Thanks to SEIU members’ insistence, California took a big step in pandemic readiness with the passage of Senate Bill 275. This bill will ensure the state—and all hospitals—are much better prepared for a pandemic.

You did this.

  • You spoke out. You provided examples of dangerous conditions inside your hospitals.
  • Many 121RN members spoke to the media about the lack of and aggressive rationing of critical PPE.
  • Many of you participated in virtual lobby visits and town hall meetings with key legislators.
  • And many more of you called the Governor’s office to urge him to sign our bill into law.

This is what convinced legislators—and ultimately the Governor—that something had to be done. This is what Nurse-Powered Politics is all about!

Background on the bill: Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) and Senator Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) worked with us to author SB 275, designed to avoid future catastrophic shortages of PPE.

Be sure to use our online tool to report PPE shortages at your workplace—in real time.

 

If you haven’t yet, please review the updated Cal/OSHA guidelines for PPE use during a pandemic.

SB 275 will:

  • Mandate California to create a stockpile within one year of its funding. The stockpile will be maintained as necessary.
  • Create a state task force to advise the state on the creation of the stockpile. The task force will include two healthcare and two essential worker seats. This task force will also inform the definition of “Surge Consumption PPE” and what health employers should have.
  • Require Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Large Medical Practices, and Dialysis Clinics to have 45 days of Surge Consumption PPE.
  • Require health employers to provide PPE upon request to employees—your supervisors cannot deny your request or force you to re-use your PPE.
  • Establish a financial penalty for employers who don’t have a sufficient inventory of PPE or fail to provide PPE to workers.
  • Establish a requirement for healthcare employers to send detailed tallies of their on-hand inventory to the state.

This bill is a good first step in establishing baseline pandemic-readiness that was lacking when COVID-19 hit the state. Together, we will continue to push our hospitals, communities, state and nation to be better prepared for a pandemic or other emergency.