•On March 23, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced that he secured new federal funding for multiple Santa Barbara County-based projects, including $1.2 million for a fire station expansion in Santa Maria, and $850,000 for the county to help rebuild the Lompoc Animal Shelter. “This funding will strengthen the essential services and shared spaces that make Santa Barbara County a healthier, safer, and more connected place to live,” Carbajal said in a statement. “Delivering these federal investments is about strengthening the public resources that Santa Barbara County residents rely on every day.” During the spring of 2025, Carbajal began to push for these project funds through formal requests to the House Appropriations Committee for fiscal year 2026, according to his office. The funding was secured through the Community Project Funding (CPF) program. Built in 2002, Santa Maria’s Fire Station 1 needs an expansion to accommodate adding a new fire vehicle and associated fire personnel to help serve the city’s growing population. “This funding brings us significantly closer to completing a project that will strengthen emergency response in our downtown core and serve our community for the next 25 years,” Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino said in a statement. Santa Maria Fire Chief Bradley J. Dandridge described the CPF funding as “a critical investment in the safety of our community.” Santa Barbara County 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann stated that the new funds for the Lompoc Animal Shelter will lead to “healthier, less-stressed animals, improved conditions for our staff and volunteers, and a facility that truly reflects the compassion of the Lompoc community.”
•With an aim to prohibit any Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registered entities from listing a prediction contract that resembles a sports bet or casino-style game, U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff (D-California) and John Curtis (R-Utah) recently co-introduced the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act. “Sports prediction contracts are sports bets—just with a different name. And yet, these contracts have been offered in all 50 states in clear violation of state and federal law,” Schiff stated on March 23. “Rather than enforce the law, the CFTC is greenlighting these markets and even promoting their growth. It’s time for Congress to step in and eliminate this back door which violates state consumer protections, intrudes upon tribal sovereignty, and offers no public revenue.”
•U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) recently led eight other senators in urging U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to ensure a timely delivery of federal funds for the High School Equivalency Program (HEP) and College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP). These programs support educational opportunities for more than 8,000 agricultural farmworker students across the nation, according to Padilla’s office. In September 2025, the Education Department released HEP and CAMP funding, but did not issue any new grants. Two California HEP programs and two California CAMP programs received non-continuation letters in the middle of their funding cycles. “We are deeply concerned that any delays in administering the HEP and CAMP programs will result in irreversible damage to our students, families, and communities,” Padilla and other senators wrote in their March 20 letter. The senators stated that the Department of Education discontinued a total of 13 mid-cycle grants during fiscal year 2025. “The Department of Education currently has significant funding available this fiscal year to administer robust grant competitions,” the letter states. “We urge the Department of Education to follow the letter and spirit of the law by posting notices inviting applications as soon as possible to ensure that the HEP and CAMP programs are able to continue their vital work.”
This article appears in March 26 – April 2, 2026.