The Trump administration gave the work a thumbs up at the same time it announced an investigation into California’s controversial high-speed rail project between Los Angeles and San Francisco. One major difference: the billionaire behind the Las Vegas high-speed rail project co-founded the investment firm that loaned Donald Trump $130 million to help build Trump International Hotel and Tower, Chicago, and then forgave the loan.

The Las Vegas to IE rail project, named Brightline West, has been embraced from the start. During an April 22 groundbreaking ceremony with a large gathering of VIPs in Nevada, then President Joe Biden’s U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg praised the project.

“People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in the U.S. for decades. Thanks to the President’s leadership and that of members of Congress like those here, as well as our state partners in Nevada and California, the men and women of organized labor, and the terrific work of Brightline West, it’s happening,” Buttigieg said.

“So, on behalf of the Biden Administration, it is my great honor to help break ground on what will be the first high-speed rail in American history,” Buttigieg continued. “It’s really happening this time.”

In total, the Brightline West project will see 218 miles of new track laid between a to-be-constructed terminal just south of the Las Vegas Strip and another new facility in Rancho Cucamonga.

With its trains traveling up to 200 mph, Brightline West is slated to be in service in time for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. In addition to the Rancho Cucamonga station, two other Inland Empire stations are planned along the Brightline West route: Hesperia and the Victorville area. Additionally, Rancho Cucamonga offers connections to existing Metrolink routes.

The project’s current construction work includes geotechnical borings and sampling, utility potholing, and land surveying in San Bernardino County.

The project has received billions in federal funding, and unlike the fate of another California high-speed rail project, there are no signs of trouble brewing with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Thursday, current U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy announced that the Federal Railroad Administration has launched a review of the California High-Speed Rail Authority and its proposed bullet train project. If completed, the long-promised and costly endeavor would shuttle riders between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Trump appears to be done with it, as are many Californians.

“For too long, taxpayers have subsidized the massively over-budget and delayed California High-Speed Rail project,” Duffy said last week. “President Trump is right that this project is in dire need of an investigation. That is why I am directing my staff to review and determine whether the CHSRA has followed through on the commitments it made to receive billions of dollars in federal funding. If not, I will have to consider whether that money could be given to deserving infrastructure projects elsewhere in the United States.”

Conversely, the Brightline West project received approval from Duffy. It was the only other infrastructure project named in the secretary’s remarks.

“The slow progress by CHSRA contrasts with the impressive work of Brightline West to build a high-speed rail system,” Duffy said.

Besides taxpayer dollars, Brightline West has big money behind it. Wes Edens founded the Brightline company. The venture currently operates a rail system in Florida, with dozens of passenger trains running between Miami and Orlando.

In addition to being a private equity investor and co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks NBA team, Edens is co-founder of New York City-based Fortress Investment Group.

The billionaire businessman also has complex financial ties to Trump.

Fortress was spotlighted after New York Attorney General Letitia James launched an investigation in 2019 into Trump’s finances. Court documents revealed the president received a multi-million-dollar loan during the aughts from Fortress for his Trump International Hotel and Tower, Chicago, project.

Fortress issued the Trump Organization a $130 million loan for the project, but Trump did not repay the bulk of the loan, according to the complaint filed by James in 2020.

Trump subsequently defaulted on the loan and sued Fortress, according to a 2020 New York Times report.

Fortress forgave more than $100 million in debt owed by the Trump Organization, court documents show.

The A.G.’s office wanted to know if Trump documented the loan forgiveness as income, as required by the Internal Revenue Service, and paid taxes on the money. It was part of a much broader investigation into Trump’s business dealings that ultimately led to a Feb. 16, 2024, court ruling against Trump and his company. In total, the defendants were ordered to pay more than $450 million.

Neither Edens nor Fortress were accused of any wrongdoing.

In addition to loaning Trump’s company money, Fortress reportedly made at least one multi-million-dollar loan to the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

The post The Convoluted Financial History Between Billionaire Behind SoCal Rail Project And Trump appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

The Scope of the Destruction
The wildfires, which ignited on January 7, scorched 37,469 acres and claimed the lives of at least 26 individuals. The inferno forced approximately 150,000 residents to evacuate, leaving entire neighborhoods in ruins. Communities in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena bore the brunt of the destruction, suffering significant damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure.

According to Newsom’s letter, the requested funds would be allocated toward various recovery initiatives, including workforce recovery, tax incentives, wildfire resilience, and private property redevelopment. The largest portion—42% of the total request—would be dedicated to public assistance for debris removal and repair work.

“The impacted communities have experienced widespread devastation, and the total impact on California’s economy will take years to fully quantify,” Newsom stated, underscoring the long-term economic toll of the disaster.

Federal Aid Proposal Breakdown
Newsom’s request outlines specific allocations for recovery and rebuilding efforts:

• $16.8 billion for rebuilding and repairing roads, bridges, public buildings, parks, schools, and utilities, as well as hazardous waste and debris removal.
• $9.9 billion for housing costs and infrastructure.
• $5.3 billion for low-interest loans for businesses, nonprofit organizations, homeowners, and renters.
• $4.3 billion for economic development grants to assist in business recovery and growth.
• $2 billion for low-income housing tax credits over the next ten years.
• $375.8 million for health and child care needs for survivors.
• $350 million for the U.S. Forestry Service to support fire mitigation and post-fire recovery efforts.
• $51 million in grant funding for dislocated worker and unemployment assistance.

Political Response and Challenges in Congress
The request has received bipartisan support from some lawmakers representing the affected areas. Representative Judy Chu (D-CA) lauded the proposal, stating, “This package will provide an injection of desperately needed federal aid for rebuilding homes, businesses, and community institutions, which will support the healing process for Angelenos suffering the grief and trauma of losing loved ones, homes, and every belonging they cherished.”

Similarly, Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA), whose district includes Pacific Palisades, expressed strong backing for the funding. “My constituents urgently need this assistance to rebuild their homes and their lives,” he said.

Newsom’s request faces an uphill battle in Congress, where both chambers are narrowly controlled by Republicans. Some GOP lawmakers have signaled their reluctance to approve the aid without conditions. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other Republican leaders have floated the possibility of tying California’s disaster relief funding to unrelated legislative priorities, such as debt ceiling negotiations.
Representative Ralph Norman (R-SC) took a hardline stance, stating, “We’ve got to get a pound of flesh on any dollar spent on California, in my opinion.”

Democratic Opposition to Conditions on Aid
Democratic leaders have pushed back against any attempts to politicize the relief efforts. Representative Pete Aguilar (D-CA), the third-ranking House Democrat, strongly opposed placing conditions on disaster assistance.

“We will not support conditions to disaster assistance,” Aguilar said. “We did not put partisan conditions on Florida, Louisiana, or the Carolinas when we offered aid. Partisan conditions are not helpful and will distract from the help, and more importantly, delay the help that’s necessary for the American public.”

Newsom’s Meeting with Trump and Federal Response
Earlier this month, Newsom traveled to Washington, D.C., where he met with lawmakers from both parties and lobbied for the passage of supplemental aid for California. He also held a 90-minute meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, where they discussed wildfire recovery efforts.

While Newsom described the meeting as “positive,” he admitted that discussions remained at a “top-line” level. Notably, they did not address whether the Trump administration would honor a previous commitment made by former President Joe Biden to fully cover the cost of recovery efforts for the first 180 days.

Trump, who visited the fire-ravaged Palisades region earlier this month, acknowledged the scale of the destruction. “I don’t think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating it is until you see it,” he said. “I mean, I saw a lot of bad things on television, but the extent of it, the size of it, we flew over it in a helicopter.”

However, Trump has also expressed skepticism about providing federal funds to California. In an interview with Fox News last month, he stated that the federal government should not give California “anything” until the state changed its water management policies to prioritize the southern region.

