• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) announced on March 11 that he secured more than $20 million in federal funding for 11 projects across the Central Coast. These projects were included in the bipartisan fiscal year 2022 appropriations package that the Senate passed on March 10, and the bill is expected to be signed into law by President Joe Biden. “I am proud to have secured funding for projects up and down the Central Coast to improve our water infrastructure, support health care services, and make our communities safer. The funding will go to the local governments and community organizations that are directly serving our neighborhoods. We are also supporting projects that will increase California’s capacity to treat patients,” Padilla said in a statement. One of the projects included is $900,000 for the Lompoc Health Clinic in Santa Barbara County. The funds will expand the clinic’s capacity, increase patient flow, and—as a result—improve overall patient experience. In addition, the funds will purchase a generator for the primary care facility to support information technology infrastructure and facility resilience in the event of power outages.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that his administration will spend an additional $22.5 million to respond to the immediate drought emergency. According to a March 13 statement, the decision came after California recorded its driest January and February in more than 100 years in the Sierra Nevada. The allocation includes more funding for the Department of Water Resources, State Water Resources Control Board, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The funds requested are part of a comprehensive effort by the Newsom administration to increase water conservation. About $8.25 million will be used to increase outreach efforts to educate Californians on water conservation measures and practices, according to the governor’s office. “These investments continue to provide crucial drought support to communities impacted around the state,” wrote Chief Deputy Finance Director Erika Li in a letter to legislative budget and appropriations leaders. With the infusion of additional state budget funds, the Save Our Water campaign is gearing up to reach residents with water-saving tips via social media and other techniques to target counties with high water use. The campaign is also securing partnerships with retailers and other organizations to urge Californians to make permanent changes to landscaping for long-term sustainability.
• On the one-year anniversary of President Joe Biden signing the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) into law, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) released a statement highlighting the economic impact the legislation had on Californians. Padilla voted to pass the American Rescue Plan as one of his first votes in the Senate, the senator said in a March 11 statement. The historic legislation has provided billions of dollars for Californians, including $27 billion in fiscal relief funding to the state and $15.9 billion in fiscal relief funding for California’s local governments. It provided $6.1 billion in support of tribal governments in California with additional funding for tribal communities, the largest amount of assistance to tribal governments in history. It invested $15 billion to help the state’s K-12 schools reopen safely and comply with Centers for Disease Control guidelines—with $5 billion going toward colleges and universities for emergency student financial aid. “The legislation helped make vaccines and COVID tests widely available, keep small businesses afloat, reopen schools, and strengthen our economy leading to record-setting job creation. We have also made meaningful investments in everything from mental health services to improving the safety of our communities and providing tax relief for hardworking families. While there is still work to be done to ensure this recovery is felt by everyone, the ARP helped ensure that Californians and the American people see a brighter future beyond the pandemic,” Padilla said in a statement.
This article appears in Mar 24-31, 2022.
