Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Representatives Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-39), and Adam Schiff (CA-28) led the Congressional California Delegation in urging U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to extend flexibilities, under existing USDA authorities, to allow local food agencies to deliver Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) food packages through private partners. The USDA provided the flexibilities at the outset of the pandemic, which were extended for one month in May and expired at the end of June.

SALINAS, CA – Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) announced $3,865,323 in Tenant Protection Vouchers for the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz. The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz is among a small cohort of four housing authorities nationally that have been approved to convert public housing program to tenant-based assistance through the Streamlined Voluntary Conversion process. The award of these Tenant Protection Vouchers (TVP) ensures that all families currently in public housing units will have housing mobility.

SALINAS, CA – Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) announced a $125,000 federal grant to support the County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency youth substance abuse programs. The grant was awarded by White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

SALINAS, CA – Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) announced $30,199 in federal grant funding for the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz. The grant money will support the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz's assistance to low-income residents served by the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program. The funding was provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Moderate Rehabilitation Program.

SALINAS, CA – Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) announced two new U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grants for airport infrastructure on the central coast of California. The grants will be awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration and are partly funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, increasing the Federal cost share to 100 percent.

SALINAS, CA – Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) announced $2.4 million in grant funding for local Hispanic Serving Institutions. Monterey Peninsula College, Hartnell College, California State University, Monterey Bay, and the University of California, Santa Cruz each received $600,000 in Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (DHSI) grants from the Department of Education.

Earlier this year, Congressman Panetta requested $170 million specifically for the DHSI program in appropriations legislation.

SALINAS, CA – Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded a total of $893,734 in funding to five community health center networks, which will be used to support community health in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties.

Yesterday, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) joined House Agriculture Subcommittee Chairwoman Stacey E. Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) and several of his colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, expressing strong concern with recently announced changes to the Farm Service Agency's Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP). The letter also asks for the maximum amount of assistance through the OCCSP.