• On Feb. 2, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives in support of front-line workers during COVID-19. “Since the outbreak of this deadly virus, countless medical workers, emergency management personnel, public safety officers, grocery and food service workers, postal and delivery workers, farmworkers, and other front-line workers have continued to work every day to meet the essential needs of the American public, often at great personal risk,” a statement from Carbajal’s office said. The resolution states that “the House of Representatives honors and recognizes the contributions of all front-line workers and essential critical infrastructure personnel and reaffirms the responsibility of Congress to find ways to meet the needs of front-line workers, in addition to our elderly, for the most effective personal protective equipment and other necessary tools to safely carry out their jobs.” Resolutions do not have the force of law, according to Carbajal’s office, but rather “serve as a tool used to express the sentiment of the House on a particular subject in order to spur congressional action.” Carbajal’s resolution was cosponsored by fellow House members from California, Texas, Maryland, Arizona, and Connecticut.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement on Feb. 5 to thank the Biden-Harris administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for fully reimbursing California for its emergency relief programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is now the policy of the Biden-Harris administration to provide state and local governments reimbursement for emergency costs for FEMA-eligible services—including the cost of National Guard personnel mobilization, the purchase of personal protective equipment, emergency feeding programs, and sheltering at-risk populations—at a 100 percent rate dating back to January 2020,” according to Newsom’s office. The governor emphasized the importance of state programs that protect the homeless population in California, which will now be eligible for full reimbursement under the new policy. “On behalf of the 23,000 people experiencing homelessness who have benefited from Project Roomkey in California since April of last year, I say thank you President Biden,” Newsom said. “Your administration’s decision to fund this pandemic response—meant to protect the most vulnerable homeless Californians from COVID-19—has saved countless lives.”
• U.S. Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Monterey) and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), sent a Feb. 4 letter to the Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expressing “concern with the recent decision to forego listing the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act and urging substantial investments in monarch conservation efforts so this crucial pollinator does not go extinct before protections are in place,” a statement said. According to Carbajal’s office, the monarch butterfly is threatened by the loss of its habitat and climate change, with recent population counts showing a 99.9 percent decline in the monarch populations that migrate to California in the winter. “Just two decades ago, roughly 1.2 million monarchs overwintered in California,” the statement said. “This year, that number is down to 1,914.” While the Fish and Wildlife Service recognized the severity of the monarch’s endangerment in December, it opted not to list it under the Endangered Species Act because other species took higher priority. “This decision effectively puts the monarch butterfly on a waiting list but denies the species immediate protection,” the statement said. Carbajal, Panetta, and Merkley wrote in the letter that, “to ensure the monarch does not become the 48th species to go extinct while on the candidate list, we urge the service to make substantial investments in bold conservation actions that not only prevent the butterfly from further decline but also ensure long-term population stability.”
This article appears in Feb 11-18, 2021.
