Political Watch: June 30, 2022

• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) recently introduced legislation to help the homelessness and growing substance abuse crises, according to the senator’s office. The Coordinating Substance Use and Homelessness Care Act of 2022 would create a grant program under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support culturally competent, trauma-informed substance use disorder and homelessness services. “With over half a million people in our country experiencing homelessness, and about 1 in 5 of them having substance abuse or mental health disorders, we must work to better coordinate resources for this vulnerable population,” Padilla said in a statement. The legislation would establish a HUD grant program to award five-year of up to $500,000 grants to eligible entities to improve services. Activities can include appointing a coordinator to oversee the overlap in services, improving systems infrastructure, improving technologies, helping with Medicaid enrollment, and increasing the availability of naloxone. The bill was previously introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D-Pennsylvania), who also wanted to see more support systems in place after her own experience. “My son’s experience battling substance use disorder helped me further understand the importance of reducing barriers and streamlining critical supportive services to prevent relapse and strengthen the recovery journey. I look forward to working with Sen. Padilla on this crucial legislation,” Dean said in a statement. 

• President Joe Biden signed a gun safety package into law on June 26 that included a proposal put forward by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), which will expand the use of “red flag” laws, according to the congressman’s office. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act includes multiple provisions to reduce gun deaths and keep communities safe, including putting $750 million aside for states to create and administer red flag laws and other measures that can keep guns out of the hands of those who are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Other pieces in the legislation include adding convicted domestic violence abusers in dating relationships to the national background check system, banning gun trafficking, enhancing background checks for those under 21 years old, and funding anti-violence community initiatives. “These measures will make a real difference in keeping our communities safe. Better implementation of red flag laws, which have been shown to work in California and elsewhere, will complement the strengthened background check and purchase oversight included in this measure,” Carbajal said in a statement. “There is still work to be done, but I am confident that it will not be another 30 years before Congress can make additional progress to curb gun deaths and protect our children.”

• After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, and Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee launched a new, multi-state commitment to defend access to reproductive health care and protect patients and providers, according to Newsom’s office. “The Supreme Court has made it clear—they want to strip women of their liberty and let Republican states replace it with mandated birth because the right to choose an abortion is not ‘deeply rooted in history,’” Newsom said in a statement. Newsom also proposed a $125 million reproductive health care package to expand access for women and help prepare for the influx of women seeking reproductive care from other states. The state Legislature has also introduced a constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. “They want to turn back the clock to a time when women had no right to make decisions about their own bodies, when women had to seek care in the shadows and at great danger, when women were not treated as equal citizens under the law. This is another devastating step toward erasing the rights and liberties Americans have fought for on battlefields, in courthouses, and in capitols. This is not the America we know—and it’s not the California way,” Newsom said.

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