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Tribal leaders, law enforcement representatives and others shared concerns at an informational hearing and a news briefing today about the continuing Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis with lawmakers and shared that despite new resources to address the issue, California now has two tribes so disturbed by violence against their members that they have declared states of emergency.
Round Valley Indian Tribes declared a State of Emergency in April, after two members were found murdered, the latest victims in Northern California of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People, or MMIP.
The tribal action was preceded In December of 2021 by the Yurok Tribe in Humboldt County.
The Yurok Tribe action followed seven women reported being approached by possible traffickers and the still unsolved case of Emmilee Risling, reported missing in October 2021.
The Yurok Tribe has been at the forefront in confronting the crisis and called for a summit of California tribes and others held last year to address the issue.
Summit participants called for implementation of a public notification alert when Native Americans go missing — the 2022 “Feather Alert” law, similar to the Amber Alert, authored by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino).
“The July 2021 Year 2 Progress Report about Missing and Murdered people reported that more than 150 cases were documented throughout the state, which places California among the top five states with the highest number of cases,” Ramos said.
He added, “The National Crime Information Center reported 5,712 missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls in the U.S. with only 116 of cases logged by the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. We can’t stop the violence with that lack of scrutiny and awareness.”
Yurok Tribe Chairman Joe James, who testified at the hearing, stated at a Day of Action to raise awareness on the MMIP issue, “We got some work to do and again, that’s why we’re here today. It’s us and we are moving this forward as tribes, as a state, as advocates, as organizations coming together, ringing that bell.”
Hearing participants included tribal chairpersons from around the state including James and Randall Britton, Rhonda Pope Flores of the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, and others as well as Catalina Chacon Commissioner on the California Commission of the Status of Women and Girls, Yurok Tribe Chief Judge Abby Abinanti and Dorothy Alther, legal director, California Indian Legal Services.
Ramos said this year’s commemoration of MMIP Day included historic observations such as the Capitol Dome illuminated in red from May 2 to May 5 and the first ever Candlelight Vigil scheduled for May 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the Capitol’s West Steps.
“We can’t stop pressing for solutions to this crisis. Too many lives have already been lost,” he said.
The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would cut spending, in part by expanding work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, through which nearly 43 million low-income Americans get help buying groceries. The House bill calls for this policy to apply to adults as old as 55, while today this policy only applies to adults under 50. Some Democrats, in contrast, are seeking to eliminate work requirements altogether.
The bill passed by a 217-215 vote, with all but four Republicans in favor and every Democrat opposed, on April 26, 2023. Tied to a standoff over raising the debt ceiling, the bill would also make Medicaid – the U.S. program that helps low-income and disabled people get health care – contingent on work requirements for some eligible Americans. It’s not clear whether that’s possible, since a federal court has struck down similar measures enacted in some states previously.
Since the Clinton administration, the government has required that at least some people getting SNAP, commonly known as food stamps, do paid work, get job training or volunteer – otherwise they can’t continue receiving benefits. Those requirements were paused in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are set to return in July 2023 regardless of the fate of the House bill – which is unlikely to pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
I’m a member of a team of economists studying the social safety net and work. Because the rationale for work requirements is that they encourage adults who are able to work to earn more money and become more economically self-sufficient, we wanted to determine whether this policy boosts employment and earnings. We also looked into whether SNAP work requirements lead low-income adults to lose their benefits.
We found that the policy doesn’t make people more likely to find a job or make more money, but it does make Americans who could use help buying groceries less likely to get it.
Tracing a similar case study
Adults with SNAP benefits who are subject to work requirements must document at least 80 hours per month of paid work, job training or volunteering. Otherwise, they can get the benefits for only three months within a three-year period.
Before the pandemic, these rules applied to most so-called “able-bodied” adults without children who were under 50, and that policy will again apply in July. There are some exceptions, such as if the person with benefits is caring for kids younger than 6, has disabilities incompatible with holding a steady job or is in a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program.
To determine this policy’s impact, we studied SNAP, employment and earnings data in Virginia from both the period of the state’s previous suspension of work requirements and afterward.
Virginia, like many other states, suspended work requirements for several years beginning in the Great Recession. During this period, adults could enroll in the program and continue to receive benefits regardless of their employment status.
