Aside from breaking news, it has always been hard for me to get into following national stories. It feels so far away. And sadly, the reporting is often chock-full of jargon.
Still, it’s super important to understand how decisions in Washington, D.C., impact our region and residents. This week we launched a new monthly column that aims to do just that.
Introducing DC Explained: We tapped Alan Berube, senior vice president at the Policy & Innovation Center, a think tank and social impact incubator headquartered in San Diego, to help residents understand how decisions in D.C. impact San Diego.
The latest: President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending bill, also known at “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” is now law. What does that mean for San Diego? Well, as Berube explains there are some winners (the military and higher-income taxpayers) but mostly, there are a lot of losers in our region.
San Diegans who rely on food assistance and are enrolled in programs that support families with low incomes, will be hit especially hard. Some of that pain will also trickle down to grocery stores and nonprofit health providers that serve these residents.
You can read his first column here. And contact him at aberube@thinkpic.org.
Let me know what you think and if you’d like him to focus on specific policies and issues. You can reach me at andrea.sanchez@voiceofsandiego.org.
Meet Our New Reporter
ICYMI, we welcomed a new reporter this week!
Meet reporter Mariana Martínez Barba. She will investigate and cover San Diego City Hall and focus on the mayor, City Council and other city departments. She’ll explore how policy decisions impact residents and shape our communities.
Martínez Barba is a Report for America corps member. She previously worked as a freelance journalist and covered politics, immigration and culture.
Martínez Barba has spent the last couple days connecting with sources and learning everything she can about San Diego. She’s already getting some good chisme. 😉
If you have a story idea or just want to welcome her, you can contact her at mariana.martinez@voiceofsandiego.org.
Frozen Funds
Earlier this week, education reporter Jakob McWhinney reported that the Trump administration froze millions of education grant dollars one day before school districts were set to get the money in their bank accounts.
This, as you can imagine, has put some districts in a pickle.
McWhinney found that San Diego County was set to get $50 million in education grants. Now that those dollars are on hold, some districts are working out how to fill the gap. The freeze is technically temporary, but it’s unclear if the administration will push to make them permanent.
In the meantime, school district leaders need to figure out how to move forward. McWhinney has a breakdown of how much each school district in San Diego County was expecting to get and what the funding would have gone toward.
More Chisme to Start Your Week
- Get your tickets: Politifest is back on Oct. 4, and this won’t be our usual public affairs summit. This year, we’re bringing together community leaders to go head-to-head in our first ever Solutions Showdown. Save on tickets with early bird pricing here.