SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Assemblymember Chris Holden introduced, AB 229, legislation that establishes use of force trainings within the existing courses provided by the California Private Security Services Act. Under current laws, no use of force trainings exist for Private Patrol Operators.

“When private security are responsible for the safety of the general public, those private operators must have the proper training in order to apply the appropriate use of force in any particular situation,” said Assemblymember Chris Holden. “We put a lot of attention on our State’s peace officers, but private security, who sometimes are in similar circumstances, need comparable training.”

In 2019, Mario Matthews was restrained face-down on the floor at Golden 1 Center by two security personnel after he ran on to the court following an NBA exhibition game. According the lawsuit filed by his parents, his hands were handcuffed behind his back and the two security personnel got on top of his back.  One security guard used his right knee to apply pressure to the side of Mario’s neck for approximately four and a half minutes.  In addition to the initial two Universal Protection Security personnel, a third security officer placed himself on Mario’s back. 

After approximately ten minutes, several Sacramento Police Department officers arrived and used maximum restraints; they tied his legs together with one strap and another strap around his waist.  For a total of 20 minutes, Mario was facedown with as many as four people on top of him. Mario became unresponsive and was taken to the hospital.  He passed away two days later.  The lawsuit claims that the Sacramento County Coroner acknowledged that restraint was a cause of Mario’s death. 

“What happened to Mario is unacceptable, and proper training will play big role in avoiding unnecessary harm or death to others,” said Holden.

AB 229 requires the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) to develop curriculum and training courses on the appropriate use of force for private security services employees in consultation with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.

By Tanu Henry | California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom sounded upbeat when he announced at a press briefing Friday afternoon that he has submitted a $227 billion budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year to the State Legislature for approval.

The spending plan reflects a brighter picture than the gloomier one Newsom presented last summer when he projected a steep budget shortfall of more than $50 billion. In this proposal, the governor’s office is estimating that there will be a budget surplus of about $15 billion over the 2020-21 fiscal year, with nearly $3 billion stashed in the state’s operating reserve.

“In these darkest moments of the COVID-19 pandemic, this budget will help Californians with urgent action to address our immediate challenges and build towards our recovery,” said Newsom. “As always, our Budget is built on our core California values of inclusion, economic growth and a brighter future for all.”

The proposal includes significant investments intended to shore up and revive the state economy battered by the COVID-19 global pandemic. It proposes $2.4 billion for a one-time payout of $600 per individual from the “Golden State Stimulus” fund for the lowest earning Californians, many of them essential workers, who have been hit hardest by the global health crisis and the economic dip it caused. The majority of workers that have been affected are African American, Hispanic or from other ethnic groups in California and across the country.

To ensure a swift economic recovery, the governor has allocated $372 million to facilitate the distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines across the state.

Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Los Angeles), chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus and the only African American lawmaker in the upper house of the California legislature, says he is pleased that the governor’s budget invests in equity. He told CBM that he will work with the governor’s office to make sure the proposals in the plan, particularly the relief for businesses, benefit Black Californians.

“Governor Newsom’s 2021-2022 budget proposal reflects what we are all hoping: that things are getting back on track and in a better way. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate California, but thanks to the swift actions taken last year by the Legislature and the Governor, we are in a strong position to combat this crisis and rebuild our economy,” Bradford said

 “We do not want to go back to where we were. We want a more just economy moving forward,” the senator added.

Workers at hospitals, grocery store clerks, public transportation operators and more had to continue showing up to work through the most difficult and uncertain phases of the pandemic last year. And entrepreneurs like barbers and beauticians and workers in retail, food and beverage service, hospitality and the leisure sectors suffered the most job losses. Newsom announced $777.5 billion in his budget for economic recovery, including assistance to businesses of all sizes – more than $500 million will go to small businesses — and money to support the state’s minimum wage increase to $14.

Bradford, who is also chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, applauded Gov Newsom for including funding for improving prisons and criminal justice reform efforts.

