• Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in an April 15 press conference that California will become the first state to offer direct disaster assistance to undocumented people who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ten percent of the state’s workforce is undocumented, Newsom said, and undocumented workers make up a disproportional number of those working in essential industries like health care, agriculture and food, manufacturing and logistics, and construction. Last year, the governor stated, undocumented Californians paid more than $2.5 billion in local and state taxes. Undocumented workers do not qualify for unemployment insurance, nor do they receive money from the federal stimulus package. “We feel a deep sense of gratitude for people that are in fear of deportation but are still addressing the essential needs of tens of millions of Californians,” Newsom said in the press conference. The funding for the assistance will come from $75 million of taxpayer dollars as well as $50 million from philanthropic fundraising efforts. Individuals can qualify for up to $500 of assistance, and households up to $1,000. Newsom said that the aid will provide relief “for those individuals that are, quite literally, putting themselves on the line in helping support this economy and those most in need at this moment.”
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) and all members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus sent a letter on April 15 “calling on congressional leadership to include protection and financial assistance for farmworkers in future legislation to slow the spread of coronavirus,” an April 16 press release stated. “Farmworkers are essential front-line workers, and our nation’s food supply is dependent on their well-being.” The letter was addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “During this crisis, our front-line farmworkers are laboring every day to put food on America’s dinner table and maintain the world food supply,” the letter stated. “As this virus threatens the resiliency of our food supply chains, it has never been more important to ensure the well-being of our agricultural producers and workforce.”
• On April 14, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled the parameters that California will have to meet before he would consider lifting the state’s stay-at-home order. “Any consideration of modifying the stay-at-home order must be done using a gradual, science-based, and data-driven framework,” the press release announcing the indicators stated. The six indicators include: “The ability to monitor and protect our communities through testing, contact tracing, isolating, and supporting those who are positive or exposed; the ability to prevent infection in people who are at risk for more severe COVID-19; the ability of the hospital and health systems to handle surges; the ability to develop therapeutics to meet the demand; the ability for businesses, schools, and child care facilities to support physical distancing; the ability to determine when to reinstitute certain measures, such as the stay-at-home orders, if necessary,” the press release states.
• Assemblymembers Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) and Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) co-signed a letter on April 14 requesting that Gov. Gavin Newsom allocate $10 million to help domestic violence centers during the pandemic. “While crime rates have dropped during the statewide safer-at-home order, there has been an increase in domestic violence calls, and shelters have struggled to keep up with demand for services,” Cunningham wrote in a Facebook announcement of the letter.
This article appears in Apr 23-30, 2020.