• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced that California will receive more than $5 billion from programs funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to strengthen roads and bridges and build out a statewide network of electric vehicle charging stations, according to an Oct. 13 statement from the congressman’s office. “Through my work on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I helped craft the largest investment in fixing our roads, freeways, and bridges since the creation of the Interstate Highway System—and this week California is seeing those investments reach our state to make much-needed repairs, cut commute times, lower car repair costs, and reduce pollution while supporting good-paying, union jobs,” Carbajal said in the statement. “I will continue partnering with our state and local leaders to put these game-changing investments to work along with the billions California will be receiving to expand internet connectivity, reduce carbon emissions, and improve our public transit and clean water infrastructure up and down our Central Coast.” The Federal Highway Administration is providing the state with $5.74 million for bridge repairs—including $85 million for off-system bridges that are not part of the federal highway system. Carbajal specifically pushed for increased funding to revitalize and repair off-system funding, as this can go to counties and other local entities that own bridges in need of repairs, according to Carbajal’s office.
• The Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce welcomed two new chairpersons: Jason Buchanan, chair of Business and Roundtable, and Claudia Ortiz, chair of the Hispanic Business Committee, according to the chamber. Both individuals are longtime residents of the Santa Maria Valley. “I was approached by Glenn Morris about two years ago to join the roundtable and have found it to be an incredible opportunity for local business members to communicate and strategize with the government agencies in our area. The roundtable brings a direct pathway for the two sides to collaborate and find ways to push our policies, economy, and community forward,” Buchanan said in a statement. “My goals for this fiscal year are to continue to build my business and increasingly support the local businesses that require sound insurance advice, especially in a time when many businesses may be financially struggling.” Buchanan serves as an employee benefits and commercial insurance advisor for HUB International’s Santa Maria office. Ortiz is a branch manager and business development officer for First Bank in Santa Maria. “As the chair of the Hispanic Business Committee, my goal is to bring together a group of individuals interested and invested in expanding resources to support the success of local Hispanic businesses,” Ortiz said in the statement. “I invite those interested in becoming involved to join us for our regular monthly meetings.”
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) announced the inclusion of the Emergency Aircraft Act in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023, according to an Oct. 12 statement from the senator’s office. The amendment would remove the current cap on how many excess planes the Department of Defense can transfer to other federal agencies, and allows aircraft transfers to states for emergency response and wildfire suppression purposes. Currently, the Department of Defense is allowed to transfer excess aircraft to federal agencies for wildfire suppression, but they are arbitrarily capped at transferring only seven aircraft total to each agency, and they cannot transfer them to states, according to Padilla’s office. “As we grapple with increasingly catastrophic wildfires in California and across so many states in the West, I applaud the inclusion of our bill in this year’s [National Defense Authorization Act] to increase our ability to put out wildfires more quickly,” Padilla said in a statement. “This legislation will expand the tools at our disposal by securing excess military aircraft to augment state and federal aerial firefighting fleets. This federal support is necessary to improve suppression efforts and get fires under control quickly, support search and rescue efforts, and keep our communities safe.”
This article appears in Oct 20-27, 2022.