“As Chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, I am also pleased to see funding for the maintenance of California state prisons, Los Angeles County, use of force investigations by the Department of Justice, and rehabilitation and educational programs for our inmate population,” he said.  “Following the work I began in 2018 with the California Cannabis Equity Act, I am delighted to see the permanent funding of the state’s local equity grant program, which is a momentous step toward a fair and equitable cannabis market.”

The money for COVID economic recovery comes at a time when there looms the threat of another economic downturn. According to numbers released by the U.S. Department of Labor Friday, payrolls across the country decreased by 140,000 jobs in December. It is the sharpest drop in jobs since last April. The economy has not fully bounced back since the beginning of the pandemic last march when it lost 22.2 million jobs. Only 12.4 million jobs have been recovered so far.

Although the governor’s budget projects optimism, and it provides substantial funding for critical ongoing government priorities like education, transportation public safety, higher education, health care and green initiatives, it is short on details. It does however include a clear high-level breakdown of where the money will be spent – if not exactly how. For example, Gov. Newsom calls for $2 billion to help schools across the state to reopen in the next couple of months. The budget also allots $85.8 billion for schools, which includes teacher training, early childhood education programs, teacher recruitment and money to extend learning into the summer.  The governor is also proposing that the state invests $500 million in low-cost housing tax credits; $1.75 billion to continue purchasing motels to house the homeless under “Project Room Key;” and $353 million for job training and creation programs.

Over the next 5 months, Gov. Newsom says he and the Legislature will be working to hash out, distill and define budget priorities. Through the process, they will determine how and at which level of government – state, county or municipal – the monies will be spent. Then in May, he will present his revised, and more detailed, budget to the legislature for final approval before the fiscal year begins in July.

Senate Republicans say over 19,000 small businesses in the state have had to shutter since the pandemic began. Therefore, they are urging the governor to increase funding for them.

“Over the past ten months, the Governor’s shutdowns and COVID-19 challenges have made it difficult for millions of Californians,” said Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) and Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) in a statement responding to the governor’s budget.

Some environmental groups complained that the budget redirects cash to emergency preparedness, “short-changing” programs that provide funding to underserved communities, some of them places where Black Californians live.

“The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is meant to cut pollution in our most impacted communities,” said CEO Debra Gore-Mann, president of the Greenlighting Institute, a public policy and research organization based in Oakland. “Funding for wildfires should come from the utilities whose recklessness led to so many problems.

Gov. Newsom says now that he has presented his budget, the hard work begins.

“The Budget makes progress towards the goal I set when taking office to harness California’s spirit of innovation and resilience and put the California Dream within reach of more Californians,” Gov. Newsom said.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— The San Bernardino County Board of Education welcomed Andrea DeLeon as the newest member of the Board at their meeting on December 14. DeLeon will represent Trustee Area E that includes the unified districts of Bear Valley, Colton Joint, Morongo, Redlands, Rim of the World (east of Highway 38) and Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint.

DeLeon’s oath of office was administered by City of Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren and included her son Andrew Sandoval.

“My son encouraged me to run for office and it was deeply meaningful to have him and Mayor Warren there to share in such a special moment,” said DeLeon. “I am excited to serve the San Bernardino County community.”

DeLeon replaces Alen Ritchie who chose not to seek re-election and retired after 12 years on the County Board. He attended his last meeting on November 2.

“I would like to thank Mr. Ritchie for his service to public education as a County Board member,” said County Superintendent Ted Alejandre. “Welcome to our new and returning trustees for their commitment and support of students and families.”

Laura Mancha was sworn in for a new four-year term and elected as vice president of the Board. She has served on the County Board since 2010 representing Trustee Area C.

School districts in this area include Chino Valley Unified, Cucamonga, Fontana Unified, Mountain View, and portions of Chaffey Joint Union High and Ontario-Montclair.

Mancha’s oath of office was administered by Manuel Mancha, her husband of over 40 years.

The San Bernardino County Board of Education elected Ken Larson as president of the five-member governing body.  

Larson, who will serve a one-year term, represents Trustee Area A, which includes the school districts of Adelanto, Apple Valley Unified, Baker Valley Unified, Barstow Unified, Helendale, Hesperia Unified, Lucerne Valley Unified, Needles Unified, Oro Grande, Rim of the World Unified (west of Highway 138), Silver Valley Unified, Trona Joint

Unified, Victor Elementary and Victor Valley Union High. He replaces Laura Mancha, whose one-year term ended on December 14.

Larson acknowledged and thanked Mancha for her service and leadership during the past year as board president. “It has been my honor to serve as president and represent the County Board of Education,” Mancha said.

Larson has served on the County Board since December 3, 2018. This is his first term as president of the group.

The Board establishes policy, adopts an annual budget, approves building plans and hears student expulsion, inter-district transfer and charter school appeals. The Board meets monthly, regularly the first Monday of the month. The next scheduled meeting for the Board is scheduled for January 4, 2021.

Visit the County Board of Education webpage to view meeting minutes, calendar and additional information.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -– One of the most popular resolutions at the beginning of each year is the desire to quit smoking, with more than 70% of smokers reporting they want to quit. Smoking is a risk factor for severe illness from COVID-19, which makes 2021 an even more opportune time to begin the journey to quitting once and for all. With the help of the American Lung Association, more than a million people have achieved success with their goal to quit smoking.

The American Lung Association has the following five tips for those looking to quit smoking this year:

1.    Utilize a plan that is proven to be both safe and effective in helping you quit for good. Despite what Juul and other e-cigarette companies want you to believe, switching to vaping (e-cigarettes) is not quitting smoking. E-cigarettes are tobacco products, they contain nicotine, and FDA has not approved any e-cigarette as a quit smoking device.

2.    Learn from past experiences. Most smokers have tried to quit before and sometimes people get discouraged thinking about previous attempts. Instead, treat those experiences as steps on the road to future success. Think about what helped you during those tries and what you’ll do differently in your next quit attempt.

3.    You don’t have to quit alone. Enrolling in a tobacco counseling program, such as American Lung Association’s Freedom From Smoking®, can increase your chances of success by up to 60% when used in combination with medication.

4.    Talk to a doctor about quit smoking medications. Talking to a doctor can significantly increase your chances of quitting successfully. There are seven FDA-approved quit smoking medications that can help you quit. Just make sure to follow the directions and use them for the full duration they are prescribed.

5.    Every smoker can quit. Find the right combination of techniques for you and above all, keep trying. Slip-ups – having a puff or smoking one or two cigarettes – are common but don’t mean that a quitter has failed. The important thing is to keep trying to quit. 

The American Lung Association is here for you every step of the way with tools, tips and support. The important thing is to keep trying to quit, until you quit for good. Freedom From Smoking® helps individuals create their own unique quit plan for vaping and smoking, as well as tips and techniques to stay successful in the long run. Freedom From Smoking can be accessed online, at a virtual group clinic, by phone at 1-800-LUNG-USA and through a self-guided workbook. Those looking to quit smoking are encouraged to use the method that works best for their learning style, schedule and unique quit smoking plan. Ranked as the most effective smoking cessation program in a study of 100 managed care organizations conducted at Fordham University Graduate School of Business, Freedom From Smoking has helped hundreds of thousands participants quit smoking. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity for people, when they’re ready, to find the proven quit smoking support they need,” said American Lung Association President and CEO Harold Wimmer. “Quitting smoking will immediately improve your health and might also decrease your odds of severe illness from COVID-19. It’s the perfect way to set yourself up for a healthy new year and healthy years to come.”

For more information about quitting smoking and how to access Freedom From Smoking, visit the American Lung Association website at Lung.org/ffs or call the free Lung HelpLine at 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872).

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About the American Lung Association

The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to champion clean air for all; to improve the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families; and to create a tobacco-free future. For more information about the American Lung Association, a holder of the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Gold-Level GuideStar Member, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org.

SACRAMENTO–The California Legislative Black Caucus has elected Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) and Assemblymember Kamlager (D-Los Angeles) to serve as Chair and Vice-Chair respectively, through the 2021-2022 legislative session. In addition, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) will now serve as Secretary and Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) will remain in his position as Treasurer.

