• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) and U.S. Rep. Paul Ruiz (D-San Bernardino) introduced bicameral legislation to create the César E. Chávez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park, according to a March 30 statement from Padilla’s office. The bill would preserve the nationally significant sites associated with Chávez and the farmworker movement in California and Arizona. “On César Chávez Day we commemorate the work and legacy of an iconic Latino civil rights leader,” Padilla said in the statement. “Our National Park System tells the story of our nation and preserves the people and movements that we value as Americans. Yet our park system does not yet adequately preserve the full culture and diverse legacy of all Americans. This legislation would bring us closer to the recognition farmworkers have earned and deserve.” The park would include the existing national monument—which includes La Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz, in Keene, California—and expand to 40 acres in Delano, California; the Santa Rita Center in Phoenix, Arizona; and McDonnell Hall in San Jose. It would also conduct a national historical trail study for the Farmworker Peregrinación National Historic Trail, the 300-mile march route taken by farmworkers between Delano and Sacramento in 1966, and require the U.S. Department of Interior to complete a general management plan for the historical park within three years.
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) was a part of a bipartisan group of 28 U.S. House representatives that urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow the over-the-counter sale of Narcan, which helps reverse an opioid overdose, according to a statement from the congressman’s office. On March 29, the agency approved its over-the-counter sale, making it the first naloxone hydrochloride product to be approved by the FDA without a prescription. Earlier this month, Carbajal and his colleagues wrote a letter pushing this approval and said this would help save lives on the Central Coast and across the nation. Overdose deaths involving opioids, including fentanyl, increased by nearly 30 percent between 2019 and 2020, and demand for Narcan continues to rise as prescription and synthetic opioids flood communities across America. In 2021, the U.S. saw a record number of drug overdose deaths, more than 107,000, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I’m glad that the FDA has heeded our bipartisan call to swiftly approve the recommendation of their experts—and will work with our local partners to raise awareness of this new tool at our community’s disposal as this new approval is implemented. Narcan is safe and effective, with no effect on someone who does not have opioids in their system,” Carbajal said in the statement. “Putting it within reach of those who may be encountering substance abuse disorder in their home or in their day-to-day life will give us a new way to protect our communities from abuse, overdose, and loss of life.”
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allowed California to become the world’s first government to require zero-emission trucks and paved the way for clean trucks and buses across the globe, according to a March 31 statement from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Office. California will require truck manufacturers to accelerate their sales of zero emission vehicles, setting increasing zero emission vehicle manufacturing standards starting from 2024 through 2035 that several other states are also choosing to adopt. Together, California and those states represent 22 percent of the national truck market. “This is a big deal for climate action. Last year, California became one of the first jurisdictions in the world with a real plan to end tailpipe emissions for cars. Now, thanks to the Biden administration, we’re getting more zero-emission heavy duty trucks on the roads, expanding our world-leading efforts to cut air pollution and protect public health,” Newsom said in the statement.
This article appears in Apr 6-13, 2023.