• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) testified before the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protection in support of the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill that ensures federal firefighters receive the same access to job-related disability and retirement benefits as state, county, and municipal firefighters, according to Carbajal’s office. In order to receive disability benefits under the current federal law, federal firefighters must pinpoint the precise incident or exposure that caused a disease for it to be considered job-related—which makes it difficult for firefighters to meet because of their work in a variety of environments and conditions. “The Federal Firefighter Fairness Act ensures federal firefighters receive the same access to disability and retirement benefits as their peers who are state, county, and municipal firefighters and who often fight the same exact fires,” Carbajal said. “It is not fair that federal firefighters are being denied access to benefits that their local counterparts receive, especially when they fight the same fires and expose themselves to the same risks.”
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) recently announced that California will receive more than $600 million for water infrastructure projects in 2022 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Padilla voted for and President Biden signed into law last month, according to Padilla’s office. Projects supported by this funding will create new jobs across California, provide clean drinking water to underserved communities, and help remove harmful lead and PFAS chemicals from the state’s drinking water. “Too many communities in California don’t have access to the basic right of clean, affordable drinking water. That’s why I fought [to] pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—to improve access to clean drinking water and reverse these disparities,” Padilla said in a statement. “With this funding, California can get to work rebuilding our aging water infrastructure to better connect with underserved communities, eliminate contaminants, create drought resilience, and better prepare for the impacts of the climate crisis.” The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will allocate $7.4 billion to states, tribes, and territories—including more than $600 million to help California address water infrastructure demands. This funding is provided through EPA’s State Revolving Fund programs—grants or principal forgiveness loans that remove barriers to investing in essential water infrastructure in underserved communities across rural America and urban centers.
• Santa Barbara County officials announced on Dec. 3 that the Public Health Department extended the Health Officer Order, which requires the use of masks in indoor public settings. This order requires all individuals—regardless of vaccination status—to wear face coverings when indoors in public settings, with limited exceptions. As of Dec. 1, the COVID-19 community transmission level is categorized as “Substantial” in California and in Santa Barbara County by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of Nov. 26, the county had a case rate of 7 per 100,000 and a test positivity rate of 4 percent. The CDC continues to recommend fully vaccinated individuals wear a face covering in public indoor settings in areas with substantial or high community transmission rates. “As we head into the winter season once again, we are in a very different place than we were last year,” county Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg said in a statement. “We have vaccines available for everyone 5-plus years of age, and boosters for those who were vaccinated earlier this year. We know very well that wearing a face covering while indoors is an effective strategy to reduce transmission in the community. We have yet to see the full role the omicron variant will play in this pandemic, but we have well-established surveillance and prevention strategies in place.” The order was effective Dec. 3 and will continue until Jan. 2, 2022, at 5 p.m., or until it is extended, rescinded, superseded, or amended.
This article appears in Dec 9-16, 2021.
