Why lawmakers are questioning CA workplace safety agency

Last year during “hot labor summer,” unions, worker advocates and their supporters in the Legislature pushed, often successfully, for wage increases and more benefits.

This year, they’re focusing more on enforcing worker protections.

That was the message from an Assembly Labor Committee hearing on Wednesday, where farmworkers and their advocates complained that Cal/OSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, isn’t doing the job, explains CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang. 

The farmworkers complained of working in extreme heat and being exposed to pesticides — and of slow response from Cal/OSHA if they overcome fear of retaliation from their bosses to report a safety violation. There were even allegations that employers get tipped off to inspections.   

Acting Cal/OSHA chief Debra Lee responded that she was “very concerned” to hear inspectors might be informing employers of upcoming inspections. She also said that her agency plans to start a unit focused on safety in agricultural work, with a hotline in multiple languages for workers and advocates to report violations. 

Still, all of that was enough for the committee’s chairperson, Liz Ortega, a Democrat from Hayward, to declare that she’ll seek an audit of the agency.

• Ortega: “I don’t want the agency failures to be conveniently whitewashed by the current budget deficit. Many of the stories and the data that we have today is what happened when we had billions of dollars in surpluses.”

One problem may be staffing. Cal/OSHA is part of the state Department of Industrial Relations, which is struggling with high turnover and vacancies.

Read more about the criticisms of Cal/OSHA in Jeanne’s story. 

In other legislative news: CalMatters K-12 education reporter Carolyn Jones dives into a new measure to require California public schools to use the “science of reading” approach to teach kids how to read. The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Blanca Rubio, a Democrat from Baldwin Park, is backed by Marshall Tuck, who ran for California superintendent of public instruction in 2018 and is now CEO of EdVoice, an education policy organization.

Research shows that the method, which emphasizes language comprehension and phonics, is more effective compared to other models, such as “balanced literacy,” which relies more on recognizing words by sight and an enjoyment of reading. Most districts targeted in a $50 million literacy program also adopted the science of reading to successfully boost literacy rates among third graders.

Tax season is upon us. And while the state’s tax agency call center is busy fielding calls and answering questions from residents and business owners, later this year for next tax season these call center agents are expected to get a helping hand from what some may consider an unlikely source — artificial intelligence.

As part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order last September directing state agencies to launch pilot projects using generative AI, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration plans to use the technology to advise call center agents on state tax code, writes Calmatters tech reporter Khari Johnson. This arm of AI uses massive datasets — often publicly available and scraped from the web without the originator’s consent — to train itself and produce content including text and images (and even college essays).

Though the technology will be used alongside a human employee to review the answer, it remains unclear how employees will know whether to trust answers generated by the AI. A November report from the state’s Government Operations Agency also warned that generative models can spit out inaccurate, biased or fabricated results.

As of now, the tax department is requesting proposals for vendors to create the AI. This tax proposal is one of five generative AI initiatives the state has launched: Caltrans has two projects to explore if the technology can reduce traffic and accidents, and the state’s Health and Human Services Agency has another two to see if generative AI can help with health care facility inspections, as well as people’s understanding of public benefits.

For more on the tax proposal, read Khari’s story.

Nikki Haley is trying to survive until Super Tuesday in the Republican presidential race, but even if she does, the rules are stacked against her in the March 5 California primary.

Still, that isn’t stopping her from using the Golden State as a cash machine, as so many national politicians do. 

Wednesday, the former South Carolina governor mined wealthy donors in Southern California, as she also wooed voters. Tuesday, she raised about $800,000 at two Bay Area events, according to Puck Newws. 

Also Tuesday, however, she somehow managed to finish behind “none of the above” in Nevada’s primary, which former President Donald Trump wasn’t contesting since it’s the caucuses today that award the state’s 26 precious delegates.

Speaking of delegates, the California GOP, which is solidly behind Trump, changed its allocation rules so that he can win all 169 at stake on March 5 with a simple majority of votes statewide. He’s a good bet to reach that threshold, according to the polls.

If Haley does manage to win any delegates, there are some interesting names who could represent her at the Republican convention in July in Milwaukee. The list submitted by her campaign to the Secretary of State’s office includes prospective at-large delegates Lanhee Chen, who ran unsuccessfully for state controller in 2022, and John Cox, who lost to Gov. Newsom in 2018 and also was on the replacement candidate ballot for the failed 2021 Newsom recall election.

More on the primary: Our comprehensive Voter Guide includes what you need to know on the U.S. Senate, U.S. House and legislative races, Proposition 1 and answers to your questions. As the campaign heats up, keep up with CalMatters coverage.

California is in a healthcare affordability crisis, but a proposed cap on statewide cost increases is getting pushback from key players. What’s the cap? CalMatters health reporter Ana B. Ibarra has the answer.