• Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) and State Sen. Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) presented a $750,000 check for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department to purchase a marine rescue boat, according to a Nov. 28 statement from Hart’s office. “The Conception dive boat disaster and numerous environmental emergencies have underscored the importance of enhancing emergency response capabilities along our coastline,” Hart said in the statement. “This marine rescue boat will enhance the lifesaving and disaster response capabilities of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. I am committed to ensuring that our first responders have the tools that they need to keep our community safe.” The Santa Barbara-based dive boat, the P/V Conception, caught fire and sank near Santa Cruz Island on Labor Day in 2019, killing 33 passengers and one crew member. On Nov. 6, 2023, the boat’s captain was found guilty by a jury on one count of misconduct or neglect of a ship officer—commonly known as seaman’s manslaughter. “It is critical that the Santa Barbara County Fire Department has access to resources that will help save lives. This marine rescue boat will help our first responders keep our community members safe during times of crisis and enhance their ability to carry out their duties,” Limón said in the statement.
• On Nov. 28, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced that $550,000 in down payment assistance grants for were awarded to first-time, middle-income homebuyers on the Central Coast through the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBSF). The 11 awards came from a new pilot program through the federally backed bank to support aspiring California homeowners who are increasingly being left behind in the face of rising home prices and now rising interest rates. The FHLBSF’s Middle-Income Down Payment Assistance Program was launched in May to provide matching grants of up to $50,000 per household in California, with private funds from the bank’s partner institutions. “Owning a home is a dream that is becoming less and less of a reality for Central Coast residents, and a primary obstacle is the down payment required by homes whose prices have been rising to even more unobtainable levels with rising interest rates,” Carbajal said in a statement. “I’m glad to see our federally backed banks set up with the explicit purpose of supporting housing accessibility in our communities exploring more ways that they can provide the support needed to make a dent in California’s deepening housing crisis.”
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) introduced a pair of bills on Nov. 30 that would help minority- and women-owned businesses compete for contracts to develop and build federal infrastructure projects. In a statement, Padilla’s office said that the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Supportive Services Expansion Act and the Accelerating Small Business Growth Act would help agencies work toward President Joe Biden’s new goal of increasing the share of federal contracts that go to small, disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent by 2025, which could translate to an additional $100 billion for these businesses. The bills would raise the annual funding cap of the Federal Highway Administration’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Supportive Services Program, replicate the program at the Federal Transit Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration, and create a grant program to help transportation agencies work with underserved businesses looking to improve growth and competitiveness for contracts. “Small businesses, particularly those that are minority- and women-owned, hold enormous potential to bolster our economy, but they have historically faced disproportionate barriers to succeed in America,” Padilla said in the statement. “The unprecedented investment in American infrastructure from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law over the next decade provides a major opportunity to create good-paying jobs that uplift disadvantaged communities. These bills would provide the resources to help women and minority entrepreneurs develop self-sufficiency in competing for federal contracts, helping to build prosperity in communities that have too often been left behind.”
This article appears in Dec 7-17, 2023.