Many ag jobs got designated “essential” at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. A year later, masks and other safety precautions have become common in fields and packing houses. Food continues to move from the farm to the consumer. But impacts on the people making that happen have been significant.

Both houses have now approved AB 2043, which would give Cal/OSHA the regulatory muscle to enforce the COVID-19 safety guidance for farmworkers.

H-2A rights bill adds more mandates * Paid family leave could be expanded in CA

United Farm Workers, a co-sponsor of the bill, labeled CDFA Secretary Karen Ross as “dangerous” for negotiating an exemption on the granular form under the ban.

The money will go to testing, contact tracing and isolation housing.