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BenitoLink sent six questions regarding San Benito County to the two candidates for the 29th Assembly District seat, incumbent Robert Rivas and his challenger, J.W. Paine. We attempted to contact Paine multiple times and did not receive a response.
Robert Rivas, 44, has represented Assembly District 29 since 2018, and became Assembly speaker in June 2023. He grew up in Paicines and now lives with his wife and children in Hollister. He served as chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee and was vice-chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus. As speaker, Rivas manages the flow of legislation, assigns committees and leads the 62-member Democratic caucus in negotiations with the governor’s office and the Senate. Before being elected to the Assembly, Rivas served two terms on the San Benito County Board of Supervisors.
BenitoLink: List your top three policy or legislative priorities. If elected, how do you plan to get these priorities enacted?
Rivas: My top priority is always the same: advocating for the incredible community we have here in District 29. I’ve lived here my whole life, and it’s a great privilege to represent our residents. I’m proud to have successfully secured resources for our district—a couple of recent examples include securing $2.6 million in grants for local wildfire prevention; getting $20 million committed to Pajaro flood recovery and protection; and securing a commitment from the California Transportation Commission to complete five new miles of expressway between Highway 101 and Hollister. I travel a lot for work and know firsthand how crazy-making the traffic situation here is. If reelected, I’ll keep building on this progress.
In my role as speaker, I’m going to keep focusing on public safety and affordability. This year, I helped author and pass new laws to hold organized gangs accountable for the smash-and-grab retail theft we’ve all seen on the news, and protected money for emergency homeless shelters. Next session I’ll be focused on affordability. We must make California less expensive for working families. The role of speaker helps drive the legislative agenda at our Capitol, and that’s a good thing for Assembly District 29.
The state is suffering from a law enforcement shortage. Should the legislature address this, and if so, how?
Yes, and we are. Since 2022, California has hired a record number of CHP officers and made huge investments in law enforcement operations across California through the Organized Retail Theft Program. Separately, we provide many millions in state grants to local law enforcement every year. This all comes out of the state budget that we pass in the Assembly.
This past session, I authored a package of public safety bills with our caucus that gives police and prosecutors new tools to stop retail theft while also supporting criminal justice reforms. We hear Californians loud and clear on the need, and their support, for stronger public safety laws. I also encourage young people in District 29 to consider a career in law enforcement, because we need state and local officers who really understand who we are and how we live.
According to the Water Resources Board, San Benito County has sufficient groundwater to handle its immediate needs but is budgeted for less San Luis Reservoir water every year. How can you help address the county’s growing need for water?
This is a crucial issue, and I’m committed to making our county’s water needs known loud and clear in Sacramento. Rural communities like ours have specific needs, and so I’m in constant contact with local residents, including farmworkers and small business owners, who rely on water for their livelihoods. My job is to bring their perspectives to the Capitol. We must be clear-eyed on the fact that climate change is altering the water landscape dramatically, and so in addition to maintaining supplies, we’re going to have to invest in farming and land conservation practices that reflect this reality.
More than half of San Benito County’s workers commute to jobs outside the county. With an initiative on the ballot intended to slow growth, how would you encourage job creation within the county?
I’ve worked for years with local business owners in Assembly District 29 and of course I’m also a child of the labor movement—my grandfather was an organizer with Dolores Huerta and the UFW—so the experience of working people is always front and center for me. Job creation is about the whole pipeline, from education to business creation, to job security. We need to educate local people, get them working at local businesses, and protect local jobs.
I’ll call out a couple of things I’ve done to support this. In 2023, I secured funding for a $10 million loan for Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital and an $8.3 million loan for Watsonville Community Hospital. These loans allowed the hospitals to keep their doors open, and protected local positions that serve our community. Last year, I also helped secure a minimum wage increase to $25 per hour for healthcare workers, the highest in the nation. I’ve also worked to increase access to broadband internet in rural parts of the county by advocating for the Last Mile Broadband Fund, which recently awarded over $10 million to San Benito County and $4.3 million to Santa Cruz County to help underserved businesses and individuals continue to grow. Lastly, I put a statewide bond on the November ballot to improve K-12 school buildings. It all goes hand in hand.
Tourism in San Juan Bautista is still struggling post-COVID, and congestion from ongoing highway construction projects further discourages visitors. With the city’s resources stretched by wastewater and drinking water projects, what assistance can you give this endangered city?
This is really close to my heart, and I’ve been advocating for the city throughout my time in the Assembly. I worked with Senator Caballero’s office to secure $3 million in funds for the San Juan Bautista Wastewater project, making a crucial investment into infrastructure that will send the city’s wastewater to Hollister’s treatment plant. That’s going to really improve the city’s water systems. Collaboration was at the core of this victory, which involved incredible teamwork from legislative offices at all levels. I know that tourism and construction congestion are ongoing challenges, and I’ll continue working closely with San Juan Bautista’s city staff and leadership to help them recover and thrive.
How would you address increasing mental health services to underserved segments of the population?
Despite a tight budget this year, we funded programs to reduce street homelessness and directed money toward improving local mental health services. Senate Bill 1 passed, which will bring new state dollars online for mental health and addiction treatment. I will keep fighting to ensure everyone, and especially people who are already at the margins or underserved, can get mental health support. Because when one person is struggling with mental illness, it rarely stops at their door—the impact is felt by our whole community.
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