News, Newsom signs bill to rescue pools closed by lifeguard shortage : detailed suggestions and opinions about Newsom signs bill to rescue pools closed by lifeguard shortage .
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Tuesday that will make it easier for local governments to fill lifeguard positions following a summer in which labor shortages closed much-needed public pools.
Assembly Bill 1672 by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Carlsbad) will ease certification requirements and allow more rigorously trained ocean lifeguards to work at city pools when there are staffing shortages. The bill was co-sponsored by the city of Carlsbad, which struggled to keep its pools open this summer due to too few lifeguards.
Industry experts have blamed recent labor pool shortages among lifeguards on the disruption of temporary shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I suspect people are making other life choices,” Boerner Horvath said previously. “They’re getting their degrees or going into other industries. I mean, you’re seeing this across the board.”
