Latest news with #Serrato
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exploring how Latinos can get ahead. Work ethic already there, Modesto speaker says
In Modesto last week, Merced County's director of workforce development laid out statistics on how his fellow Latinos have been held back in the job market. He also told of an ambitious plan to make the future better. Erick Serrato spoke about the effort, which also involves Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, at Thursday's meeting of the Latino Community Roundtable of Stanislaus County. The plan, North Valley Thrive, aims for well-paying jobs for residents of all backgrounds. The report was compiled under a $5 million state grant. Some of the plan is well under way, such as solar and biomass energy and making various products from crop waste. The documents also note the long-standing need for nurses, electricians, mechanics and other skills. Serrato knows Modesto well, having graduated from Davis High School in 1994. He urged training and business investments to get Latinos beyond the farm and service jobs they have long filled. He noted that this group suffers more than the overall workforce when downturns happen. He said one measure, called labor force participation, highlights the eagerness of Latinos to work. It counts not just job-holders but people looking for work. The most recent report showed 67% of the total Latino population in this category, vs. 61% of all workers. The people not counted include children and retirees. Serrato recalled a saying from his boyhood: 'As long as there is work.' It was instilled by his parents, Rodolfo and Graciela Serrato, who attended his talk. 'What that means is that as long as there is work to do for us, everything else will kind of fall into place,' the son said. Graciela Serrato was a teacher's aide at Prescott Junior High School. Her husband worked farms and also commuted to his supervisor job at Pacific Steel in Berkeley. For a few years, the couple ran a Creole restaurant named Cafe Bravo on Kansas Avenue. Erick Serrato earned an architecture degree at Woodbury University in Los Angeles. His thesis dealt with social goals in public housing design. He got into economic development with the city of Long Beach and joined Merced County in 2020. North Valley Thrive is one of 13 regional plans around California. They can compete for $600 million to carry out the ideas. Serrato said Latinos make up 95% of California farmworkers but only 12% of farm owners. He urged 'advanced manufacturing' beyond the current food processing, selling goods made from agricultural waste to the world. The region also could have high-tech niches, such as semiconductors, measuring devices and electric vehicles. Serrato suggested fabricating accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, to ease the housing shortage. The plan also envisions jobs in 'climate smart flood management,' letting rivers spread across restored forests that store carbon. And it calls for 'placemaking,' using the arts and other means to improve a community's quality of life and attract companies. North Valley Thrive overlaps with Stanislaus 2030 in its call for converting crop and livestock waste. The latter has spread to Merced and San Joaquin counties. The ventures could include earth-friendly fuels, building materials, plastics and more. Both efforts also seek to expand child care so parents can get to these jobs, along with growing small businesses of many types. The bioindustry push drew a protest from Bianca Lopez, a leader with both the Latino Roundtable and Valley Improvement Projects. She urged a focus instead on local agriculture — 'take care of our soil, be good stewards of the land, grow food that we're actually going to eat, not almonds that go to China.' Gov. Gavin Newsom received the North Valley Thrive report during a Jan. 6 news conference at Stanislaus State University. It mainly was about his proposed budget for the next fiscal year. Serrato was on hand in Turlock, as noted Thursday by Roundtable President Karlha Arias. 'You are bringing state attention to our area,' she said. 'No one ever thinks about us, so that's a lot of work.' Praise went to Serrato's parents from Marian Kaanon, president and CEO of the Stanislaus Community Foundation. 'You did such a great job with this guy, incredible. Thank you.'