In October 2013, however, Virginia reinstated work requirements, and they remained in effect in most counties for several years. In those areas, adults under the age of 50 without dependents who were considered able to work needed to either satisfy work requirements or receive an individual exemption to keep their SNAP benefits, while similar adults over the age of 50 did not.
We followed both age groups over time, comparing whether they worked and were getting SNAP benefits both before and after work requirements returned.
No employment boost
By comparing older and younger adults previously getting SNAP benefits, we found that work requirements did not increase employment or earnings 18 months after their reinstatement.
We also detected nearly identical patterns of employment before and after work requirements were reinstated for people in both age groups.
Adults without dependents, whether or not they lost their SNAP benefits to the resumption of work requirements, were earning at most an additional US$28 per month.
Many lost their benefits
But we did find that work requirements dramatically reduced the number of people enrolled in SNAP. Among the adults subject to work requirements once they were restored in 2013, over half lost their benefits because of the policy.
We also found that work requirements disproportionately led people who had faced great economic hardships, such as those without housing or earned income, to lose benefits.
Only 44% of the currently or formerly homeless people getting benefits remained enrolled in SNAP 18 months after work requirements were reinstated, compared with 64% of everyone else, our estimates suggest. Similarly, only 59% of those with no earned income remained enrolled, relative to 73% of those with prior earnings.
Because they are likely to qualify for an individual exemption to work requirements, adults with a history of a disability were more likely to retain benefits compared with others.
Adults kicked out of SNAP because of work requirements typically stood to lose $189 in benefits per month – the most a single person could obtain at the time. It also amounted to about two-thirds of their gross income.
We studied work requirements in Virginia because of the availability of detailed data on both earnings and SNAP benefits.
Although work requirements enforcement varies across states, we believe that our results are likely to be representative of the impacts of this policy, since SNAP recipients in Virginia look similar to nationwide averages on most demographic characteristics except race.
Our findings do suggest that work requirements restrain federal spending by reducing the number of people getting SNAP benefits.
But our work also indicates that in today’s context, these savings would be at the expense of already vulnerable people facing additional economic hardship at a time when a new recession could be around the corner.
Kelsey Pukelis, Ph.D. Student in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Lake County and a swath of other Northern California counties could see thunderstorms on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters also anticipate rain for Lake County through Thursday.
For the 24-hour period ending at 2 a.m. Tuesday, the following rainfall totals — in inches — were reported at National Weather Service observation stations:
• Cobb: 0.48;
• Hidden Valley Lake: 0.59;
• Kelseyville: 0.54;
• Lake Pillsbury: 0.64;
• Lower Lake: 0.29;
• Upper Lake: 0.61.
The National Weather Service’s forecast said a weather pattern moving over the North Coast will potentially bring a chance of thunderstorm activity on Tuesday to Lake and Mendocino
Counties.
Light winds are forecast throughout much of the week, rising to gusts as high as 20 miles per hour on Thursday night.
From Thursday through the weekend, conditions are forecast to move between partly cloudy and mostly sunny.
Daytime temperatures through Monday are expected to range between 54 degrees on Tuesday to 67 degrees on Monday. Nighttime conditions will hover in the low 40s.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The latest state snow survey, conducted on Monday, shows California’s snowpack remains dee and strong, one of the largest since recordings began.
The Department of Water Resources, or DWR, on Monday conducted the fifth snow survey of the season at Phillips Station.
The manual survey recorded 59 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 30 inches, which is 241% of average for this location on May 1.
The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water still contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply run-off forecast.
DWR’s electronic readings from 130 snow sensors placed throughout the state indicate the statewide snowpack’s snow water equivalent is 49.2 inches, or 254% of average for this date.
Despite a brief increase in temperatures in late April, the statewide snowpack overall melted at a slower pace than average over the month of April due to below average temperatures early in the month and increased cloud cover.
An average of 12 inches of the snowpack’s snow water equivalent has melted in the past month and it now contains an average of 49.2 inches.
Snow surveys like the one at Phillips Station are critical to planning for impacts of the coming snowmelt runoff on communities.
DWR uses the most updated technology to gather data from snow surveys, a network of 130 remote snow sensors, and airborne snow observatory data to gather information on current real-world conditions to create the most accurate snowmelt runoff forecasts possible.
