Senator Smallwood-Cuevas Releases Statement on Governor’s Executive Order to Conduct Broad Review of…

Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), Chair of the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee, today released the following statement in response to Governor Gavin Newsom's executive order to direct a broad review of California's labor policies in light of the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI):

“Governor Newsom's executive order is a necessary and timely step. It acknowledges what workers already know: AI is reshaping the economy fast, and our existing safety net is not built for this moment. Still, an executive order is a beginning — not an answer. 

“California is home to some of the world's most influential AI companies, and with that comes great responsibility. Algorithms are screening job applicants, setting schedules, and making consequential decisions about workers’ livelihoods, often without workers ever knowing how or why those decisions were made. In communities like South Los Angeles, where working families power the region's most dynamic industries, the stakes could not be higher. For too many workers, this is not a future concern — it’s today's reality — and policy must meet it with urgency. 

“In the 28th District, this conversation is not theoretical — it is already happening in our classrooms, workplaces, and communities. Students at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College are already building the skills to compete in an economy being reshaped around them. Last year, when we convened workers, educators, and industry leaders there for a workplace equity summit on emerging technologies, the message was clear: Economic progress that leaves those workers behind is not progress worth celebrating. 

“Since joining the Senate, I have worked to build the foundation this moment requires. SB 578 established the CA Workplace Outreach Project to ensure workers know their rights and employers meet their obligations. I have fought to require employers to disclose the surveillance tools they deploy in the workplace because transparency is the root of accountability. And I have pushed for an independent study of AI's real impacts on job quality, worker well-being, and state revenues because good policy is built on honest data — not industry promises.

“The Governor’s executive order sets meaningful deadlines and concrete deliverables, and the seeds it plants must now be tended carefully. My focus is making sure this work goes far enough by establishing retraining programs that lead to real jobs; giving labor a genuine voice in how AI is implemented; ensuring workers are not the last to know when AI enters their workplace; and investing in California’s small businesses with the technical support they need to compete in an AI-driven economy — not simply a mandate to figure it out on their own. 

“AI is not going anywhere. Neither are California’s workers nor the small business owners who employ them. The question is not whether these forces will coexist, but whether we will build the rules, safeguards, and investments necessary to make that coexistence fair. That is the work before us — and I intend to see it through.” 

Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas represents the 28^th Senate District, which includes the communities of South Los Angeles, Mid City, Culver City, West Los Angeles, Century City and Downtown Los Angeles. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas spent more than two decades serving as a worker rights and racial equity advocate before her election to the State Senate. She resides in the View Park community of South Los Angeles with her family.