be a suspense hearing, and in the meantime, I will be meeting with the Chair of Appropriations to further express the need for this bill and continue to build support for it so we can codify protections for fabrication workers and, as the data shows, save lives.”