• Assemblymember Gregg Hart announced Assembly Bill 1866, which will address idle wells by requiring oil operators to develop a comprehensive plan to expeditiously plug the estimated 40,000 idle wells in California within the next decade, according to a March 12 statement from Hart’s office. The bill also requires operators to prioritize plugging wells within 3,200 feet of where communities live, play, and work. At the current pace, it is estimated to take between 75 to 100 years to plug the majority of idle oil wells in California. Existing law requires operators to submit an idle well management plan and plug between 4 to 6 percent of their oldest idle oil wells per year. Operators also have the option to pay as little as $150 per well in order to avoid submitting a plan. This program is not working as intended, according to Hart. Between 2018 and 2021, the number of idle wells increased from 29,000 to more than 38,000, according to the California Department of Conservation Geologic Energy Management Division. “AB 1866 is necessary to solve the idle oil well crisis in California. The state department estimated that if all idle oil wells become orphan, it could cost taxpayers more than $10 billion to plug and remediate these sites. This proactive solution will protect taxpayers, create thousands of jobs, and safeguard communities,” Hart said in the statement. “Idle oil wells in California act as a major source of methane gas emissions, groundwater contamination, and air pollution. The facts are clear—this serious problem is getting worse and can’t be ignored.”
• U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) announced the Isakson-Roe Education Oversight Expansion Act, which would improve U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) oversight to ensure veterans receive access to quality higher education from reputable institutions, according to a March 13 statement from Padilla’s office. Through the GI Bill, many veterans earn education benefits to help pay for college, graduate school, and vocational training and institutions approved by the VA. The VA is not always aware, however, of institutions that are engaged in deceptive practices or have been subjected to punitive action by a state or federal authority. This can result in veterans using their benefits at bad-actor schools or schools in jeopardy of losing accreditation. To help mitigate fraud, the Isakson-Roe Education Oversight Expansion Act would require all VA-approved institutions to report within 30 days any adverse actions taken against them to the State Approving Agencies (SAA) and the VA. “Veterans should be able to access their hard-earned GI Bill benefits without fear of exploitation,” Padilla said in the statement. “I will keep fighting to break down the barriers standing in the way of quality higher education access.”
• California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom released the Equal Pay Playbook, in partnership with the California Partners Project, to provide companies with strategies for creating a more equitable workplace by identifying and eliminating their internal wage gaps, according to a March 12 statement from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. To mark National Equal Pay Day, Siebel Newsom also announced that more than 200 California-based companies, organizations, and municipalities have signed the California Equal Pay Pledge—more than doubling the number of pledge signatories on Equal Pay Day in 2023. Collectively, women in California lose approximately $87 billion annually to the gender wage gap. The Equal Pay Playbook aims to address this by giving California employers a step-by-step guide for developing a strategic approach to equitable pay that is good for Californians and will help companies attract and retain top talent, boost innovation and productivity, and enhance brand reputation. “Women are the backbone of their communities and the economy and the breadwinner or co-breadwinner in most households in the U.S., yet the gender wage gap continues to deliver the message that our work and our contributions have less value than men’s,” Siebel Newsom said in the statement. “While data on the wage gap may differ, it all tells the same story of inequality and a gap in pay that worsens for mothers, women of color, immigrant women, and LGBTQ [plus] women, ultimately deepening generational poverty and slowing economic mobility.”
This article appears in Mar 21-31, 2024.