• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) applauded the Senate’s passage of the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, which sends the landmark veterans’ health benefit bill to President Joe Biden’s desk on Aug. 3, according to an Aug. 2 statement from the congressman’s office. This legislation will open up health care benefits to more than 3.5 million veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service, and count exposure to burn pits and airborne hazards as a cost of war. This change will address the full range of issues impacting toxic-exposed veterans, including access to earned benefits and health care through the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). “I am glad to see that the 25 Senate Republicans who held up this bill, despite supporting it just a few weeks ago, have stopped playing games with our veterans’ health care and let this bill get to the president’s desk,” Carbajal said in a statement. “When our service members embark on their missions to protect the United States, we make a promise that we will take care of them when they come home. But that promise has not been kept for some veterans who were exposed to toxic chemicals and substances in the course of their duties.”
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) announced that the Golden State will receive more than $631 million to support climate resilient transportation infrastructure over the next five years through the new Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation formula program, according to an Aug. 1 statement from the senator’s office. This program is available to make transportation infrastructure more resilient to future weather events and other natural disasters by focusing on resilience planning, making resilience improvements to existing transportation assets and evacuation routes, and addressing at-risk highway infrastructure. This funding—provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration—will help communities better prepare for and respond to extreme weather events like wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat. “As California experiences destructive wildfires and other natural disasters, climate-resilient infrastructure can be the difference between life and death,” Padilla said in the statement. “With more than $630 million coming to California over the next five years, communities can make major investments in transportation infrastructure to create faster evacuation routes and improve emergency response.”
• As part of California’s ongoing response to the current monkeypox outbreak, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to bolster the state’s vaccination efforts, according to an Aug. 1 statement from the governor’s office. The proclamation supports the work underway by the California Department of Public Health and others in the administration to coordinate a whole-of-government response to monkeypox, seek additional vaccines, and lead outreach and education efforts on accessing vaccines and treatment. “California is working urgently across all levels of government to slow the spread of monkeypox, leveraging our robust testing, contact tracing, and community partnerships strengthened during the pandemic to ensure that those most at risk are our focus for vaccines, treatment, and outreach,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’ll continue to work with the federal government to secure more vaccines, raise awareness about reducing risk, and stand with the LGBTQ community fighting stigmatization.” To expand vaccination efforts, the proclamation enables emergency medical services (EMS) personnel to administer monkeypox vaccines that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, similar to the statutory authorization recently enacted for pharmacists to administer vaccines. The state’s response to monkeypox builds on the infrastructure developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to deploy vaccine clinics and ensure inclusive and targeted outreach in partnership with local and community-based organizations.
This article appears in Aug 11-18, 2022.