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By Gregory Svirnovskiy| Arizona Republic
Rep. Raúl Grijalva has been on the move.
In the past several weeks, the 10-term Democratic House member from Arizona and chair of the House Natural Resource Committee and his colleagues have traveled to Louisiana, Los Angeles and Richmond, championing the Environmental Justice For All Act.
It’s a part of the Capitol Hill lawmakers’ community input tour; they’re working to raise awareness for the legislation and gain a deeper understanding of how it could help impoverished communities.
The EJ For All Act is an equality and justice bill that would give people of color unprecedented power to sue institutions that violate the Civil Rights Act based on the impacts of pollution and expand environmental protections for vulnerable and poor communities.
But the bill is unlikely to pass through an evenly divided Senate. Its status in the House too is in question.
Grijalva has been working to promote the legislation since he helped draft the first version in 2018. On Wednesday, the bill will finally see action in the House Natural Resources Committee and, Grivalja hopes, finally make it to the House floor for a vote.
It’s been a long time coming.
“What’s different now is the buy-in,” Grijalva said. “The difference is the investment on the part of organizations.”