“I am honored and humbled to be elected by my colleagues to serve as the next Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. We are grateful for Dr. Weber’s leadership during her time with the Caucus and have no doubt she will lead with the same passion and desire for equality and justice as Secretary of State. I look forward to serving in a similar fashion of Dr. Weber and previous Chairs championing African American issues for the state and nation,” said Senator Bradford.

Senator Bradford was elected to the legislature in 2009, making him the longest serving member of the Caucus and currently the only Black senator in the state legislature. Senator Bradford’s election as Caucus Chair follows Governor Newsom’s appointment of former Caucus Chair, and Assemblymember, Dr. Shirley Weber as California’s next Secretary of State.

“It is a bittersweet moment as I pass the leadership torch to Senator Steven Bradford. The California Legislative Black Caucus is a small but mighty group of 9 members. Together we have been a powerful force, united and unwavering in our commitment to fight and win tough battles to improve the lives of Black Californians. I thank the Black Caucus for its support during my tenure as Chair, and I have full trust and confidence in Senator Bradford to take on the leadership of the Caucus. I also look forward to building on the partnership between the Secretary of State’s office and the CLBC to protect and expand voting rights in California,” said Dr. Shirley N. Weber.

Throughout its over 50-year history, the CLBC has been instrumental in crafting and supporting legislation to promote racial and gender equality for the State.  We will continue to advance an agenda that assures quality health care, establishing a more transparent and accountable police system, increased employment and economic security, and justice for all Californians.

Some thoughts on how something that once looked impossible became possible … still, there’s a lot of reasons to remain cautious

By Charles Ellison, b | e Note

January 5th (well, possibly some number of days or weeks after depending on how tight it is) will answer a very critical question for Americans on the current trajectory of our very troubled nation – who will run the federal government: Joe Biden or Mitch McConnell?

The answer will hinge on the convergence of two events: 1) the voting decisions made by more than 7.7 million Georgians who are currently registered to vote in the state of Georgia and 2) how much Republicans will, literally, cheat.

That’s a Lot of Georgians …

First: Stacey Abrams Great Georgia Revenge Tour is definitely a beautiful feat of voter mobilization to watch. She’s done a superb job – to get two Democratic candidates into a tightly contested runoff in a deep Southern politically fried red state like Georgia was once unimaginable … well, for conventional thinkers.

When we say 7.7 million registered Georgians, we’re talking about 72 percent of Georgia’s population of nearly 11 million. So far, more than 3 million have voted. That translates into more than 39 percent turnout … and that’s in the early voting phase … of a runoff Senate race. That’s also about 28 percent of Georgia’s entire population already voting. With so much excitement, high national anxiety, flooded email inboxes and campaign ad bombardment around this state, will the turnout crack records?

Here is the aerial view from the U.S. Election Project …

Here’s a look at how that’s breaking down demographically …

So Far, So Good

Democrats have multiple reasons to feel positive and enthusiastic. For one: they were able to flip the state from red to blue in the presidential race, handing it to President-elect Joe Biden.

They’ve got two fairly well-polished, young and energetic candidates in Jon Osoff and Rev. Ralph Warnock. Grassroots voter mobilization boots on the ground are getting it done. High early voting returns would suggest a Democratic advantage. Younger voters – from GenZ to Millennial – are turning out in big numbers. The whole party is unified behind the candidates. And there have been, so far, about 118,000 new voters who’ve participated in early voting during the run-off who didn’t vote in the 2020 General Election.

Meanwhile, as the Democratic candidates are running perfectly (on the surface, at least) as a team, Republicans are faced with vicious party infighting. Both GOP candidates continue to make the state look bad and backward (at a time when many Southerners are pushing for “New South” themes). One Republican incumbent (David Perdue) is quarantined by COVID while the other Republican incumbent (Kelly Loeffler) is parading around with white Klan terrorists. As all that’s happening, the outgoing leader of the GOP, President Trump, is openly committing violations of both state and federal law by pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State into committing voter fraud (and since Georgia’s Attorney General is a Republican and the federal Department of Justice is run by more Republicans, no one will prosecute him for this). Both Democratic candidates have raised more than $265 million combined for their Senate races (even though they’re both burning cash fast).

The most recent polling also suggests Osoff and Warnock are doing rather well.

