• The House of Representatives unanimously approved U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal’s (D-California) bill to rename the U.S. Post Office on E. Battles Road in Santa Maria in honor of Larry Lavagnino, former Santa Maria mayor and City Council member and longtime resident, according to a Dec. 4 statement from Carbajal’s office. “Every community should be so lucky to have a Larry Lavagnino,” Carbajal said in the statement. “A community champion such as Mayor Lavagnino is well deserving of recognition that will stand the tests of time—and I am proud as Santa Maria’s representative in Congress to be the author of this legislation that will help cement that recognition.” Lavagnino served as Santa Maria mayor from 2002 to 2012, and as a City Council member from 1996 to 2002. During his time as mayor, Santa Maria helped establish a new library, multiple new fire stations, a new transit center, a new police department building, the expansion of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, and the widening of the Santa Maria River bridge and Highway 101. Carbajal first unveiled the legislation at Santa Maria City Hall with Santa Barbara County Supervisor, and Larry Lavagnino’s son, Steve Lavagnino, and current Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino. It passed through its committee in September and now heads to the Senate.
• Dec. 9 marked the end of U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler’s (D-California) Senate term, according to press release from Butler’s office. During her tenure, Butler prioritized safeguarding democracy and freedom, improving health outcomes for vulnerable communities, creating more pathways for economic mobility, and fostering youth civic engagement. “I was taught that service is the rent we pay for living, and when I accepted my appointment to the U.S. Senate, I was saying yes to paying California back for everything the state has given me,” Butler said in the statement. “It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve California in this capacity. This journey, while not always easy, taught me so much about the unique and pressing needs of the American people in this moment to not only survive, but to thrive. I hope Californians can feel proud knowing I gave my best to meet their needs every day.” Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Butler in October 2023 to serve in the U.S. Senate after former Sen. Dianne Feinstein passed away. Butler is the third Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. She introduced 33 bills, cosponsored 333 pieces of legislation, and helped more than 2,000 constituents with federal casework. Butler served on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary; Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and she served as chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution.
• The Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act passed unanimously. According to a Dec. 4 statement from U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla’s office, the bill included Padilla’s bipartisan legislation to provide critical tax relief for wildfire survivors who have received compensation for the losses and damages they have suffered. Padilla’s Protect Innocent Victims of Taxation After Fire Act provides past and future wildfire survivors with the certainty that their settlement money will not be taxed and would support nearly 70,000 victims of three major California fires in 2015, 2017, and 2018. The residents received funds from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company Fire Victim Trust through a $13.5 billion wildfire settlement. Future recipients of other wildfire-related settlements would also be protected—including those impacted by the recent fires in southern Oregon and Maui, Hawaii. “When you are wading through the ashes of your former home and thinking about how you can possibly begin to rebuild, the last thing you should have to worry about is that the government is going to tax the payment from your legal settlement that already fails to cover the full cost of your losses in the first place,” Padilla said during remarks he delivered on the Senate floor ahead of the bill’s passage. “Disaster settlement funds aren’t income. It’s not an asset. It’s compensation for what a family has lost. It’s meant to be an opportunity to begin to rebuild your life, an opportunity that should not be diminished because our tax code is outdated.”
This article appears in Dec 12-22, 2024.