WASHINGTON – In response to the recent news that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law an inhumane measure banning local governments from requiring employers to institute basic heat protections to protect workers, Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07) and Judy Chu (CA-28) issued the following statement:

“The action by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Republican state legislature is unconscionable and cruel. Local governments should be able to require employers to provide workers with basic safety measures from scorching temperatures in the workplace. As climate change continues to exacerbate extreme heat, it’s clear that workers in Florida and across the country need guaranteed federal workplace protections from heat, like shade, accessible water, and cooling breaks, now, more than ever,” said Reps. Grijalva and Chu. “As the summer heat quickly approaches, it’s urgent that Speaker Johnson and the Republican majority bring the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury and Fatality Prevention Act to the House floor for a vote. This legislation would implement these types of common sense protections to ensure the safety and health of workers who are exposed to dangerous heat conditions in the workplace. We must act now and decisively to safeguard all workers from heat stress and extreme temperatures.”

“Americans across the country are grappling with some of the hottest temperatures on record. Yet workers in this country still have no legal protection against excessive heat—one of the oldest, most serious, and most common workplace hazards. Heat illness affects workers in our nation’s fields, warehouses, and factories, and climate change is making the problem more severe every year,” said Ranking Member Bobby Scott, House Committee on Education and the Workforce. “Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury and Fatality Prevention Act would require OSHA to issue a heat standard on a much faster track than the normal OSHA regulatory process. Workers deserve nothing less, particularly as heat-related illnesses and deaths rise.”

The Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury and Fatality Prevention Act is sponsored by Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07), Judy Chu (CA-28), Bobby Scott (VA-03), and Alma Adams (NC-12) and Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) in the Senate.