Here is what FiveThirtyEight shows …

And here is the look from RealClearPolitics (which is a little more stingy with the data) …

But … Stay Cautious

While all the fundamentals look good for Democrats, there are still quite a few reasons to remain cautious – and not “cautiously optimistic,” either.

Say all you want about Southern states like Georgia attempting to re-brand themselves into “The New South,” the South, at the moment, is still the South. All the more reason to remain skeptical. There are a lot of questions: will White Georgia voters want a Black (Warnock) and Jewish (Osoff) Senator representing them in Washington? Even though there is high early voting turnout, there’s no way to tell at the moment just how many of those voters are Republicans actually turning out (despite objections from a president they remain loyal to). Will Georgia Republicans turn out stronger on Election Day when heading to the polls? And will Georgia Republicans view this as an opportunity for a protest vote against Biden’s election, to vent their rage at what they wrongfully view as a “stolen” election?

And just because Democrats are outperforming Republicans in the fundraising race doesn’t mean much since Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jamie Harrison was doing the same thing in neighboring South Carolina against incumbent Lindsey Graham. In fact, he was absolutely obliterating Graham in the fundraising race. Polling showed that race tight, too. Harrison was raising all kinds of loot.

Still, Harrison ending up losing by 10 points.

Some clues on the outcome in Georgia are found in the latest AtlasIntel poll

GOP registration slightly outnumbers Democratic registration, which means a lot will depend on self-reporting Independents (Osoff and Warnock won 51 percent and 37 percent of independent voters, respectively, in the general election). Nearly 61 percent of the electorate is White while 30 percent is Black, which means Democrats need to cobble together a solid coalition of Black, White, Latino and Asian voters.

Here are the breakdowns for the Purdue vs. Osoff match-up …

And here are the breakdowns for the Loeffler vs. Warnock match-up …

The White electorate isn’t budging much, and there are large numbers of Latinos (along with 10+ percentage points of Black voters) saying they’re voting for the GOP candidate. One other thing others might dismiss, but we shouldn’t: Black voters account for 28 percent of the Georgia electorate even while they’re 33 percent of the overall state’s population (that’s a 5 percent difference); the White Georgia electorate matches its statewide population proportion of 60 percent. So, in a sense, Black voters in Georgia are still punching below their potential electoral weight in terms of size.

A slightly good thing, for Democrats, is that there is a very small, barely noticeable number of undecideds. So, every registered voter about to vote is locked into their decision, according to this poll. Still, fewer White voters went for Perdue in 2020 (69 percent) than they did in 2014 (74 percent). Yet, there is that pending question from the Loeffler vs. Warnock general election match-up: while Loeffler won 42 percent of White voters compared to the other GOP candidate Rep. Doug Collins at 28 percent, where will those White voters go? Theoretically, that’s 70 percent of White voters going to Loeffler.

Republicans Are Cheaters

Lastly: modern Republicans don’t appear to know anything about legal, democratic elections. While a genocidal pandemic rages on, killing nearly half-a-million Americans thus far (with the long term public health consequences not fully grasped), they are still uniformly obsessed with overturning an election in which the legitimate winner won by a nearly 8 million vote margin.

Republican cheating and racist voter suppression techniques are par for the course in Georgia. The sting of being cheated out of a statewide election by the current Governor is what’s driving Abrams. That Biden even won Georgia by such a slim margin probably means he really won by such a convincing number of ballots that Republican cheating methods could not overcome it. Republicans everywhere cheat in elections – but, in Georgia, they’ve transformed it into a dark and sinister art form.

Forty percent of Georgia’s 10 most populous counties had dramatically closed the number of early polling locations before the runoff. Most of those counties hold the highest concentrations of Black voters. That was expected. An 11th-hour attempt to purge voter rolls in two Georgia counties was thwarted by a federal judge just days before New Year’s Day. Voting rights advocates were already battling the purges of more than 200,000 Georgia voters by the current Secretary of State.

And while lots of folks on and off social media want to induct current Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger into the Justice League as he’s smoking Trump on Twitter and refusing to engage in criminal voter fraud acts on a recorded phone call, watch the mail ballot rejection rates in Georgia’s early voting returns very carefully.

