Federal relief funds should go to farmworkers
Thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that President Joe Biden signed into law in March, local governments across the country are receiving financial assistance to help repair our badly frayed national social safety net, damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Trump administration's mismanagement. Our San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors will receive $54 million in ARPA aid and will determine how to use the funds in order to protect our most vulnerable communities.
As we celebrated the official California state holiday of César Chávez Day on Wednesday, March 31—and as we welcome to California our First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, who visited the César E. Chávez National Monument to pay homage to his legacy of justice and non-violent activism—now is an excellent time to let our supervisors know that we want the bulk of ARPA funds to go to our farmworkers and immigrant community, our neighbors and families that have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, and whose labor empowers the agricultural industry to contribute $2.5 billion annually to our SLO County economy.