The Road Ahead
The debate over California’s wildfire recovery funding is likely to be contentious. Ric Grenell, a close Trump ally and former acting Director of National Intelligence, hinted at a looming battle over aid distribution. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Grenell stated, “We are going to have strings on the money that we give to California.” Grenell, who is rumored to be considering a gubernatorial bid in 2026, did not elaborate on what specific conditions might be attached.

As Newsom and California’s congressional delegation continue to advocate for swift federal assistance, the outcome remains uncertain. The ongoing political tensions in Washington, combined with the state’s history of contentious relations with Republican leadership, could delay critical funding for communities in desperate need of support.

For thousands of displaced residents and business owners struggling to recover, the stakes could not be higher. The coming weeks will determine whether California receives the federal assistance it needs to rebuild—or whether political gridlock will leave victims of the fires without the aid they so urgently require.

The post Gov. Newsom asks Congress for nearly $40 billion in wildfire recovery funding appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

DOGE’s efforts to stop USAID payments undermine assurances that the department gave to federal lawmakers in a Tuesday letter that it sought only to review the integrity of the payments and had “read-only access” to the system as part of an audit process.

The two people familiar with the matter spoke Thursday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

The actions by DOGE, a Trump administration effort to find ways to reduce the federal workforce, cut programs and slash federal regulations, have raised concerns among civil servants, Democratic lawmakers and others that Musk’s team is withholding funds appropriated by Congress to suit the president’s political agenda.

USAID, a federal agency charged with delivering humanitarian assistance overseas, has been a particular target of President Donald Trump and Musk, both of whom have argued that much of the agency’s spending is wasteful. Supporters of the agency, however, say that it is essential for national security, helping counter Russian and Chinese influence while providing humanitarian assistance across the globe.

A judge on Thursday sided with advocates and federal workers unions who sought to stop the department from giving DOGE and Musk access to the payment systems. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly restricted DOGE’s read-only access to Tom Krause, a software CEO, and Marko Elez, who reported to Krause but has since left his role at Treasury. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Treasury Department’s Fiscal Service conducts over 1.2 billion transactions annually and accounts for 90% of federal disbursements, including for Social Security and Medicare.

Krause, who is listed online as the CEO of Cloud Software Group, works at the department as a special government employee and is subject to less stringent rules on ethics and financial disclosures than other federal workers.

The department’s acting deputy secretary, David Lebryk, retired after more than 30 years of service when Krause and DOGE requested access to sensitive data, the two people told The AP.

Trump ordered a funding freeze at USAID his first day in office, saying, “the United States foreign aid industry” was “not aligned with American interests.” The funding freeze and subsequent stop-work orders shuttered most U.S. programs, which are worth billions of dollars and are in more than 100 countries.

While the funding freeze is supposed to last for as little as 90 days, aid workers say the damage done to aid work globally would require extensive investment and rebuilding to mend. Musk has tweeted repeated criticisms and unsubstantiated accusations about USAID as his DOGE crew dismantles much of the agency.

“Spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” Musk tweeted early this week.

The news that the department was trying to stop foreign aid payments was first reported by The New York Times.

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House Republicans have been meeting behind closed doors on next steps after Trump doubled-down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — and if not, he said in an early morning post, let the closures “start now.”

“We will not have a government shutdown,” Johnson said as he left the basement session at the Capitol.

Johnson declined to disclose the new idea under consideration but lawmakers said it would fund the government at current levels through March and adds $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.

Gone would be Trump’s demand for a debt ceiling, which GOP leaders told lawmakers would be debated as part of their tax and border packages in the new year.

It is almost impossible to meet Trump’s last minute pressure. Johnson knows there won’t be enough support within the GOP majority to pass any package, since many Republicans prefer to slash federal government rather than fund it, and won’t allow more debt.

Instead, Johnson has been in talks Friday with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries whose party’s support will be needed to ensure passage of any deal. Votes are possible Friday afternoon.

“We will meet our obligations,” Johnson said.

Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power and limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago, alongside his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who is heading up the incoming administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency.

“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now,” Trump posted early in the morning on social media.

Trump does not fear government shutdowns the way Johnson and the lawmakers see federal closures as political losers that harm the livelihoods of Americans. The incoming Trump administration vows to slash the federal budget and fire thousands of employees. Trump himself sparked the longest government shutdown in history in his first term at the White House, the monthlong closures over the 2018-19 Christmas holiday and New Year period.

More importantly for the president-elect is his demand for pushing the thorny debt ceiling debate off the table before he returns to the White House. The federal debt limit expires Jan. 1, and Trump doesn’t want the first months of his new administration saddled with tough negotiations in Congress to lift the nation’s borrowing capacity. It gives Democrats, who will be in the minority next year, leverage.

“Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling,” Trump posted — increasing his demand for a now five-year debt limit increase. “Without this, we should never make a deal.”

Johnson is racing behind closed doors to prevent a shutdown, but his influence has its limits. Trump and Musk unleashed their opposition — and social media army — on the original plan Johnson presented, which was a 1,500-page bipartisan compromise he struck with Democrats that included the disaster aid for hard hit states, but did not address the debt ceiling situation.

A Trump-backed second plan, Thursday’s slimmed down 116-page bill with his preferred two-year debt limit increase into 2027, failed in a monumental defeat, rejected by most Democrats as an unserious effort — but also Republicans who refuse to pile on the nation’s red ink.

On Friday morning, Vice President-elect JD Vance arrived early at the speaker’s office at the Capitol, where a group of the most hardline Republican holdouts from the House Freedom Caucus were meeting with Johnson.

At one point during the lunchtime meeting of House Republicans, Johnson asked for a show of hands as they determined the path forward, Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said.

Government workers have already been told to prepare for a federal shutdown which would send millions of employees — and members of the military — into the holiday season without paychecks.

“Welcome back to the MAGA swamp,” the House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted.

“That is why our country is on the brink of a government shutdown that will crash the economy, hurt working class Americans and likely be the longest in history.”

Jeffries was communicating with Johnson on the path forward, according to multiple people in a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting.

In the Senate, which is controlled by the Democrats for a few more weeks, there are talks of trying to push forward the original package, the bipartisan compromise that Johnson, Jeffries and the Senate leaders had negotiated to strike a deal earlier this week. That would be difficult, but not impossible.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the original agreement “the quickest, simplest, and easiest way we can make sure the government stays open while delivering critical emergency aid to the American people.”

“I’m ready to stay here through Christmas because we’re not going to let Elon Musk run the government,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the chair of the Appropriations Committee who was instrumental in that first deal. “We had a bipartisan deal—we should stick to it.”

President Joe Biden, in his final weeks in office, has played a less public role in the debate, drawing criticism from Trump and Republicans who are trying to shift the blame for any shutdown on him.

Biden has been in discussions with Schumer and Jeffries, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.

But she said, “Republicans blew up this deal. They did, and they need to fix this.”

Johnson faces an enormous task as he tries to keep government running, appease Trump — and save his own job.

The speaker’s election is the first vote of the new Congress, which convenes Jan. 3, and Johnson will need the support of almost every single House Republican from his razor-thin majority to ensure he can keep the gavel. Democrats will vote for Jeffries.

As the speaker twisted in Washington, his peril was on display. At Turning Point USA’s conservative AmericaFest confab, Trump ally Steven Bannon stirred thousands of activists late Thursday with a withering takedown of the Louisiana Republican.

“Clearly, Johnson is not up to the task. He’s gotta go,” Bannon said, drawing cheers. He smiled and cocked his head at the response, “President Trump? These are your people.”

The post Floating a new plan, Speaker Johnson insists there will be no government shutdown appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

When President-elect Donald Trump moves into the White House in January, he will become a key figure in California’s homelessness crisis, holding the federal purse strings and setting policy at the national level. 