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislative committee advances privacy bill aimed at protecting consumers
Mar. 5—One app to talk to friends in another country, another to clock in at work or pay for the laundry machine at an apartment complex — the ubiquity of internet services is growing ever more. So, too, is the personal data shared freely across the web. While skimming through a long terms of service agreement might not cause the average user much heartburn, the information being shared or misused just might — especially concerning data about a person's health or children. One bill making its way through the New Mexico Legislature seeks to address that problem. House Bill 410, the Consumer Information and Data Protection Act, would align New Mexico with similar laws in 22 other states. According to the bill's sponsor, Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, it also gives the New Mexico Department of Justice more teeth in punishing bad actors. Serrato said the time to pass this legislation was now because law enforcement can do little to help people when their data is compromised. "It really leaves all New Mexicans vulnerable to the fact that we can't protect our data," Serrato said during the first of two hearings in the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee. After the bill was amended, the committee passed the bill on an 8-0 vote during a March 3 hearing, sending it to the House Judiciary Committee for review. Serrato told the Journal the enforcement component was among the bill's most important changes. The Consumer Information and Data Protection Act gives the attorney general the power to investigate and fine businesses out of compliance, she added. If passed, businesses could not sell or offer to sell consumer health data without first obtaining consent. They also cannot share health data with employees or contractors unless confidentiality agreements bind those individuals. Additionally, businesses cannot use deceptive or manipulative user interface designs that make it harder for consumers to exercise their data rights, such as pre-ticked boxes, unclear language and no reject button. They also cannot ignore or delay consumer requests to access, correct or delete personal data, opt out of data processing for targeted advertising or profiling, or obtain a copy of their data. Restrictions would also apply to geofencing, a targeted marketing practice that sends tailored advertising to people when they enter a geographic area or, more specifically, mental health, reproductive health or sexual health facilities. Lastly, the bill would require businesses to use assessments to ensure that data is processed in compliance with the law. Serrato noted that this was a piece that other states do not have. The bill would not apply to nonprofit groups and colleges. It would only affect businesses that handle the data of at least 35,000 consumers or have processed data from at least 10,000 consumers and made over 20% of their total income from selling personal data. Most of the bill components are standard among the 22 states with similar laws. But for critics of the bill, that's exactly the problem. Caitriona Fitzgerald, a national advocate for data privacy, testified that measures like this around the U.S. don't go far enough. "They do little to change the status quo of companies being able to collect and use personal data however they like as long as they tell us what they are doing in a privacy policy that nobody reads," Fitzgerald said. Fitzgerald's organization, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, sent a letter to the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee denouncing the bill. "The bill seeks to provide to New Mexico consumers the right to know the information companies have collected about them, the right to access, correct and delete that information, as well as the right to stop the disclosure of certain information to third parties," the letter said. "However, in its current form it would do little to protect New Mexico consumers' personal information, or to rein in major tech companies like Google and Facebook." The letter also called for stronger protections, something Serrato described as unrealistic. When asked if she thought there would be enough time for the bill to pass through both houses before the session's end, Serrato said she's optimistic the bill will pass.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Fight for paid family and medical leave notches early victory in its return to the Roundhouse
State Rep. Jenifer Jones has examined paid family and medical leave from many angles. As a mother to seven children, she saved up every hour of paid time off to be at home with her kids, the Deming Republican told members of the House Health and Human Services Committee on Monday. As an oncology nurse, she witnessed what families faced as they searched for time to care for sick loved ones. And as a wife and daughter-in-law, she took unpaid time off to care for her late husband and mother-in-law during their cancer treatments. "I have the good fortune of seeing just about every side of this issue," Jones said. "I think many of us do; we're just people." As lawmakers examined a renewed push toward a state program to provide workers with paid time off to address medical issues or care for family, the personal often blended with the political — for the bill's sponsors, spectators and committee members. The proposal cleared its first hurdle Monday, following a 6-4, party-line committee vote in its favor. However, opposition to the proposal remains strong, particularly among business owners concerned about how offering paid family and medical leave might affect their operations. Even after considering the issue from several perspectives, Jones voted against sending it onward. "Our job is to create an environment where … businesses are thriving — not a heavy-handed government that will force them to do things they cannot do without closing," she said. 