• On June 22, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s (D-Santa Barbara) Senate Bill 1207 passed off the Senate floor on a 36-0 vote. The bill would require California nursing homes to have backup power for at least 96 hours during an emergency. The Nursing Home Resident Safety Act was written with the current wildfire season and potential public safety power shutoffs amid the COVID-19 pandemic in mind. According to a press release from Jackson’s office, current state regulations only require nursing home facilities to provide very limited backup power for six hours in the event of an emergency. “However, during the 2019 public safety power outages, many Californians were without power for more than 48 hours,” the release states. “Nursing home residents are especially vulnerable during natural disasters and power outages. Evacuations can be challenging due to mobility limitations and dangerous amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, some residents rely on electrical-powered life-support systems to stay alive, unsafe temperatures can be dangerous, and unrefrigerated medications put many residents at risk.” The bill, Jackson said in the press release, “will help keep our most vulnerable residents safe.”
• On June 18, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) advocated for and secured several measures in the INVEST in America Act that will directly benefit the Central Coast, including wildfire prevention and financing Central Coast infrastructure projects. The act is “a key component of the Moving Forward Framework that House Democrats released earlier this year,” a press release from Carbajal’s office states. “Every dollar we put toward repairing our infrastructure is a sound investment. This bill makes sure the Central Coast can repair our existing infrastructure and ensures new infrastructure is built to withstand the effects of extreme weather due to climate change,” said Carbajal, according to the press release. “This massive investment to bolster our economy is especially critical right now, as many of our local governments are struggling under the weight of budget shortfalls as a result of COVID-19. I’m glad to serve as an advocate for Central Coast infrastructure projects in Congress and look forward to seeing this bill to the finish line.”
• State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s (D-Santa Barbara) Senate Bill 956 passed off the Senate floor on June 22 with a 25-13 vote. According to a press release, the bill would “bring oversight and accountability to billions of dollars in certain corporate and other tax breaks” amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Senate Bill 956 would require evaluation of certain California tax credits and exemptions for their effectiveness as well as economic, social, or any other benefits to the state,” the release states. “SB 956 applies to eight corporate and other tax incentive programs that have no metrics of efficacy associated with them, no sunsetting provision, and result in revenue losses of greater than $1 billion each over 10 years.” The bill would have the University of California analyze these expenditures, present its findings to a nonpartisan board, and then make a recommendation to the Legislature “as to whether the tax expenditure is meeting its intended purposes,” and whether it “should be altered, continued, or repealed.” Jackson said, according to the release. “As our state contends with the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, we should have full knowledge of all of our revenue-generating options. Now more than ever, we need to bring transparency and accountability to tax breaks that have been on the books for decades, result in billions of dollars in lost revenue, and may no longer deliver on their promise.”
This article appears in Jul 2-9, 2020.
