In the News
LA Daily News: $5 million secured for improvements to Pacoima Wash, including new pedestrian/bike bridge
Rep. Tony Cárdenas announced more than $5 million in funding for improvements to the Pacoima Wash on Monday, April 18, including funds headed to the office of City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez to build a new pedestrian/bicycle bridge and path along Telfair Avenue. The Pacoima Wash is a concrete flood control channel that runs through much of the Northeast San Fernando Valley before joining the Los Angeles River. The wash slices through Pacoima, creating an obstacle for people who … Continue Reading
April 18, 2022
NBC 4: Pacoima Wash Getting Long-Awaited Improvements
Residents of Pacoima and San Fernando know the wash there is a big impediment to commuting and can also be deadly. But on Monday they got a big boost. To some residents, the wash represents not only a separation from their neighbors in San Fernando which is just a stone's throw away but also a separation from being a safe and livable city. And how they feel one step closer to being just that. Residents hope two big checks bring big changes for Pacoima. One, to the tune of $5.8 million from … Continue Reading
April 12, 2022
NBC 4: Cárdenas Delivers $1 million to Mid Valley Family YMCA
April 11, 2022
Telemundo 52: Fondos Para Salud Mental en Pacoima
April 06, 2022
Billboard: Spotify’s Discovery Mode Under Scrutiny by Congress (Again)
Members of Congress are once again taking aim at Spotify's controversial Discovery Mode feature, which allows artists and labels to receive a lower royalty rate on select tracks in exchange for higher... To continue reading, click … Continue Reading
April 06, 2022
Variety: Members of Congress Slam Daniel Ek and Spotify Over ‘Troubling’ Discovery Mode Policy
Three members of Congress have written to Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek, criticizing him over the company's policy of promoting an artist's music on its Discovery Mode platform in exchange for a reduced royalty rate. Among other notes, the letter requests that Spotify label such songs as paid content; the company announced the policy, which has come under heavy criticism, in 2020. The letter, written on official Congress stationary and obtained by Variety, is dated March 26, 2022 and … Continue Reading
March 21, 2022
The Washington Post: A new 9-1-1 for mental health is on the way
It will be a while before people know 9-8-8 like they know 9-1-1 Come July, Americans experiencing a mental health crisis can press three digits on their phones, "9-8-8," and reach the suicide prevention hotline. The vision: The new, easy-to-use number is being billed as the "911" for mental health care. It's a dramatic revamp of the system that builds on the current crisis line, where Americans can call, text or online chat call centers nationwide and receive counseling. The ultimate … Continue Reading
March 17, 2022
NBC News: New bill seeks to ensure upcoming mental health crisis hotline serves the most vulnerable
Jonathan Murillo, 23, was shot and killed by Los Angeles police last month moments before the arrival of mental health specialists who had been sent to respond to reports of a possible assault at the location. A family member at the home had told police Murillo was armed with a knife and "possibly under the influence of narcotics," according to police. The type of fatal interaction Murillo had with the police is what lawmakers and advocates hope to avoid with the creation of a new national … Continue Reading
March 17, 2022
ABC News: Bill backs up new 988 suicide prevention line with funding
In advance of the rollout of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's new three-digit number, legislators have announced a bill to help fund its implementation. The bill includes federal funding and guidance for states and localities preparing for the July launch, including mental health block grants and $100 million to partner with cities on mobile crisis response teams to help stabilize people in need. It would also increase the amount of federal funding for the Lifeline, which runs a … Continue Reading
March 13, 2022
The New York Times: As a Crisis Hotline Grows, So Do Fears It Won’t Be Ready
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - the number posted on student identification cards, atop Google search results and in warning labels on television shows - is about to get a major reboot, casting it as the 911 for mental health. With an infusion of federal money, the upgraded Lifeline starting in July will have its own three-digit number, 988, and operators who will not only counsel callers but eventually be equipped to dispatch specially trained responders. That will reduce … Continue Reading
March 08, 2022
Spectrum News 1: Sen. Padilla, Rep. Cárdenas make history on Capitol Hill
SAN FERNANDO, Calif. — Reminiscing over old high school yearbooks is a reminder of where it all started for two of the most influential Latinos in Washington D.C. What You Need To Know Rep. Cárdenas and Sen. Padilla presided over the two houses of Congress on the same day They are the first Latinos to do so from California Both grew up in Pacoima and graduated from San Fernando High School The men are close friends and consider each other family As Rep. Tony … Continue Reading
