Senator Cortese Newsletter: Senator Cortese Secures over $11 million in New Investments to Shape Santa Clara County

Warm greetings and a happy August to all!

As summer begins to wind down, I hope this newsletter finds you in good spirits and enjoying time with family and loved ones.

August brings with it a sense of anticipation, signaling the approach of a new season and the opportunity for progress and positive change.

In this newsletter, we'll celebrate some of the budget wins that we have fought hard to secure in the state budget that we adopted this summer, driving positive changes in crucial areas that shape our community and California as a whole.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, comments or concerns. I can be reached at senator.cortese@sen.ca.gov.

Be well,

image-20230629120323-2

Senator Dave Cortese

 

SD15

sd15

The 2023 Santa Clara County Fair is back and will be held July 26 through August 6 at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds! Here I am pictured at the Fair’s 2023 opening ceremony. Enjoy entertainment, live music, magic acts, delicious fair foods, and more. Fun for the whole family! For more information about the 2023 Santa Clara County Fair, visit http://thefair.org.

sd15
 

sd15

Cooling Centers Open Daily at the Following Locations: Stay safe during the summer heat waves! Santa Clara County is providing cooling centers in these public buildings to help residents cool down and relax. Click here for hours.

Locations:

  • Cupertino Library, 10800 Torre Avenue
    Cupertino, CA 95014
  • Saratoga Library, 13650 Saratoga Avenue
    Saratoga, CA 95070

Santa Clara County Parks offers Opportunities to Explore Nature!: Fridays-Sundays, Multiple Times, Through December: Santa Clara County Parks is offering several opportunities for people of all ages and interests to explore parks in the area through hiking, canoeing, gardening and more. Different activities are tailored to different ages and athletic abilities. Click here for the full schedule of activities being offered. Examples:

  • Saturday, August 12: In the Park After Dark Movie Night: FREE feature-length movie, Raya and the Last Dragon, under the stars with family and friends. Hellyer County Park. More info here.
  • Saturday, August 19: A Taste of Rock Climbing at Sanborn County Park: Learn the basics of rock climbing. No experience necessary. Sanborn County Park. More info here.
  • Friday, August 25: Friday Family Cattle Relay: Are you interested in learning about the history of cattle ranching in Santa Clara County? Do you feel bullish about your chances to win some games as you learn? More info here.

San Jose Museum of Art is Hosting a Variety of Festivals and Events!: The San Jose Museum of Art is hosting several events in the upcoming days and weeks for the public to enjoy. Click here for event dates and times. Examples:

  • Saturday and Sunday, August 12 & 13: Community Fest @Circle of the Palms, from 12pm–5pm! Celebrate local San José culture with some fun in the sun and the cool vibes of Summer Fest jazz. Explore, discover, and create with a variety of activities, from educational and creative experiences to cross-cultural games, performances and programs, artist projects, art displays, and more. FREE. More info here.
  • Thursday, August 17: CityDance: A Monthly Dance and Music Series: Every Third Thursday of the Month, 6pm-9pm: A monthly, all-ages music and open-air dancing series that provides professional dance lessons followed by dancing with a live band or DJ. Every month will focus on a different genre of music. FREE. More info here.
    • Thursday, August 17 – Salsa
    • Thursday, September 21 – World Dance Mosaic
  • Friday, September 1: First Friday: Art lovers at First Friday enjoy a lounge-like atmosphere with music and open galleries. FREE. More info here.

Donate Food for Underprivileged Families: Deliver non-perishable, dry food. Located at the Evergreen Islamic Center: 2486 Ruby Avenue, San Jose. Open from on the following days:

  • Saturday, August 19 - 11am to 1pm
  • Saturday, September 16 - 11am to 1pm

Free, Healthy School Meals for Kids during the Summer-Second Harvest of Silicon Valley: Enter your address, city, or zip code to find a summer meal provider near you. This is offered to all kids in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties—there is no documentation or registration required. You can also get the location of nearby meal sites by calling Second Harvest Food Bank's Food Connection team at: 1-800-984-3663. Offered all summer long. Click here for Locations.

sd15

Viva Parks: Mondays-Thursdays August, Multiple Locations: Viva Parks is a series of free events focused on health and wellness resources, physical activity, and community engagement. They take place at several parks around San Jose, and include a Move Night on Thursday nights.

Some of the locations that will be hosting:

  • Monday, August 7 – Alviso Park
  • Tuesday, August 8 – Bellevue Park
  • Wednesday, August 9 – Mt. Pleasant Park

Click here for the full schedule with dates and locations.