'Insurance' for workers and businesses House Bill 11, sponsored by Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, would allow employees to receive a percentage of their wages while on leave from work to bond with a new child, care for an ailing family member, prepare for a spouse's military deployment or take action to protect themselves or a family member from certain types of violence, namely domestic abuse. The bill's co-sponsor Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, described the proposed state-run family and medical leave program as a kind of "insurance" for businesses and their employees, so they're not relying on informal deals to cobble together time off. In a lot of ways, Serrato said, her own experiences of taking time off to welcome a new child were privileged ones. She said she was lucky to work in positions that didn't require as much manual labor and to have a support system of family members to help. 'You hear these stories and say, 'Oh, we were so lucky,' " Serrato said in an interview Monday. "That's not fair to rely on luck to grow your workforce, and something like this will help our workforce overall.' If passed, HB 11 would create a paid family and medical leave fund, administered by the state but funded by workers and employers with five or more employees. Workers would chip in the equivalent to 0.5% of their earnings, while employers would add in 0.4% of each eligible worker's wages. The fund also would require some seed money from the state. HB 11's fiscal impact report shows the fund would require about $25 million in startup dollars for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. A line item in the earliest edition of the state's budget bill for fiscal year 2026 includes a $35 million appropriation for the Department of Workforce Solutions to implement the legislation. Starting in January 2028, eligible workers would be able to take up to 12 weeks of leave while earning the state's minimum wage, plus two-thirds of their remaining salary. Payments would max out at the average wage of all occupations in New Mexico. Call for more employer protections The proposal for paid family and medical leave should sound familiar: The House voted to kill a similar proposal — by a margin of two votes — on the last full day of the 2024 legislative session. This year's bill looks a little different from the 2024 proposal. Serrato noted the latest version tightens up some definitions to maintain consistency across state statute in addition to creating a ramp-up to 12 weeks of paid leave for all workers after the fund becomes solvent. This year's Legislature looks different, too. Eleven Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in opposing the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act in 2024. Three of them lost reelection bids, with each of their rivals indicating support for a paid leave proposal — a change lawmakers have said could help get the measure across the finish line. Though it cleared its first obstacle Monday, the bill will still face significant pushback from chambers of commerce and business officials, several of whom voiced concerns about the bill Monday. Carol Wight, CEO of the New Mexico Restaurant Association, argued employees and employers should have the choice to opt into the program, rather than imposing a statewide requirement. "Employees may not want to spend their money on something like this," Wight said in an interview Monday. "And why would we give them that choice? Because these legislators know better than they do what's good for them." The bill is slated to go before the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee, then to the House floor — and Wight said she's prepared to keep fighting it along the way to ensure it includes protections for employers, not just employees. "It's not a good bill. It's not finished, and it is very one-sided," she said. "So give us a chance to make some amendments that would make it a better bill, and then you won't have so many people that are against it." Notably, not all business owners opposed HB 11 during the committee meeting Monday. Deborah Condit, owner of the Albuquerque bookshop Books on the Bosque, was among those who spoke in support of it. After running the numbers for her business and accounting for her 10 employees, Condit said it would cost her $32 a month — a sum she equated to selling one more book — to provide paid family and medical leave through the state program, a benefit she couldn't otherwise afford. "If there's a way for me as a small business owner to be able to provide that, sign me up. I am right there," Condit said.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Paid parental, medical leave program passes first committee
Jan. 27—SANTA FE — The Paid Family and Medical Leave Act on Monday passed its first legislative hurdle, much to the relief — and dismay — of different parents present at its first committee hearing. It took more than two hours of discussion and public comment in the House Health and Human Services Committee before the bill was approved on a party-line 6-4 vote, with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans in opposition. Now, the bill has just under eight weeks to make it through the rest of the Roundhouse. It failed last year to pass the House floor by two votes. By implementing new fees, the legislation would allow employees to take up to 12 paid weeks off for parental leave and up to nine weeks off paid for medical or military exigency purposes. It would also allow nine weeks paid time-off for instances of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault or abuse, for the employee or an employee's family member. Under the program, employees would pay 0.5% of their wages into the fund — $5 