WASHINGTON D.C.
Thompson to hold virtual town hall Thursday
On Thursday, March 11, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) will hold a Virtual Town Hall from 7 pm to 8 pm PST. This will be the third virtual town hall of the 117th Congress and the nineteenth in a series of virtual town halls since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. Thompson will discuss the American Rescue Plan, comprehensive COVID relief legislation that is being considered on the House floor this week. All constituents of California’s Fifth Congressional District and members of the press are invited to join.
This event will be held over Zoom and interested participants must email Thompson’s office in order to join, as the platform has a capacity of 500 people. Interested participants will be notified via email with instructions on how to join. The event will also be streamed on Facebook Live via Thompson’s page, https://www.facebook.com/RepMikeThompson/.
Zoom meeting: For security reasons, interested participants must email thompson.townhall@mail.house.gov to get information on how to join and should include their name, their email and their city of residence.
—Submitted
As California racks up huge surplus, billions set to flow in from feds
California’s coffers — already overflowing with a $25.3 billion surplus — could soon see another massive infusion of cash.
California’s state and local governments are set to reap $40 billion of the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package that narrowly passed the Senate on Saturday and which President Joe Biden is expected to sign this week after a final vote in the House of Representatives. The massive measure, which represents nearly one-tenth of the U.S. economy, closely follows a $7.6 billion state stimulus package Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law late last month. It also fulfills one of Newsom’s major requests of the federal government: The governor in January asked Biden to provide emergency funding for state and local governments after it wasn’t included in the December stimulus package.
The American Rescue Plan also includes $1,400 stimulus payments for millions of Americans and supplemental unemployment benefits of $300 per week through Sept. 6. This could spell trouble for California’s beleaguered unemployment department, which just began certifying on Sunday claimants’ benefits from the December stimulus package.
- Assemblymember David Chiu, a San Francisco Democrat: “I’m not sure how EDD can imagine that people can just go without income for months at a time.”
Here’s a closer look at what else California can expect from the package, according to Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla’s office:
- $15 billion for K-12 school reopenings, in additon to $5 billion for colleges and universities.
Billions for vaccine distribution and coronavirus testing and tracing. - $4.6 billion for California’s transit systems, plus $898 million for airports.
- $3.8 billion to stabilize California’s child care sector and expand the child care tax credit, lifting an estimated 533,000 children out of poverty. (The tax credit is essentially a one-year guaranteed income for most families with children.)
- $2.2 billion in emergency rental assistance.
- $1.2 billion in homeowner assistance.
- $590 million in homelessness assistance funding.
- An extra $117 million monthly through Sept. 30 for CalFresh, the state’s food stamps program.
- A nearly 300% increase in the state’s maximum Earned Income Tax Credit for 1.85 million workers without children.
—CALmatters
SACRAMENTO
Gov. Newsom announces over 200,000 education workers have been vaccinated in the past week
Gov. Gavin Newsom today announced that, since the state began dedicating 10 percent of vaccine supply for education workers on March 1, over 200,000 education workers have been vaccinated, far exceeding the state’s goal of 75,000 vaccines per week.
“This is welcome news for teachers, students and parents as more and more schools reopen safely across the state,” said Governor Newsom. “We will continue working with our local partners to accelerate this effort in communities across the state so that all school staff have access to a vaccine within weeks.”
California was among the first states to authorize vaccines for education workers, with vaccine prioritization a core component of the Safe Schools for All Plan since December. Prior to the Governor’s 10-percent commitment, 35 counties were actively vaccinating education workers. Last week, through accelerated county-led efforts and supplemental state efforts, over 200,000 education workers in all 58 counties were vaccinated.
This news comes on the heels of continued success in California’s vaccination effort – 10.5 million vaccinations have been administered in the state. More than one in 10 Californians over the age of 16 (3.35 million) are fully vaccinated and more than one in four (1.7 million) people 65 and over are fully vaccinated.
—Submitted