Here are the Georgia counties with mail ballot rejection rates above 1 percent

Two of these counties are majority Black and all, with the exception of one, hold Black populations of more than 30 percent. In terms of total numbers of ballots rejected thus far, we’re seeing a similar pattern in counties with large Black populations ..

This could lead to issues and challenges resulting in a protracted recount battle way past January 5th.

January 4th Marked with Tributes, Actions and Care Package Drive for Homeless People and Pets

PHOENIX, AZ — Today on Monday, January 4, the Muhaymin family and advocates from national and Phoenix-based organizations will mark four years since Phoenix police brutally killed Muhammad Muhaymin—an unarmed, Black, Muslim, disabled man—while mocking his faith. To date, none of the officers involved in this killing have faced any criminal or disciplinary consequences; all are still actively policing in Phoenix. 

Muhaymin was killed by Phoenix police in 2017 after attempting to bring his service dog into a public restroom. In August of 2020, new body camera footage was made public showing officers using their knees to pin Muhaymin’s head, neck and body into an asphalt parking lot. Before he is killed, Muhaymin can be heard yelling “I can’t breathe” and “Please Allah,” with an officer responding “Allah? He’s not going to help you right now.”

Muhammad’s sister Zarinah Tavares and advocates will deliver national and Phoenix-area tributes to her brother while urging the public to join efforts to hold the officers accountable for this killing and for all victims of similar violence. The day will be marked with:

• A video tribute to Muhammad narrated by Ms. Tavares alongside national advocates Rep. André Carson, Muslim Advocates, the National Disability Rights Network and Phoenix-area advocates from Poder in Action, Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro and the Black Mother’s Forum. Click here to watch the video.
• Tribute radio ads narrated by Ms. Tavares running all day on Phoenix radio station Power 98.3 KKFR. Click here to listen to the ad.

• An action urging the public to contribute to a living tribute card to Muhammad designed by Black Muslim artist Amir Khadar. Click here to sign the card.
• A care package drive for homeless people and pets in the metro Phoenix-area. Click here to learn more.

In the video, Tavares shares details about her brother, saying “he was a proud man who loved to dance, to take his daughter on walks in the park, and beatbox with me and my sisters. He always made us laugh. Muhammad was stolen from us by Phoenix police officers who brutally killed him, just for using the restroom.” She ends the video with a call to action “The system keeps pretending like we don’t matter. But we do.” 

Lawmaker’s Provisions will Streamline Supply Chains, Encourage Collaboration

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35) today announced multiple provisions in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that will help Inland Empire manufacturers streamline supply chains and better collaborate with Manufacturing USA Institutes and Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Centers.

• Preventing Supply Chain Disruptions for Small and Medium Manufacturers: Rep. Torres passed a provision requiring the federal government to take first steps towards a National Supply Chain Database that would connect small and medium manufacturers, like those in CA-35, across state lines to prevent supply chain disruptions. The provision would require the federal government to conduct a detailed feasibility study for the database. The need for this collaboration became clear when local manufacturers struggled to retool and get the supplies they needed to produce needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when the coronavirus pandemic broke out.
• Streamlining Collaboration Between Manufacturers: Rep. Torres passed a provision to help small and mid-size manufacturers with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership have access to and influence the technologies developed by the Manufacturing USA Institutes, which create technological tools to help manufacturers of all sizes improve their businesses.  

Torres, who recently held a listening session to hear directly from local businesses, trades, and workforce leaders, represents a district where MEP Centers work with 79 aerospace and defense manufacturers, creating over 3,000 jobs.

Rep. Torres released the following statement:

“Manufacturing is at the heart of economic activity in communities across this country, and the Inland Empire is no exception,” Rep. Torres said. “The provisions I’m announcing today will help local manufacturers secure their supply chain and streamline their business operation. What this means for our region is simple: more jobs, better wages, new opportunities, and more money flowing through our local economy.”

Congresswoman Torres is a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which allocates all federal spending. She also sits on the House Rules Committee, where she has influence over the amendment process for every bill considered in the House of Representatives.