Stern Sworn In Remotely Amidst Pandemic Concerns
For Immediate Release: December 7th, 2020
Contact: Faith Colburn at faith.colburn@sen.ca.gov
SACRAMENTO – Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) took the oath of office for his second term in the California State Senate today in the parking lot of his Calabasas office, administered by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Huey P. Cotton.
“I can think of no higher stakes than we have right now. In my second term, I hope to live up to the expectations of the people who elected me, whether they voted for me or not,” said Stern. “The crises of climate change and homelessness have not taken a pause for COVID-19, nor have the threats to democracy, public education, social mobility, or racial justice. So as the saying goes, we must find a way not just to walk and chew gum at the same time, but also to land a plane, fight a fire, teach a class, and so much more.”
Following the brief ceremony, Stern held an online community forum to talk about his priorities for the 2021-22 legislative session and answer questions. He also introduced his first bill of the new session, SB 46, which states the intent of the Legislature to require employers to implement contact tracing programs and have employees who test positive for the virus report it to their employer.
“We have to find a way to ensure that essential workers who are in their workplaces don’t just have to rely on blind trust to be safe,” continued Stern. “While the vaccine rollout will be a crucial risk mitigator, the testing and contact tracing systems we deploy in California need to be strengthened.”
This comes as California reached nearly 1.4 million cases statewide, with nearly 1 in 10 Californians who got tested last week testing positive for COVID-19. To date in California, there have been 19,937 deaths from COVID-19, including 61 yesterday. Statewide, there have been approximately 1.37 million cases of COVID-19, including 28,795 reported yesterday.
“In a deadly, global pandemic, a person’s individual rights cannot trump the right of their co-workers to be in a safe work environment,” concluded Stern. “People deserve to go to work and be able to have the peace of mind that they can do so safely and aren’t at risk of carrying COVID-19 back to their family".
Stern introduced two wildfire-related measures today as well, SB 55, which halts development in very high fire hazard severity zones, and SB 63, which creates a fire resiliency corps and gives grants to help people harden their homes against wildfires.
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