CCAEJ’S RESPONSE TO MAJORITY LEADER ELOISE REYES’S ACTION TO HOLD ASSEMBLY BILL 2840

Jurupa Valley, CA – Thursday, June 30, 2022. Assembly Bill 2840 was held by Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Reyes yesterday in Sacramento at the Senate Governance and Finance Committee to ensure it is brought back later with more protections for our Inland Valley communities.

This is the second legislative cycle AB2840 has been brought forth by the office of Assemblymember Reyes, both times with strong opposition from industry, developers, unions such as LiUna, and other special interest groups. However, this bill garners the full support of community members who face the direct impacts and burdens of the logistics industry.

CCAEJ and the South Fontana Concerned Citizens Coalition (SFCCC) went up to the capitol to testify in favor and address all the health, safety, and welfare impacts our BIPOC communities face. The votes were simply not there. A moratorium to conduct a study for both counties was placed on the table as an amendment, but it meant gutting the entire bill, with no guarantee of statute or guidelines to be put in place at the local level and we knew this too was not an option. We have been studied to death, the science and statistics are there. We need policy changes now, not two or three years from now.

We commend Majority Leader Reyes for her courage to bring this bill forth and willingness to continue to fight and ensure this bill passes this fall or next year. The bill is still alive! We thank her for including us in the conversations and lending us a seat in the decision-making process. We thank full-heartedly, the support of Senators Durazo and Weiner for putting the community first over profits. On the other hand, we are disheartened by our local leaders who came in strong opposition to this bill. Some of the mayors and leaders who sent letters and testified against the bill included: Menifee, Eastvale, Perris, Rialto, Ontario, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino and Riverside County Board of Supervisors, and others. Executive Director Ana Gonzalez stated, “Some of our local elected officials used tax payer’s dollars to fly to Sacramento to testify against the bill, but to us, this meant advocating against the health, safety, and wellbeing of our communities, shame on them, but I have something to say, we are not collateral damage in the name of economic development, our health and safety comes first.”

Many special interest groups wrote and shared false information about the bill and we want to clarify that this bill was about bringing responsible, transparent processes for development and ensuring good jobs with benefits for local community members. We know that the bill is not perfect but it is a step in the right direction to protect public health, and we are committed to helping make it stronger by adding more community benefits agreements. CCAEJ will continue to advocate for frontline communities and we will ensure leaders protect the right to clean air and clean water. The struggle continues.