• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced a new $159,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for the Guadalupe Union School District to improve school safety and protect students, according to an Oct. 24 statement from the congressman’s office. In 2018, Carbajal supported the Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act, which made annual grants available to states, school districts, and tribal organizations to bring evidence-based programs and strategies to schools to prevent acts of violence. The funding allocated from the department’s School Violence Prevention Program will support construction of a new entryway at Kermit McKenzie Intermediate School, the purchase of new radios for school administrators, and the implementation of improved identification systems for school visitors. “As a father and grandfather, I know the concern that every parent feels sending their child off to school—especially as school violence and campus shootings have become all too common in our nation. That’s why I voted to help deliver federal grants to schools so that they can take steps to improve the safety procedures and processes on our campuses, and why I’m proud to see some of that funding coming back to the Central Coast this year,” Carbajal said in the statement. “Each and every student deserves to have a safe and supportive learning environment, and every parent deserves the peace of mind that their children are protected.”
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) celebrated the Senate’s passage of the FIRE Act, a bill that would improve the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) wildfire preparedness and response programs by allowing the agency to pre-deploy assets during times of highest wildfire risk and increasing equity and consistency across multiple FEMA assistance programs, according to an Oct. 20 statement from the senator’s office. The FIRE Act was born out of a 2021 roundtable conversation Padilla hosted where he was briefed by local leaders on the state of California’s wildfire preparedness and recovery measures. It passed the Senate unanimously. “The impacts of wildfires on communities throughout California have been devastating, and more must be done to support communities faced with extreme wildfire threats,” Padilla said in the statement. “The recent unanimous Senate passage of the FIRE Act was an important step forward in reforming federal wildfire preparedness and response programs. I’ll continue working to ensure this bill makes it to the president’s desk for his signature so that communities have access to the necessary resources they need to recover and rebuild after wildfires occur.”
• California is poised to overtake Germany as the world’s fourth largest economy, according to Bloomberg, continuing to outperform the nation and other countries in GDP growth, companies’ market value, and renewable energy, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in an Oct. 24 statement. The governor’s office’s top takeaways from the Bloomberg data included 379 companies with a market value of at least $1 billion, unemployment rates falling to 3.9 percent, and renewable energy becoming California’s fastest-growing businesses. “While critics often say California’s best days are behind us, reality proves otherwise—our economic growth and job gains continue to fuel the nation’s economy,” Newsom said in the statement. “California’s values and entrepreneurial spirit have powered this ascent to becoming the fourth biggest economy in the world, and we’ll continue doubling down on industries of the future, like renewables and clean energy. I feel tremendous pride in California’s resilience, leadership, and our formula for success.”
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 3, 2022.
