SANGER, CA – Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) today released the following statement in anticipation of the Governor’s 2022 Budget Release:  

“With another historical budget on the horizon, California must take this funding and invest it in our water infrastructure and water storage, invest in our healthcare and healthcare delivery infrastructure as well as ensure there is food for all.”

“Last year, California took great steps towards repairing the state’s broken water delivery system by making a down-payment towards repairs. California has also taken the initial steps to ensure that no one—regardless of immigration status—goes hungry. We must continue our investments in these areas to lift people out of poverty and ensure this is a California for all.”

In the 2021 session, Senator Hurtado introduced Senate Bill 559—The State Water Resiliency Act of 2021—that would have established a funding plan to repair vital water delivery systems that provide drinking water to communities throughout California and sustain the state’s leading agricultural economy. The funds would have gone to fixing the Friant-Kern Canal, the Delta-Mendota Canal and major portions of the California Aqueduct, all of which have degraded and are losing water as a result of subsidence – the actual shrinking of land. Congressman Jim Costa and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein have companion legislation in Congress.

In his May Revise, Governor Gavin Newsom proposed $200 million to help repair the canals. In the budget ultimately adopted by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, $100 million was allocated to fixing the canals.

Senator Hurtado introduced Senate Bill 108 in the 2021 Legislative Session, which would have declared it to be state policy that individuals have the right to sufficient, safe, and healthy food. This bill was ultimately held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Her bill, Senate Bill 464—Comida Para Todos— works towards providing greater food security to low-income immigrant workers by expanding eligibility for state funded nutrition benefits to anyone ineligible for CalFresh due solely to their immigration status. This bill is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee awaiting further action. In line with this work, Senator Hurtado advocated for the inclusion of $5 million in the State Budget to prepare for the expansion of food benefits for undocumented immigrants.

Media Contact: Michelle.Sherwood@sen.ca.gov

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and a product of immigrant parents. Senator Hurtado represents the 14th Senate District and focuses on rural community issues that often go unheard — access to clean air and water, food insecurity and poverty, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture and access to health care. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis – the only two California Latinas on the Committee.

For more information, visit Senator Hurtado’s Website here or find her on Twitter at @Senator_Hurtado

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