Parents Helping Parents: Mondays through August 21: Parent Support for Children with Special Needs (ages 2-8): This group is for parents/caregivers of children ages approximately 2-8 with any diagnosis. The journey to, through, and beyond a special needs diagnosis can make the parenting experience all the more intense. Join an intimate circle of fellow travelers for sharing, listening, and supporting each other with practical advice. Click here to register.

 

 

sd15

Did you read my recent column in The Mercury News?

Fentanyl is responsible for one in every five youth deaths. Find out what I’m doing to help prevent overdose deaths in Santa Clara County schools, and my plan to scale those efforts statewide. Read the op-ed at this link.

sd15

 

Mercury News: Santa Clara County to give $1,200 monthly payments to homeless students finishing high school

CBS Bay Area: Newsom signs bill on film industry gun safety in wake of 'Rust' shooting

Business Insider: A California state senator is calling for a labor investigation into $12B HR startup Deel over 'brazen employment misclassification' after Insider's reporting

Los Angeles Times: California bill calls for violence prevention plan

 

 

SD15

I’m excited to announce that I successfully secured millions of dollars in the recently-passed 2023 State Budget for local programs that will directly benefit residents across Santa Clara County. They are:

  • $3 million for Guaranteed Basic Income for Homeless High School Students Exiting High School in Santa Clara County (a program and framework I spearheaded)
  • $3 million for the Tech Interactive’s Student Field Trip Program incorporating lessons from my “Silicon Valley Kid’s Climate Club” program
  • $2.2 million for the College of the Adaptive Arts to invest in first-in-the-nation Inclusive Higher Education Opportunities
  • $3 million to create the Silicon Valley African American Cultural Center

These investments will bring equity and opportunity to underserved youth and vulnerable people struggling under our region’s extreme income inequality. Here’s a snapshot of the programs:

sd15

Guaranteed Basic Income Program for Unhoused High School Students

Here’s a picture of Santa Clara County Board President Susan Ellenberg and me with unhoused and formerly unhoused students celebrating my state budget allocation of $3 million toward a new Santa Clara County guaranteed income program that will benefit homeless students. Recipients will receive a $1,200 monthly stipend and access to financial mentors and peer support to facilitate their transition to college or a quality career through this first-in-the-nation program. This is modeled after the successful 2020 guaranteed basic income program for foster youth I championed, and I’ve authored legislation this year to scale this guaranteed-income program statewide through SB 333, the California Success, Opportunity, and Academic Resilience (CalSOAR) Guaranteed Income Program.

As regular readers may recall, back in 2021, we were able to secure $35 million toward our state’s first investment in guaranteed income programs that is currently directly serving foster youth and pregnant women across California.

 

sd15

The Tech Interactive Field Trip Program Incorporating the Silicon Valley Kid’s Climate Club

I secured $3 million so that students can join field trips to The Tech Interactive, a Silicon Valley museum focused on hands-on education in areas like AI, robotics, digital art, and environmental science. The field trip program will incorporate teachings from the "Silicon Valley Kid’s Climate Club," a program I launched back in 2009 that includes a series of lessons and resources we developed with scientific experts. The Silicon Valley Kids Climate Club is a program where elementary school students become Planet Superheroes by agreeing to certain practices in order to protect the environment, and I am proud that this program will continue on in partnership with The Tech Interactive. These field trips will bring youth from all over Silicon Valley, including underserved communities, to participate in the wonders of science, technology, engineering, and math.

 

sd15

College of Adaptive Arts - Investing in Inclusive Higher Education Opportunities for Students with Differing Abilities

This year, I honored DeAnna Pursai, the executive director of The College of Adaptive Arts, as Senate District 15’s Woman of the Year. I’m proud to announce that I’ve secured $2.2 million for the College of Adaptive Arts (CAA), located on the West Valley Community College campus, to fund collegiate-level educational opportunities, workforce development, and career counseling for young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This investment will support people with differing abilities in securing meaningful work that benefits their communities and builds their confidence. Unlike other programs, CAA welcomes graduates back for continuous, lifelong education. It is thought to be the first program of its kind in the country. Since its start in 2009, CAA has grown to serve over 140 students with over 75 course offerings across 10 Schools of Instruction.

We hope to scale this program across California and across the world!
 

sd15

Silicon Valley African American Cultural Center

Here’s a rendering of the African American Cultural Center, a planned mixed-use development at 2001 The Alameda. I secured $3 million for the Center, which will include affordable housing, a health clinic, a performing arts theater, a museum, athletic facilities, and retail spaces.

The African American Cultural Center is a community-based initiative to establish a distinguished hub for the African American Community in Silicon Valley. In 2007, the African American Community Service Agency (AACSA) Board of Directors formed the AACC, a 501(c)3 nonprofit community development corporation, for the purpose of creating, developing, and building the Silicon Valley African American Signature Project (SVAACC). The SVAACC is a mixed-use development that incudes affordable housing for extremely low-, very low-, and low-income renters and homeowners, an expansion of the African American Community Service Agency, Ujima Adult and Family Services, a Roots Community Health Clinic, as well as a performing arts theatre, museum, athletic facilities, and retail and commercial spaces.

The African American Cultural Center is Silicon Valley’s first Black-owned non-profit community development entity, and this signature project is undertaken by AACC in partnership with the African American Community Services Agency.

 

Other Statewide Budget Wins!

This year’s approved state budget stands as a testament to our commitment to responsible budgeting and preserving our core programs in vital areas such as schools, higher education, climate and energy, transportation, and ensuring that our state's most vulnerable populations are supported.

We fought hard to secure a substantial $5.1 billion in flexible funding for transit operations and capital projects, restoring $4 billion in the Transit and Intercity Rail Capitol Program and adding $1.1 billion for transit operators like Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Valley Transportation Agency (VTA), avoiding drastic cuts to transit service. The Silicon Valley BART extension project will not only alleviate Bay Area traffic, but it will also help California meet its climate change goals and provide a vital transportation option for anyone seeking education, employment, and recreation across the Bay Area.

Early education is key to closing our academic and opportunity achievement gap, and we’ve allocated $1.4 billion for Child Care and an additional $1.5 billion for State Preschool programs to support young learners and their families.

I am proud to announce a remarkable $2.1 billion increase in funding for Schools and Community Colleges, paving the way for enhanced learning opportunities for our students. We’re tying this with expansion of financial aid programs, offering debt-free college options to our state’s foster youth, and implementing ongoing increases to other student support initiatives.

Addressing the pressing housing crisis head-on, we have allocated $1 billion to local governments to combat homelessness, and we have taken measures to ensure accountability and progress in these efforts, including through my recent state audit which will look at all public funding spent to address homelessness and its effectiveness.

Continuing our commitment to the environment, we are investing $1.25 billion to Climate and Energy initiatives, with a particular focus on Coastal Resilience and Clean Energy projects, safeguarding our natural heritage for generations to come.

Lastly, we have taken extra steps to build our total reserves to $37.8 billion – the highest in history – to help protect future budgets during these times of economic uncertainty.

 

SD15

It was a pleasure for Pattie and me to visit many friends amongst Vietnamese American leaders and family at the 9th annual Vietnam Veterans picnic at Lake Cunningham Park. Thank you, Veterans of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), for hosting! ARVN has contributed so much to San Jose since 1975.

sd15

sd15

 

Cesar Chavez fought for equal education to help children rise from poverty, overcome injustice, and prosper. The Cesar Chavez Early Learning Center will help children and families in East San Jose’s Mayfair community. This opening would not be possible without the over $7.5 billion in early childhood investments we made in this year’s state budget. Thank you, Alum Rock Union School District, the entire Alum Rock Union School District Board (pictured above), my colleagues Assemblymember Ash Kalra and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren who also joined the celebratory occasion, and Superintendent Dr. Hilaria Bauer.

sd15

sd15

sd15

 

It was great to see the new surgery center at the opening of Sutter Health’s Specialty Care and Surgery Center Building. I joined CEO, Dr. David Quincy to welcome this state-of-the-art facility that will save lives with compassionate care. We are committed to expanding health care access in our community, and this center is just the beginning! It is the first of nine new Sutter Health facilities in our area that will do just that.

sd15

 

We had a wonderful afternoon at the San Jose Obon festival, with Japanese food, entertainment and traditional Bon dancing. Obon is a time to reflect on those who have come before us and shown us the way. Pictured above you can see me enjoying the work of the San Jose Taiko group that stole the show as usual. Thank you San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin for hosting!

sd15

 

I’d like to close with a few words about Nancy Pyle, the former San Jose City Councilmember who passed away on July 14. I served with Nancy Pyle on the San Jose City Council for many years. Our offices were a few steps away from each other at City Hall during the 2000s, and we shared neighboring seats on the dais. We typically saw eye-to-eye on policy issues because our hearts and values were aligned in serving the people of San Jose. Pattie and I send our love and condolences to Councilmember Pyle’s friends and family, especially Roger, her beloved husband.

sd15

 

 

sd15

 

Santa Clara County

 

State Assistance

SD15

Auto

Business Assistance

Consumer Protection

Jobs and Unemployment

Road Conditions

Seniors

State

Travel

Voting