• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) expressed concerns directly to the head of U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) about the closure this week of a veterans substance abuse treatment facility in San Luis Obispo and its potential impact on Central Coast veterans, according to an Oct. 19 statement from Carbajal’s office. In two meetings and through a letter sent to his office, Rep. Carbajal explained to VA Secretary Denis McDonough the impact that the closure on Monday of Legacy Village would have on Central Coast veterans. The congressman also pressed the secretary on changes the VA could make that would prevent veterans from needing to travel to the Los Angeles area to receive substance abuse treatment. McDonough pledged that the VA would travel to the Central Coast in the coming weeks to meet with Carbajal’s team and Central Coast veterans advocates to discuss their policies on referrals to Central Coast facilities and how the VA will continue to support veterans in the region following the closure. “For most types of care, if the drive time exceeds 30 minutes, then the veteran can receive community care. Unfortunately, residential SUD [substance use disorder] treatment was excluded from the designated access standards,” Carbajal wrote in his follow-up letter to Secretary McDonough. “At the most northern part of the district the drive time to the Domiciliary in Los Angeles is nearly four hours, and from the most southern part the drive time still exceeds an hour. My district is not unique. … We owe it to our veterans to provide accessible and quality care.”
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) joined several of his Senate colleagues to introduce the Supreme Court Biennial Appointments and Term Limits Act to establish 18-year term limits and regularized appointments for Supreme Court justices. Under the legislation, the president would appoint a new justice every two years and each justice would spend 18 years participating in all Supreme Court cases, after which they would be limited to hearing the small number of constitutionally required cases. The United States is one of just five countries with life tenure for its highest court. According to the senator’s office, the American people strongly favor making the Supreme Court more representative of and accountable to the public, with polls conducted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst showing that two-thirds of Americans support term limits for Supreme Court justices. There is also widespread support for depoliticizing the Supreme Court confirmation process, which is worsened when some presidents can appoint multiple justices while others appoint none, Padilla said in the statement. “It shouldn’t be controversial to say that the American people deserve a Supreme Court insulated from politics. But when every confirmation turns into an all-out partisan battle, or when one administration alone can overturn a lifetime of precedent, it’s clear: The court has lost its way,” Padilla said in the statement. “By imposing common-sense term limits, we can lower the temperature on political brinkmanship and start to restore trust in the highest court in our land.”
• Amid heightened fears and concerns among California’s faith communities stemming from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Gov. Gavin Newsom authorized the immediate expansion of funds to bolster safety and security at religious institutions, places of worship, and faith-based institutions across the state, according to an Oct. 18 statement from Newsom’s office. The announcement authorized $10 million in state funding to immediately increase police presence at places of worship and authorized an additional $20 million investment to the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program to provide physical security enhancements to nonprofit organizations—including synagogues and mosques—that are at high risk for violent attacks and hate crimes. “Amid the horror unfolding in the Middle East following the unconscionable terrorist attacks in Israel, California is authorizing the immediate deployment of funds to increase security and police presence at places of worship across the state. No matter how and where one prays, every Californian deserves to be safe,” Newsom said in the statement.
This article appears in Oct 26 – Nov 5, 2023.