So what will this change of power mean for the state as it tries to move its nearly 186,000 homeless residents — the most in the nation — indoors? 

Housing and homeless services experts in California worry the Trump administration will cut federal funding in those areas, while also doing away with policies deemed too “progressive.” 

But surprisingly, based on what he’s said so far about one of the key issues regarding homelessness, Trump’s agenda isn’t much different from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s. Trump pledged to tackle the encampments that have made cities “unlivable” by working with states to ban urban camping and arrest those who don’t comply — something many cities in California started doing before Election Day, as Newsom encouraged them to clear camps.

“The homeless have no right to turn every park and sidewalk into a place for them to squat and do drugs,” Trump said in a campaign video posted online in April, 2023. The video appears to be the last time he revealed specific homelessness policy intentions. 

“There is nothing compassionate about letting these individuals live in filth and squalor rather than getting them the help that they need,” Trump said. 

Newsom, who in most other arenas is one of Trump’s biggest foes, has said nearly the exact same thing.

“There is no compassion in allowing people to suffer the indignity of living in an encampment for years and years,” Newsom said in September before signing a package of housing bills. In July, Newsom ordered state agencies to ramp up encampment sweeps, and he threatened to withhold state funding from cities that fail to do the same.

More than two-dozen California cities and counties already have introduced or passed new ordinances cracking down on camps (or updated existing ones to make them more punitive), after the Supreme Court gave them the green light to do so in June.

Trump also said he would move unhoused people to tent cities staffed with doctors and social workers. 

That plan alarmed Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. 

“We need to remember that involuntary carceral approaches don’t work and just delay our efforts to end homelessness,” he said.

If Trump pushes these policies at the national level, especially if he offers federal funding for sweeps and tent cities, it could spur California cities to further crack down, Visotzky said. 

As the Trump administration gets to work replacing the heads of federal agencies such as the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, there’s a good chance policies California has come to rely on will get tossed out along the way, said Sharon Rapport, director of California state policy for the Corporation for Supportive Housing. The new guard likely will scrap at least some policies viewed as the gold standard in California, such as “housing first,” which says unhoused people, even those struggling with an addiction or their mental health, should be offered housing with no strings attached, and then services to help them recover.

It’s also a good bet California would see large cuts to funding for federal housing and homelessness programs — including the voucher program that subsidizes rents for hundreds of thousands of Californians, Rapport said.

That’s worrying for organizations such as Abode, which provides housing and other services for homeless Californians in seven counties.

“Federal funding is the brunt of what we receive either directly or through other entities, so it could be really impactful if there’s a huge reduction,” said CEO Vivian Wan. “It’s just going to hurt all of our communities.”

The post One issue Trump and Newsom agree on? Homeless encampments appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday called newly elected state lawmakers to work as soon as they’re sworn in on Dec. 2 for a special session to “safeguard California values” as the state prepares — again — to be a liberal antagonist to the upcoming Trump administration. 

In other words: Gear up for lawsuits. 

In a proclamation declaring the special session, Newsom said he wants the Legislature to approve funding for the Department of Justice and other state agencies to “immediately file affirmative litigation.”

Legislative sources said the special session is intended to be narrowly focused on providing legal resources to the attorney general’s office — perhaps as much as $100 million — to fight the Trump administration. The goal is to appropriate the money before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, though given how many new members are joining the Legislature, they may not be ready to act until early January.

As priorities for California’s opposition, Newsom listed civil and reproductive rights, climate change, Trump’s threats to withhold disaster relief dollars and the potential repeal of deportation protections for immigrants who were brought to the country without authorization as children.

“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,” Newsom said in a statement. “California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond.”

It appears that Trump won’t sit idle either. A day after Newsom’s announcement, the president-elect posted on his Truth Social account that “Governor Gavin Newscum is trying to KILL our Nation’s beautiful California” and “stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again.’”

Trump suggested he would go after “INSANE POLICY DECISIONS,” such as how California distributes its water and the higher mileage requirements for vehicles sold here, and demand voter identification in future elections, providing an early map for likely clashes between the state and his administration.