for every $1,000 — and employers with five or more employees would pay 0.4% of wages into the fund — $4 for every $1,000. Employees and employers would start paying into the fund in 2027, and employees could start requesting time off using the fund in 2028. Businesses that already offer a similar or broader paid leave program could apply for exemption waivers. The bill, House Bill 11, heads to the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee next. The debate Bill sponsor Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, was in the past pregnant while serving in the House and had to return to work within six weeks, she said during Monday's hearing. "That's all that my nonprofit could afford to give me, even though they wanted to do more. This is an insurance policy that allows them to do more," Serrato said. Meanwhile, new Rep. Elaine Sena Cortez, R-Hobbs, who had a baby two years ago, said this program would be New Mexico's largest proposed tax increase ever — something committee chair Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Albuquerque, said is inflammatory language and without evidence. "We already pay federal tax. We already pay income tax," Cortez said. "Many people are struggling just to buy groceries. ... Credit card use is at an all-time high. So now we are asking New Mexicans that are already struggling to pay an additional tax; is that correct?" The bill sponsors disagreed. The Democratic legislators didn't agree with Republicans' defining the program fees as a tax. A legislative analysis of the bill calls it a payroll tax. In response to a question from Rep. Pamelya Herndon, D-Albuquerque, bill sponsor Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, said the goal is to ensure a "healthy, happy, productive workforce, which also protects the employer." "Whenever the employee is successful, the employer is successful," Herndon said. "And so what we want to do is to make sure that they are able to take care of themselves when they need to, and that they're able to take care of their families when they need to. So this is a guaranteed savings plan to help make sure that there is funds to take care of them." A slew of parents attended the committee meeting, including Abby O'Connor, marketing director with the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association. As a pregnant mother with a young child at home, she said, she understands where "the hearts are of the sponsors and the supporters as well as anybody. But I also understand that, as a small business owner and a fifth-generation rancher from this state, that this will kill small businesses." "Who do we expect to pick cherries, milk cows and go out and harvest hard crops when our employees are out on leave?" she added. But for mother Deborah Condit, having a paid leave program could've prevented her from needing to go on food stamps. Condit, owner of Albuquerque's Books on the Bosque, said her employer of four years didn't provide paid leave when she had her daughter. Now, as a business owner, she faces a similar situation where she can't afford to give her employees the paid time off she wants. "If there's a way for me as a small business owner to be able to provide that, sign me up," Condit said. Many people who spoke in opposition, including lawmakers, said they support the spirit of the bill but it's just not economically feasible for employers, especially those in rural America, to replace workers for 9-12 weeks. And, many of the same businesses and trade associations that opposed the bill last year again don't support it, like the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce and the New Mexico Restaurant Association. Business leaders noted the bill hasn't changed much since its 2024 failure on the House floor. A narrower version of the bill introduced last year by Rep. Marian Matthews, D-Albuquerque, died in its first committee. It's unclear if Matthews will introduce an alternative bill again this year. A possible compromise? At a breakfast at the La Fonda hotel hosted by the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce last week, Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, encouraged business leaders to "stay at the table." "We're going to try and find a compromise," he said. "It doesn't mean everyone's going to be happy, but I think that it's important that we listen and hear the concerns and the input that you all have and try and get ourselves a place where we can move forward." The Governor's Office is still evaluating the bill and doesn't have a definitive position yet, said spokesperson Michael Coleman. House Minority Whip Alan Martinez, R-Bernalillo, questioned the bill sponsors on how the bill would work and how it's changed since 2019 to make it more amenable to business leaders. In response to a question from Martinez, Department of Workforce Solutions Secretary Sarita Nair said her agency would need 219 employees to run the program and currently has a 17% vacancy rate — or 100 employees. Though the committee hearing maintained a cordial climate, glimpses of tension appeared at different times. Thomson didn't pass out a non-validated survey on business responses to PFML, Martinez said, after which he asked validation for because "these numbers are important for the committee." He said more than 80% of businesses in his district — though the survey methods aren't clear — found issues with the proposed program. About 15 minutes into Martinez's line of questioning, and after repeated back-and-forth between him and Chandler about characterizations of the bill, Thomson said the lawmakers already "agreed to disagree" and asked them to move on. The House committee members were excused from the floor session for this debate, which was expected to be lengthy. Rep. Jenifer Jones, R-Deming, questioned bill sponsors for nearly an hour, digging into the legislation page by page. ---
