Assemblymember Robert Rivas was elected to the State Assembly in 2018.
While still in his first term, in the Fall of 2020, he was appointed as Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture Committee and elected as Vice-Chair of the influential Latino Legislative Caucus. A lifelong resident of the district, Rivas served two terms on the San Benito County Board of Supervisors prior to becoming an Assemblymember.
We live in one of the most beautiful and diverse natural environments in the United States. I stood up to big oil during the successful fight to ban fracking that threatened our groundwater. In the Assembly, I am an advocate for renewable energy and environmental justice, and a fierce opponent of the special interests that damage our planet in the pursuit of profits. I authored the oil spills safety bill AB-936, which addresses response contingency planning and ensures that safety standards are regularly updated to incorporate the best possible tools for oil clean-up. I am proud to have spearheaded environmental justice legislation that updates the state’s definition of “environmental justice” to include the “meaningful involvement” of people of all races, cultures, incomes, and national origins.