The Democratic leaders and budget committee chairpersons in both houses of the Legislature are on board with the special session, expressing support for Newsom’s proclamation, but no detailed proposal has yet been introduced. The special session would start Dec. 2 when the new Legislature convenes, though lawmakers wouldn’t necessarily pass any bills immediately. 

“We learned a lot about former President Trump in his first term — he’s petty, vindictive, and will do what it takes to get his way no matter how dangerous the policy may be,” Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, a Santa Rosa Democrat, said in a statement. “California has come too far and accomplished too much to simply surrender and accept his dystopian vision for America.” 

Republican lawmakers quickly denounced the governor’s order as divisive political theater that does nothing to address the real problems facing Californians and merely boosts what many interpret as Newsom’s own future presidential aspirations.

Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher called the session a “shameless political stunt.” “The only ‘problem’ it will solve is Gavin Newsom’s insecurity that not enough people are paying attention to him,” he said in a statement. “There will not be a single policy implemented in this special session that couldn’t be addressed when the Legislature reconvenes in January.”

But Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, an Encino Democrat who leads the Assembly Budget Committee, said the state needs to move quickly to be ready if the Trump administration follows through on threats to withhold federal funding from California or other policies attacking the state.

“In litigation, speed matters and preparation matters,” he told CalMatters. “This is an important idea.”

Gabriel — an attorney who, before running for office, represented immigrants who sued the Trump administration over its move to end a program shielding them from deportation — said many legislators also feel a personal duty to address the fear and anxiety they are hearing from their constituents about the outcome of the election.

“They can tell you they want you to focus on everyday, kitchen table issues that matter to working families and at the same time, fight back,” he said. “We’re going to have to walk and chew gum at the same time.”

Attorney General Rob Bonta told CalMatters last week that his office is already writing legal briefs in preparation for lawsuits against possible Republican attempts to ban abortion nationwide, overturn California’s commitment to zero-emission vehicles and repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for immigrants.

During the last Trump administration, California sued the federal government more than 100 times over its regulations. Most of those lawsuits were successful.

“We bring cases when we believe we will win,” Bonta said at a press conference Thursday. “We will be asking for sufficient resources to fight back against the attacks that we expect from the Trump administration.” 

This is the third special session that Newsom has called since October 2022. The two previous ones focused on gas prices and the oil industry, including one that just wrapped up last month.

The post Newsom calls special session to ‘Trump-proof’ California appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Kelly O’Keeffe | Contributed

On April 29th, Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) announced a $320,000 federal grant from the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians to provide local Native American families access to quality internet access. The federal grant is part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and will help to connect 17 unserved households with qualifying broadband service. Dr. Ruiz, who voted to pass the funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructures Law, worked with the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians to secure this much-needed funding.

“The pandemic showed us why it is so important to have internet for education, health care, and commerce,” said Dr. Ruiz. “Not having internet puts families at a disadvantage, which leads to education, health, and economic disparities for underserved communities. This federal funding is important to me, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, and the families, who for the first time, will have access to the internet. I’m glad for them and to have been a part of these efforts.”

BACKGROUND

The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, makes $980 million available for grants to eligible Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian entities for broadband deployment, digital inclusion, workforce development, telehealth, and distance learning.

In addition, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided an additional $2 billion in funding for this program. And the NTIA is preparing to launch a series of new grants to build broadband infrastructure across the country, create more low-cost broadband service options, and address our communities’ digital equity and inclusion needs.

This funding continues Dr. Ruiz’s long-standing commitment to expanding access to reliable, high-speed Internet for Native American families:

Introduced the Tribal Internet Expansion Act, which adds Indian Country to the priority areas list for the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fun;

Also cosponsored the LIFT America Act, which provides $80 billion to build high-speed broadband internet, including $500 million for Tribal broadband through NTIA;

And voted in favor of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which provided $65 billion for broadband deployment, including $2 billion for Tribal broadband grants through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

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