SACRAMENTO – Assemblymembers Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles/Huntington Park) and Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova) were pleased to note the progress of Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 5 as it passed out of the Assembly Public Employment and Retirement Committee.

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 209, which prohibited the state from implementing equal opportunity programs. California is now one of only eight states in the country that outlaws policies that promote equal opportunity for all. If passed by both houses of the Legislature, ACA 5 would place this question again in front of the voters, twenty-four years after the original proposition was passed.

Datos recientes del Departamento de Salud Pública del Condado de Los Ángeles muestran que las comunidades afroamericanas y latinas en el sur de Los Ángeles están muriendo de COVID-19 a un nivel mas alto que otras comunidades. Este tipo de informes se refleja en todo el país por los anuncios de Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC por sus siglas en ingles) que el 80% de las hospitalizaciones relacionadas con COVID-19 en Georgia son afroamericanos.

Aquí en Los Ángeles, los datos preliminares muestran que el 17 por ciento de afroamericanos (nueve por ciento de la población general) y el 28 por ciento de los latinos (más del 50 por ciento de la población general) han muerto desde el brote. Los números de California como estado muestran que el seis por ciento de los casos de COVID-19 se encuentran en la comunidad afroamericana, afectando a las edades de 18 a 49 años, con una tasa de mortalidad del 15% de todas las muertes causadas por el virus.

Recent data from the Los Angeles County Public Health Department shows Black and Latino communities in South Los Angeles are dying at a higher rate from COVID-19 than other communities. This type of reporting is mirrored across the nation with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention announcing 80% of COVID-19 related hospitalizations in Georgia are black.

Here in Los Angeles preliminary data shows that 17 percent of blacks (nine percent of the overall population) and 28 percent of Latinos (over 50 percent of the overall population) have died since the outbreak. The numbers for California as a state show six percent of COVID cases are in the Black community affecting ages 18-49 with a mortality rate of 15% of all deaths caused by the virus.

LOS ANGELES, California – (April 15, 2020) – Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Huntington Park/South Los Angeles), along with 22 members of the State Assembly, have written a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom citing economic impacts suffered by undocumented residents of the state caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The group of legislators is asking the Governor to establish a relief fund that would provide immediate economic assistance to undocumented workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fund would use state dollars to help undocumented workers unable to work due to COVID-19 or a Shelter in Place Order, have been laid off from work, have had hours reduced, or are caring for their child due to the loss of childcare. Undocumented residents remain a highly vulnerable community within the state with no ability to obtain federal assistance including wage loss, business loans or healthcare subsidies like Medicaid.

LOS ANGELES, California – (Abril 15, 2020) – El asambleísta Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Huntington Park / South Los Angeles), junto con 22 miembros de la Asamblea del Estado, han escrito una carta al gobernador Gavin Newsom citando los impactos económicos sufridos por los residentes indocumentados del estado causados ​​por el brote de COVID-19. El grupo de legisladores está pidiendo al gobernador que establezca un fondo de ayuda que brinde asistencia económica inmediata a los trabajadores indocumentados durante la pandemia de COVID-19.

El fondo usaría dólares estatales para ayudar a los trabajadores indocumentados que no pueden trabajar debido a COVID-19 o una Orden de Refugio en el Lugar, han sido despedidos del trabajo, se les han reducido las horas o están cuidando a sus hijos debido a la pérdida de cuidado infantil. Los residentes indocumentados siguen siendo una comunidad altamente vulnerable dentro del estado sin capacidad de obtener asistencia federal, incluida la pérdida de salarios, préstamos comerciales o subsidios de atención médica como Medicaid.

Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer and the Department of Corrections Act to Provide Communication Options to Families

LOS ANGELES, California – (April1, 2020) – Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles) announced new measures to be implemented by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) that will connect incarcerated individuals and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As the Chair of the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee my focus has been on the health and safety of those incarcerated and the corrections staff charged with overseeing the daily operations of our state prison system. Initial measures by the CDCR suspended visitations by family members with incarcerated individuals. I am pleased to announce the CDCR has worked with phone and email providers to enable access to calls and emails between families and those incarcerated,” said Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer.