• Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill on Sept. 22, which will give local governments more economic development tools to help improve struggling communities. SB 107 will help cities and counties streamline efforts to enhance affordable housing in areas that need it the most.
“These important new measures enacted today will help boost economic development in some of our most disadvantaged and deserving communities,” Brown said.
SB 107, by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, includes provisions that will streamline the current redevelopment agency dissolution process, enhance affordable housing by providing increased statewide funding and improved transparency, and expand the type of loans for which cities and counties can seek reimbursement.
The bill is a response to the state’s dissolution of Redevelopment Agencies (RDAs). In order to protect funding for core public services at the local level, the Legislature approved the dissolution of the state’s 400 plus RDAs as part of the 2011 Budget Act.
• On Sept. 24, Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) announced that UCSB was awarded, for the first time, a $524,847 grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program.
The HSI grant will expand educational opportunities and improve graduation rates among Hispanic students. The grant will also be used to provide direct services to students that enhance academic offerings, program quality, and institutional stability on campus.
“I am pleased to share this great news as we continue to celebrate UCSB’s rich diversity and growing student population,” Capps said in a statement. “This grant will go a long way in expanding opportunities for students as they enter and succeed in higher education.”
UCSB Executive Vice Chancellor David Marshall said, “This grant from the U.S. Department of Education recognizes the unique opportunities that we can offer to our students. It will help us to support all of our students, to ensure their educational success, and to advance our commitment to excellence and diversity.”
“This grant will create tremendous opportunities for all of our students,” said Carl Gutiérrez-Jones, interim dean of undergraduate education at UCSB. “With a significant focus on helping first-year students transition successfully to university level academics, this grant will help ensure that California’s best and brightest continue on to be leaders in whatever fields they choose.”
UCSB first became eligible for the grant earlier this year after being designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution, which requires at least a 25 percent Hispanic enrollment total.
This article appears in Oct 1-8, 2015.
