{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.bennet.senate.gov/2024/06/14/press-releases-id-36b4a4d3-cb60-48d8-aa26-d70d3a97b610/", "Bennet, Padilla, Salinas, Lofgren Introduce Bill to Provide Disaster Relief for Farm Workers", "2024-06-14", "2024", "2024-06", "Democrat", "Senate", "CO", "Michael F. Bennet", "B001267", "www.bennet.senate.gov", "bennet", "https://www.bennet.senate.gov/news/page/", "scraper", "Denver \u2014 U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) alongside U.S. Representatives Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) introduced the Disaster Relief for Farm Workers Act. This bicameral legislation would provide emergency assistance grants to America\u2019s farm workers following natural or climate disasters that affect their ability to earn a living.\n\n\u201cAgriculture is the backbone of Colorado\u2019s economy and central to our Western way of life, but as climate-fueled disasters become increasingly common, our state\u2019s farm workers are paying the price,\u201d said Bennet. \u201cThe people that grow America\u2019s fruits, vegetables, and other crops deserve assistance \u2013 especially after emergencies like drought, wildfires, or other natural disasters. This legislation recognizes their crucial role in our economy.\u201d\n\n\u201cCalifornia\u2019s farm workers labor under extreme conditions to help put food on the table for hundreds of millions of Americans,\u201d said Padilla. \u201cBut as farm workers in Pajaro learned last year after extreme flooding, and those across the country know too well, natural disasters can devastate agricultural communities. We must protect the beating heart of our nation\u2019s food supply by providing critical emergency assistance to these essential workers.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs the daughter of a former farmworker, I am proud to introduce this bill to deliver much-needed disaster relief for the hardworking men and women who grow and harvest our food,\u201d said Salinas. \u201cClimate change is only getting worse, and unexpected disasters can strike at any time. Yet despite their critical importance to our food system and economy, America\u2019s farmworkers currently do not receive direct federal support when they are forced to miss out on work and lose wages as a result. This legislation would finally right that wrong and ensure that, rain or shine, our farmworkers and their families can continue to pay the bills and put food on the table.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen extreme weather occurs, farmworkers across the United States continue to help feed the nation. And yet, these essential workers and their families face great uncertainty when unexpected disasters cause them to lose work and income. In my congressional district, after severe flooding in early 2023, hundreds of farmworkers in the Pajaro community faced displacement and lost wages. They and all farmworkers deserve better. That\u2019s why I\u2019m proud to be co-leading the Disaster Relief for Farm Workers Act with Rep. Salinas and Sens. Padilla and Bennet. Our bill ensures America\u2019s indispensable farmworkers can receive disaster relief funding they need and have earned,\u201d said Lofgren.\n\nAn estimated 2.4 million farm workers wake up before sunrise every day to work on our nation\u2019s family farms and ranches, tend to animals, harvest fruits and vegetables, and feed families across the country. Yet climate-related threats including rising temperatures and increasingly severe natural disasters particularly affect farm workers. However, existing federal disaster relief programs insufficiently compensate farm workers when they lose wages as a result of conditions out of their control.\n\nThe Disaster Relief for Farm Workers Act follows the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Equity Commission\u2019s recommendations to provide disaster relief funding for farm workers. Specifically, the bill makes grants available to eligible organizations to provide emergency relief to farm workers affected by a disaster and ensures USDA develops and executes a promotional plan prior to and throughout the distribution of the relief grants to increase awareness of the assistance available.\n\n\u201cFarm workers have long been excluded from federal disaster relief programs, even as they have been disproportionately impacted by extreme weather such as fires, flooding, and other natural disasters,\u201d said Teresa Romero, President, United Farm Workers (UFW). \u201cThe same way the federal government provides support to farm owners who lose crops, the federal government should provide support to farm workers who lose work. The Disaster Relief for Farm Workers Act will ensure that farm workers and their families can put food on the table when they are unable to work due to conditions beyond their control.\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom rising temperatures to wildfires to flooding conditions, farm worker communities face unprecedented consequences due to climate change yet do not receive any federal relief for climate change-related disasters,\u201d said Erica Lomeli Corcoran, Interim CEO, UFW Foundation. \u201cThis is why the UFW Foundation is supporting the introduction of the Disaster Relief for Farm Workers Act. This legislation would provide funds to aid farm workers who are directly impacted by climate disasters, ensuring that they do not lose their livelihood due to conditions beyond their control. We saw that farm workers are incredibly essential to this country\u2019s health and wellbeing during the COVID pandemic. It\u2019s time to offer them protections when facing future pandemics and natural disasters.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe thank Senator Bennet for supporting agriculture workers. Providing emergency assistance to the essential workers responsible for feeding America helps create a more stable workforce in our food supply,\u201d said Alex S\u00e1nchez, President and CEO, Voces Unidas de las Monta\u00f1as.\n\nThe bill is also supported by Earthjustice, National Farm Worker Ministry, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP), California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Columbia Legal Services, United Migrant Opportunity Services, and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:11:47Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.bennet.senate.gov/2024/06/14/press-releases-id-36b4a4d3-cb60-48d8-aa26-d70d3a97b610/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7028831169009209, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}