Dear Friend,
I’ve been back in Washington, D.C. for the last couple of weeks… and sadly, it’s been just as rainy here as it’s been in San Diego. I wanted to send a quick update on what I’ve been up to – from securing $13.5 million in federal funding for local projects across San Diego to fighting to address our community’s homelessness crisis.
I’m also still working to help our community recover and clean up from the January storms and flooding damage. If you’ve suffered damage to your home, business, or property, or if you’ve suffered any other related losses from the January storms, don’t forget to apply for FEMA assistance using these resources:
I’m also proud to have led the push to extend the federal tax filing deadline to June 17th for San Diego County residents and businesses. For more information, visit the IRS Tax Relief in Disaster Situations website here. And good news! The state filing deadline has also been extended to June 17th – giving folks a little more time to prepare for tax season.
Keep reading for more highlights from last week:
Bringing $13.5 Million in Federal Funds Home to San Diego
I’m so excited that all 15 of my Community Project Funding requests were signed into law over the weekend. From Miramar to Grantville and Lemon Grove to La Mesa, I secured over $13.5 million to directly support local projects across CA-51.
This much-needed funding will help our community tackle the homelessness crisis, support children and families, build more community spaces, care for our service members, and more. These are big wins for San Diego, and I’m excited to bring federal support home to make our community an even better, brighter place to live, work, and raise a family.
You can read more about all these newly funded local projects here.
Reflecting on the State of the Union
In case you missed the State of the Union, President Biden reminded all of us about how much he’s accomplished – from canceling $138 billion in student debt to creating 15 million jobs to driving down unemployment rates to making historic investments in infrastructure and climate action to capping child care costs for millions of families. The list goes on!
I’m so proud of what we have achieved under President Biden’s leadership, but we still have so much more work to do to address issues like the housing and homelessness crisis. To shine a bigger light on this issue, I invited Erika Malone – an amazing arts educator from Rolando Park – who works at the Monarch School, the only K-12 school in the country that exclusively serves students experiencing homelessness, as my guest to the State of the Union. I’m so glad she could come to D.C. and help me bring attention to one of the top priorities for our community.
Addressing Student Homelessness in San Diego
Together, we can end homelessness for kids and all people across the country. But to do so, we need targeted strategies – because not everyone experiencing homelessness is the same or needs the same resources.
That’s why I’m leading a bipartisan effort in the House to extend American Rescue Plan funding so that schools have the flexibility to meet unhoused students’ needs and have more time to create the programming necessary to address student homelessness. San Diego County has nearly 18,500 students experiencing homelessness – so extending this funding is so important for our community.
We’re Here to Help
My staff in San Diego is here to help if you need assistance with a federal agency, like small business loans, immigration challenges, issues with Social Security or Medicare, VA benefits, and more!
