Sacramento, CA – Legislation proposing harsher penalties for violators of California’s Heat Illness Prevention Standard was vetoed by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. (D), who advocated instead for continued enforcement of current rules.

The Humane Treatment of Farm Workers Act (A.B. 2676) would have criminalized violations of the state’s heat standard. Employers found not providing agricultural workers with shade and potable water would have received up to a year in jail and a $25,000 fine in the event of an injury.

Another bill, the Farm Worker Safety Act (A.B. 2346), would have granted workers the right to sue employers who fail to provide them with sufficient water and shade.

Brown vetoed both bills Sept. 30, stating improvements to the standard should be pursued through regulation (.pdf file) and current rules should be enforced (.pdf file).