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As a non-profit founder... I know non-profits are helpful because they are the ears on the ground, trusted members of our communities. We should encourage non-profits to contact their legislators and make some time to advocate for their communities."
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Assemblymember Luz Rivas on the importance and role of Not-for-Profit Organizations.
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Historic $2 Trillion Stimulus Package Passed; New State and Local Measures
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 Federal Level
On March 25, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a $2 trillion economic stimulus bill aimed at providing financial relief to businesses and families heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The stimulus package includes a $377 billion small business loan program, a $500 billion liquidity fund for impacted corporations, $100 billion reserved for hospitals and $150 billion
provided to state and local governments. Additionally, the bill provides one-time payments of $1,200 to Americans with an annual income of up to $75,000, and increases the maximum unemployment benefits to $600 a week for four months. On March 27, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the stimulus bill, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump.
For more information on the economic stimulus bill, click here and here for summaries from the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.
State Level
On March 22, Governor Gavin Newsom successfully secured a
Presidential Declaration of Major Disaster,
guaranteeing much-needed federal resources to help California during this crisis. Throughout the week, the Newsom administration adopted emergency measures to mount a quick and effective response to the COVID-19 outbreak in California. These actions included the following:
 Local Level
The City and County of Los Angeles expanded the original "Safer at Home" order. Over the weekend,
Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks closed park facilities and parking lots at beaches to prevent crowding in these locations. On March 26, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the closure of all outdoor sports facilities such as skate parks, tennis courts, baseball fields, basketball courts, etc.
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VICA Urges City Council Not to Tie the Hands of Businesses During Economic Crisis
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 Today, the Los Angeles City Council is holding a special Council meeting to vote on several urgency clauses, which means they will go into effect immediately. Included in the urgency clauses is a Right to Recall Ordinance. The proposed Right to Recall ordinance would present a number of additional challenges for businesses during this economic crisis, eliminating flexibility that businesses need to survive and ultimately preserve jobs and remain in their communities over the long term.
VICA has been on the frontline in the fight to protect businesses. Thank you to our businesses group partners for their partnership and for ensuring the business community's voice has heard loud and clear.
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ADDITIONAL COPIES ARE NOW AVAILABLE!
CONTACT US TO RESERVE YOUR 2021 AD SPACE EARLY!
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Support CEQA Exemptions for Emergency Shelters and Supportive Housing
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 VICA supports Assembly Bill 1907 (Santiago), which would grant CEQA exemptions for the construction of emergency shelters, supportive housing and affordable housing statewide until January 1, 2029. CEQA lawsuits are often burdensome and can take years to resolve, effectively stalling or blocking housing projects. A similar bill, AB 1197 (Santiago, 2019), exempted emergency shelters and supportive housing in Los Angeles from CEQA. Within two months of AB 1197's enactment, the City of Los Angeles quickly approved a 154-bed shelter in Venice, nine permanent supportive housing projects, and three other homeless shelters. The CEQA exemptions provided under AB 1197 were necessary to expedite the construction of desperately needed emergency shelters and supportive housing in Los Angeles. Today, the state faces a shortage of 1.4 million affordable homes, with approximately 150,000 Californians experiencing homelessness. It is critically important to continue building housing and prevent the abuse of CEQA to block supportive and affordable housing.
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Ensure California Schools Are Given State Lottery Dollars That Are Owed to Them
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VICA supports Senate Bill 891 (Chang), which
would require the
California
State Lottery to increase public education funding in proportion to its increase in net revenue
.
The purpose of the California State Lottery was specifically to provide supplemental funding for public education. In a February 2020 report, the State Auditor found that the California State Lottery violated the requirement to increase its funding for public education in proportion to its net revenue and shortchanged public schools by $36 million. SB 891 would
explicitly enforce the proportionality requirement and
compel
the California State Lottery to pay the $36 million it owes to California's public schools.
Many public schools throughout California are struggling financially
,
especially many schools within
the
Los Angeles Unified School District
(LAUSD)
. Ensuring that the Lottery provides steady and reliable supplemental funding for public
education
would greatly help
California schools, especially
our local
schools in LAUSD
.
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Member Messages:
Get Your Message in VICA Weekly!
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VICA members can promote their business, events and news in VICA Weekly. Member messages are available for $50 per week or $175 for four weeks. Messages are text-based and may not contain more than 70 words. A logo may be added for an additional $5 per week. For more information or to schedule your member message, contact
[email protected]
or
call (818) 817-0545.
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