March 07, 2022
Cárdenas Announces Nearly $1.5 Billion in Grant Funds He Helped Secure in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Create Clean Bus Fleets and Facilities
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Tony Cárdenas (CA-29) joined Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Transit Administration Administrator Nuria Fernandez at a White House event announcing the availability of approximately $1.47 billion in competitive grant funds to help create clean school bus fleets and facilities across the country. Congressman Cárdenas helped secure this funding to replace old diesel buses with new, cleaner … Continue Reading
February 15, 2022
LA Daily News: Meet LA’s hybrid electric street sweepers: Angus and Malcolm
Los Angeles introduced two plug-in hybrid-electric street sweepers into service on Tuesday, Feb. 15, a step toward the city's zero emission goals. "Los Angeles is a laboratory for innovation and new technology - a place that is always guiding the future," Mayor Eric Garcetti said. "With this new hybrid electric street sweeper, we take another big step forward in achieving our goals of cleaner and greener streets, healthier communities, and a more sustainable future for all Angelenos." The … Continue Reading
February 09, 2022
San Fernando Sun: LA Officials Hope Federal Funding Will Help City Remediate Orphaned Oil Wells
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Some of Los Angeles' orphaned oil wells may be remediated through an initial allocation of $61.4 million to California through the bipartisan infrastructure law's funding to help states clean up orphaned wells, Rep. Tony Cárdenas said on Monday, Feb. 7. "For far too long, legacy pollution has disproportionately impacted the health and safety of our low income and communities of color," Cárdenas, D-Los Angeles, said. "No one should have to live with the … Continue Reading
February 08, 2022
LA Times: Player advocates petition NLRB to make USC and UCLA classify athletes as employees
California once again became a battleground in the fight for college athlete rights on Tuesday when the Corona-based National College Players Assn. filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against USC, UCLA, the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA. The action - led by longtime athlete advocate Ramogi Huma, a former UCLA football player and the NCPA executive director - comes more than two years after California passed the first-of-its-kind name, image and … Continue Reading
February 08, 2022
Sports Illustrated: NCPA Takes Next Step Toward College Athletes Being Classified As Employees
In January, during an interview on the podcast Pardon My Take, Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN's lead college football analyst, said the quiet part out loud. "I say we make the players employees," he told PMT. "I say we're on a path to unionization. … That's where we're headed." A month later, the movement to make college athletes employees of their universities took another significant step. On Tuesday, the National College Players Association filed unfair labor practice charges with the … Continue Reading
February 02, 2022
San Fernando Sun: Cárdenas Announces Nearly $200,000 for North Valley Military Institute
During a Jan. 27 visit to the North Valley Military Institute, Congressman Tony Cárdenas (CA-29) announced the North Hollywood high school would receive $182,000 in grant funding through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program from the American Rescue Plan. The funding will help the school close the homework gap for students who currently lack necessary internet access or the devices they need to connect to classrooms. The ECF Program … Continue Reading
January 31, 2022
KCRW: 1.4 million LA families lose financial lifeline as Child Tax Credit ends
More than 1.4 million families across Los Angeles county started the new year with less money in their pockets. For the first time in six months, the monthly Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments were not sent out because the Senate has yet to move on the House-passed "Build Back Better Act." The end of Child Tax Credit payments means some 634,000 families in the City of LA alone are scrambling to make up the difference, especially as January comes to a close. "It's really at the end of the month … Continue Reading
January 27, 2022
Forbes: California Lawmaker Gives Tax Tips To Get Bigger Refunds
January 26, 2022
LA Daily News: 4 LAPD officers honored for heroic rescue of pilot whose plane crashed on train tracks in Pacoima
Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Joseph Cavestany was in his police cruiser driving north on Osborne Street through Pacoima on Jan. 9 when he spotted something out of the ordinary: In front of him, about a mile away, a large white object was plunging out of the sky. "It was big and white, about 50 feet off the ground," he said Wednesday. Whiteman Airport was not far away either. Figuring the object had to be a plane in distress, Cavestany watched as it dove down almost into his exact path, … Continue Reading