• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced on Feb. 2 the first round of investments to repair California bridges under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act he helped pass. Carbajal voted to deliver $4.25 billion to fix bridges this year, as part of a total $27.5 billion investment in bridge repair over the next five years, according to the congressman’s office. According to the Department of Transportation, there are 52 bridges in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties that are in poor condition. The bipartisan infrastructure act also includes a separate program designed to support larger bridges through a competitive grant program. Details on that program will be announced at a later date. “We promised to make long overdue investments in our dilapidated infrastructure, and I am proud to say we delivered. The bipartisan infrastructure law is the largest investment our nation has ever made to repair our bridges, which will help Central Coast residents get to school and work, create good-paying jobs, connect communities, and drive commerce,” Carbajal said in a statement. “The bipartisan infrastructure law is a once-in-a-generation investment that will improve the lives of everyone on the Central Coast. I’m proud to have worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this bill across the finish line.”
• Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Feb. 3 that more than $923 million for affordable housing projects is available across the state as part of the California Housing Accelerator—a $1.75 billion investment to provide bridge funding to shovel-ready projects that were unable to begin construction due to a shortage of federal tax credits and bonds. In total, 27 statewide projects have been approved with nearly all of the projects expected to break ground this summer. When fully completed, the projects will create 2,300 housing units—500 are for those experiencing homelessness, according to the governor’s office. Newsom’s plan to address homelessness and housing affordability includes multi-year investments and new laws and accountability measures. “We’re building more housing for people at risk of homelessness to prevent folks from ending up on the streets, and we’re doing it faster than ever before,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re getting shovels in the ground in a matter of months, creating thousands of new affordable homes for people at the economic margins who need these new units the most.” The Housing Accelerator prioritizes projects for those experiencing homelessness and for those living below 30 percent of an area’s median income.
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) led 13 of his Senate colleagues in sending a letter to the Biden-Harris administration calling for the creation of an Urban Indian Interagency Work Group that would identify the needs of urban Native Americans and Alaska Natives and implement strategies to support them in urban setting, according to a Feb. 3 statement. “In light of the goals you outlined in the Biden-Harris Plan for Tribal Nations, specifically to ensure that urban AI/ANs receive ‘quality health care, culturally relevant education, adequate and affordable housing, and other needed resources,’ we urge the administration to form an Urban Indian Interagency Work Group to identify the critical needs of urban AI/AN populations and develop strategies to implement real change that uplifts urban AI/ANs,” the letter stated. Today, approximately 70 percent of Native Americans reside in urban cities as a direct result of the federal government’s assimilation policies as well as the efforts of tribal members seeking out education and employment opportunities. The establishment of an interagency work group would help identify federal funding strategies to better address the needs of urban-living Native Americans, according to Padilla’s office.
This article appears in Feb 10-17, 2022.