• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) introduced the Community College Agriculture Advancement Act: a bipartisan bill that would fund community college workforce training, education, and research programs in agriculture, according to a June 7 statement from Carbajal’s office. This legislation will be considered for inclusion in this year’s Farm Bill and amending the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to give community colleges access to grant money for agriculture programs. Many community colleges, which often serve first-generation students and people of color, already offer training for future farmworkers, but community college agricultural programs have been excluded from federal funding opportunities. “The No. 1 industry on the Central Coast is agriculture. But currently, the funding we provide to educate and train our next generation of farmers is not reaching one of our most important local educational resources: our community colleges,” Carbajal said in the statement. “Our bipartisan bill puts the training of future farmers first, boosting the resources our community and technical colleges have, and in turn helping more people access the educational and workforce training initiatives that support the backbone industry of our region.”
• U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) introduced a bipartisan Senate resolution condemning Azerbaijan for its blockade of the Lachin Corridor, and urging the U.S. to take immediate steps to end the ongoing humanitarian crisis, according to a June 8 statement from Padilla’s office. Under the guise of an environmental protest, Azerbaijan began its blockade of the Lachin Corridor—a lifeline that connects the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) with Armenia. Since then, severe shortages of food, medical supplies, and other essentials have created a dire humanitarian crisis for the 120,000 people living in Nagorno-Karabakh. Further reports indicate that Azerbaijan has also sabotaged important civilian infrastructure such as power transmission lines and fixed-line internet. In April, Azerbaijan consolidated its blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh through establishing a military checkpoint along the road—in violation of a 2020 ceasefire agreement and against calls from the International Court of Justice to ensure unimpeded access to the region. “Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor—the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to Armenia—is inhumane and unacceptable,” Padilla said in a statement. “This blockade has created a humanitarian crisis, rendering the 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh without access to food, medicine, and other basic necessities. Our resolution would make it clear that the United States must take action to hold Azerbaijan accountable.”
• Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to enshrine fundamental gun safety measures into law, according to a June 8 statement from Newsom’s office. While leaving the Second Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition, according to the statement, the governor’s proposal guarantees common-sense constitutional protections and gun safety measures that voters across the political spectrum and gun owners support—including universal background checks, raising the firearm purchasing age to 21, instituting a firearm purchase waiting period, and barring the civilian purchase of assault weapons. “Our ability to make a more perfect union is literally written into the Constitution,” Newsom said in a statement. “So today, I’m proposing the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to do just that. The 28th Amendment will enshrine in the Constitution common-sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support—while leaving the Second Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition.”
This article appears in Jun 15-25, 2023.