In the News
PD Editorial: Huffman places a bet for water in the West and the Post Office
by Jim Sweeney
Rep. Jared Huffman, whose sprawling district covers the entire North Coast, has some big ideas about infrastructure, and he's convinced his colleagues to include them in a new bill. The Moving Forward Act, which was written by Democrats, would invest $1.5 trillion in American infrastructure. It's the sort of bill that lawmakers and even President Donald Trump have talked about for years but never passed. The idea of a huge infusion of cash to improve American infrastructure makes sense today … Continue Reading
July 02, 2020
Huffman, 30 other legislators voice opposition to oil, gas leases off California coast
by Ruth Schneider
North Coast U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and 30 other representatives from California are opposed to federal efforts to secure new oil and gas leases off the coast of the state. The 31 lawmakers signed a letter sent to Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt. "There is a reason why every single coastal governor along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, both Republican and Democrat, stand opposed to offshore drilling, as the inevitable spills and the variety of other onshore and … Continue Reading
July 01, 2020
As Democrats Unveil Ambitious Climate Goals, House Lawmakers Press For Green Stimulus
by Alexander C. Kaufman
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi charted a course to zero out all of the United States' planet-heating emissions by 2050, unveiling a Democratic proposal Tuesday that's been hailed by experts as the "most detailed climate plan in U.S. political history." Now nearly five dozen House Democrats want to see those principles applied to the next big piece of legislation coming down the pike. At least 59 legislators signed on Wednesday to a letter demanding that party leaders add more climate … Continue Reading
June 30, 2020
Huffman’s climate action plan includes wind energy
by Shomik Mukherjee
North Coast U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman joined several other members of Congress on Tuesday to announce a climate action plan that includes a host of bills to boost sustainable energy production and cut emissions. The 500-page proposal includes a large handful of climate-related bills, calling for timely legislative action on them. A number of Huffman's own bills are in the plan, including the creation of a "wildfire defense" grant program (HR 5091), which the congressman introduced in … Continue Reading
June 29, 2020
House select committee to unveil long-awaited report
by Nick Sobczyk
After months of pandemic-related delay, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will release its report with a news conference tomorrow on the steps of the Capitol. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will join Chairwoman Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and the panel's other Democrats to unveil the document, widely seen as a guide to climate policy for House leadership. Pelosi created the committee at the outset of the 116th Congress to offer climate policy recommendations to the standing … Continue Reading
June 29, 2020
Congressional panel investigates U.S. Park Police tactics during D.C. protest
by Trevor Shirley
WASHINGTON D.C. (NEXSTAR) - The scene of President Trump, posing with a bible in front of St. John's Episcopal Church after protestors were removed by force, became a defining moment of the last month's protests. Now, a congressional panel is investigating what led up to that moment. Lawmakers like California democratic Representative Jared Huffman said it's clear why U.S. Park Police forced the protestors out of Lafayette Park. "Heavily armed U.S. Park Police carried out orders to use … Continue Reading
June 28, 2020
Rep. Jared Huffman applauds $6 billion earmarked to replace Postal Service vehicles
by Guy Kovner
For six years, Rep. Jared Huffman has been intent on replacing the U.S. Postal Service's aging fleet of gas-guzzling mail delivery vehicles with something better for the environment and the cash-strapped federal agency. Now, a largely overlooked item in the House Democrats' $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill - dubbed the Moving Forward Act - includes $6 billion to make it happen, including a stipulation that at least 75% of the new vehicles must be electric. "It's exciting," said Huffman, a … Continue Reading
June 26, 2020
Democrats’ infrastructure bill has a special delivery: Electric mail trucks
by David Roberts
For months, Democrats in Congress have focused on immediate recovery from the coronavirus, saying they would turn to long-term stimulus when the time is right. The time is apparently right. This week, House Democrats unveiled their Moving Forward Act, a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill. It is capacious: $300 billion for repair of existing infrastructure, $100 billion for public transit, $100 billion for affordable housing infrastructure, $100 billion for broadband, $100 billion for … Continue Reading
June 19, 2020
Sonoma County Juneteenth celebrates 50th year amid growing recognition nationwide
by Yousef Baig
A beam above the pulpit of Prayer Chapel Outreach Mission Church in west Santa Rosa bears a message Marteal Perry instilled in her six children and the hundreds of foster kids she raised. "A child brought up in church is very seldom brought up in court," it reads. Her eldest granddaughter, Sydni Locke-Davenport, 58, who maintains the family's bucolic 10-acre property off South Wright Road, thinks that would be Perry's message to the area Black community if she was alive this weekend when … Continue Reading
June 17, 2020
Reps. Huffman, Bass discuss police reform and equal justice in virtual town hall
by North Coast TV Staff
NORTH COAST, Calif. - On Tuesday, June 16, North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman hosted a town hall with the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Karen Bass to discuss the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. Click here to read the full text of the … Continue Reading
