The Blueprint for a Safer Economy is so dumb. And here’s why. The requirements outlined in the state’s COVID-19 regulations “blueprint” just changed. And they will change again.
So what’s the point of a system that makes it impossible to compare your status from next week to one month ago? Umm, politics.
I mean, I’m just guessing. I’m not 100 percent positive that Gov. Gavin Newsom is a proponent of politics over policy (Actually, I am!) or that the recall effort has impacted his administration and the way it administrates (It has!).
But, just for the record, I have complained about this before! The state’s ever-changing sets of guidelines, moving goalposts, and seemingly arbitrary measures of success make it hard to keep track of COVID-19 regulations, plan around them, or really do anything for the future. Ugg!
I mean, it’s great (Really great!) that Santa Barbara County is actually in the red tier because of recent changes to the so-called “blueprint.” And it’s only possible because of the vaccine and the new complicated Healthy Quartiles Index for COVID-19 equity—2 million people vaccinated in communities that got walloped by the virus! As a state, we really want to make sure that everyone gets the virus equally, you know? But do people getting vaccinated all over the state really impact Santa Barbara County’s chances of spreading or not spreading COVID-19?
Nope. Nope. But businesses that haven’t been open for months now get to open again. Which is great! We need it. I just want to get off the roller coaster of “blueprint” regulations that continue to change.
Speaking of change. That’s exactly what’s not happening to bipartisanship. As in, bipartisanship isn’t magically a thing just because President Joe Biden took the country’s reins. Congress continues to operate along partisan lines, and I’m over it. Over it!
U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) has been touting all of the great things he’s been doing for his Central Coast constituents, including on immigration policy. Yay! Did you guys hear? He’s the co-chair of a brand spanking new immigration task force! Wow. Amazing. Bipartisan immigration reform, here we come!
Oh wait, this fabulous new task force is a Democratic task force—not a bipartisan one. But, this task force does want to build system that reflects “American values as a nation of immigrants.” OK, great!
Carbajal is correct. Growers in his district suffer from labor shortage issues. Agriculture is an economic driver. The H-2A program needs to be reformed. There should be a path to citizenship for people who have lived in the U.S. since they were children. There should be a path to citizenship for people who come to the U.S. to work. We need to figure out the human rights disaster at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But what are the chances of any legislation sticking around if both parties don’t support it? What are the chances that 100 Democrats committed to pro-economic growth, pro-innovation, and fiscally responsible policies can force immigration reform down the throats of their Republican counterparts?
Slim to none. This task force smells like politics, not effective governance.
We need a task force of Republicans and Democrats to tackle immigration and so much more—and Carbajal should be the co-chair. That’s what I want to hear about.
The Canary is waiting for a press release. Send comments to canary@santamarisun.com.
This article appears in Mar 18-25, 2021.