June 16, 2020
Yurok Tribe, Rep. Huffman respond to increased Klamath River flows
The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) announced last week that it would resume flow increases to the Klamath River after it abruptly stopped them in early May. Dry conditions in 2020 have created dangerously low water levels, endangering juvenile salmon at a time when fish infection rates from C. Shasta parasites spiked at alarming levels, according to a news release. The Yurok Tribe and commercial fishing groups sought court intervention after the Bureau unilaterally reduced river flows in … Continue Reading
June 08, 2020
Democrats prepare to push clean energy in recovery packages
by Anthony Adragna
House Democrats are ratcheting up pressure to insert financial help for clean energy into any upcoming bills to try to aid the pandemic-ravaged sector, setting up a clash with GOP lawmakers who’ve so far derided attempts to aid renewables as a furtive bid to implement the Green New Deal. Clean energy groups say the sector has shed 600,000 jobs since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and they are increasingly leaning on their Democratic allies in Congress to deliver assistance … Continue Reading
May 24, 2020
Huffman denounces Trump’s statement that he will “override” governors to open churches
by Adrian Fernandez Baumann
MENDOCINO Co., 5/24/20 - The Congressional Freethought Caucus, of which the North Coast's Representative Jared Huffman is chair, issued a statement yesterday saying that the "denounce" recent statements by President Donald Trump that he will "override" governors to force the reopening of churches. Many have pointed out that the president likely does not have such powers under our system of federalism, specifically citing the 10th Amendment; and the president's own justice department appears … Continue Reading
May 21, 2020
Rep. Huffman offers leadership amid crisis
by John Burns
"Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities." - Dr. Rick Bright, former federal medical research agency director Dr. Rick Bright was dismissed from his job fighting the coronavirus pandemic after resisting a dubious presidential directive promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine, an unproven and hazardous drug, ostensibly to … Continue Reading
May 16, 2020
Huffman Cites 'Historic Crisis' Explaining $3 Trillion Stimulus Vote
by Thadeus Greenson
North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman joined 207 of his congressional colleagues yesterday in voting to approve the HEROES Act, a $3 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill."America is facing a historic crisis," Huffman said in a press release after voting for the bill, which comes after the $2 trillion CARES Act that Congress passed in late March. "We are months into this pandemic, and still have not seen an adequate, coherent response from the administration that meets the urgency of the threat gripping … Continue Reading
May 16, 2020
With homeless camps resurgent across Santa Rosa, city prepares to open one of its own
by Will Schmitt
I t's taken a pandemic to do it, but Santa Rosa this month is slated to dramatically ramp up its response to the local homelessness crisis by opening its first-ever managed homeless encampment to protect at-risk homeless people from the coronavirus. The move comes as COVID-19 remains a persistent local health threat - reaching 373 confirmed cases Saturday - and with unsanctioned homeless encampments resurgent across Santa Rosa, as scores of tents and makeshift shelters have taken over … Continue Reading
May 15, 2020
Democrats’ $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill passes House
by Erica Werner
WASHINGTON - House Democrats on Friday passed a $3 trillion tax cut and spending bill aimed at addressing the devastating economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak by directing huge sums of money into all corners of the economy. But the White House and Senate Republicans have decried the measure's design and said they will cast it aside, leaving uncertain what steps policymakers might take as the economy continues to face severe strains. The sweeping legislation, dubbed the "Heroes … Continue Reading
May 15, 2020
Democrats look to rescue climate agenda amid pandemic
by Nick Sobczyk
In early March, the House Oversight Subcommittee on Environment was set to hold an additional climate change hearing, part of a series that had drawn several high-profile witnesses, including former Secretary of State John Kerry. The meeting was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and still sits as the most recent item on the hearing page of the committee's website. It has not been rescheduled. It's a symbol of what House Democrats face after they spent more than a year laying messaging … Continue Reading
May 15, 2020
Regional health care providers get $28 million through CARES Act
by Sonia Waraich
Area health care providers have received over $28 million through an initial distribution of federal funds. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act secured $175 billion in relief funds for hospitals and health care providers, of which $28,810,095 has gone to 69 Humboldt County health care providers so far, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The initial allocation was really to … Continue Reading
May 14, 2020
Marin’s congressman delivers grim coronavirus forecast
by Richard Halstead
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman told Marin County supervisors this week that the nation needs to adjust its coronavirus response to prepare for a long, painful slog. "It's a solemn reality that we have to confront," the San Rafael Democrat said Tuesday as part of an update on pandemic efforts in Washington. "This economy is in for a multi-year malaise and probably depression, and we just need to be honest about what that means." Supervisor Katie Rice acknowledged the economic crisis would not pass … Continue Reading