These runoff forecasts, published through DWR’s Bulletin 120, allow reservoir operators to plan for anticipated inflows and water managers downstream of reservoirs to plan and prepare for flood risks.
“While providing a significant boost to California’s water supplies, this year’s massive snowpack is posing continued flood risks in the San Joaquin Valley,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “The snowpack will not disappear in one week or one month but will lead to sustained high flows across the San Joaquin and Tulare Basins over the next several months and this data will help us inform water managers and ultimately help protect communities in these regions.”
The last time there was measurable snow at the Phillips snow course on May 1 was 2020, when only 1.5 inches of snow and .5 inches of snow water equivalent was measured.
“No matter how you look at the data, only a handful of years in the historical record compare to this year’s results,” said Sean de Guzman, manager of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit. “Survey results from our partners in the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program and other data, including data from Airborne Snow Observatory flights, allow us to incorporate these data into our models to provide the most accurate snowmelt runoff forecasts possible right now to inform water supply, flood control, and planning.”
According to historical records, only the April 1 measurements from the years 1952, 1969, 1983 and this year were above 200%, although it is difficult to directly compare individual years across the decades due to changes in the number of snow courses measured over time.
Due to the impact of climate change on California’s snowpack, since 2021, snowpack averages have been calculated using a timeframe of 1991 through 2020 so that results better reflect the current climate conditions.
DWR is maximizing the amount of water that can be stored and diverted from this record snowpack.
In April, DWR announced a 100% allocation of requested supplies from the State Water Project, or SWP, which delivers water to 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland.
The last time the SWP allocated 100% was in 2006. DWR is also maximizing the amount of water that can be diverted towards recharging groundwater basins so more water is stored for future use in underground reservoirs.
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the Tulare Basin to tour flood impacts firsthand, met with community leaders and emphasized the state’s commitment to supporting and providing appropriate assistance to counties impacted by recent and anticipated flooding this spring and summer.
Snowmelt runoff forecasts are an instrumental part of the assistance provided by DWR’s State-Federal Flood Operations Center, or FOC, which is supporting emergency response in the Tulare Lake Basin and Lower San Joaquin River by providing technical and materials assistance to support ongoing flood response activities.
Storms this year have caused impacts across the state including flooding in the community of Pajaro and communities in Sacramento, Tulare and Merced counties. The FOC has helped Californians by providing more than 1.4 million sandbags, 1 million square feet of plastic sheeting, and 9,000 feet of reinforcing muscle wall, across the state since January.
California has two tribes that have declared a state of emergency because of violence against their tribal members.
Round Valley Indian Tribes declared a state of emergency in April, after two members were found murdered, the latest victims in Northern California of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People.
The tribal action was preceded in December of 2021 by the Yurok Tribe, in Humboldt County.
The Yurok Tribe action followed seven women reported being approached by possible traffickers and the still-unsolved case of Emmilee Risling, reported missing in October 2021.
The Yurok Tribe has been at the forefront in confronting the crisis and called for a summit of California tribes and others held last year to address the issue.
Summit participants called for implementation of a public notification alert when Native Americans go missing — the 2022 “Feather Alert” law, similar to the Amber Alert, written by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino).
In Lake County, Tribal Health is planning a special community event to draw attention to the MMIP epidemic on Friday, May 5, from 2 to 7 p.m. at 1950 Parallel Drive in Lakeport.
MMIP WEEK OF CAPITOL ACTIVITIES
• Tuesday, May 2, 8:30 to 9:15 a.m.: News briefing in State Capitol Room 317 on the vital issues spotlighted this week. Attending will be tribal chairpersons, including two who have issued emergency declarations on this issue, as well as Ramos, other lawmakers, advocates, and members of the Assembly Select Committee on Native American Affairs. It will be livestreamed on Ramos’ Facebook page and YouTube.
• Tuesday, May 2, through Friday, May 5: Capitol Dome illuminated in red for the first time ever to commemorate Missing or Murdered Indigenous People.
• Tuesday, May 2, 9:30 a.m. to noon: Assembly Select Committee on Native American Affairs informational hearing on MMIP entitled, “Not Invisible: California’s Work to Combat the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.” State Capitol, Room 126. Among those participating are Ramos, select committee chair; tribal leaders; law enforcement representatives; and advocates. It will be televised here.
• Wednesday, May 3, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.: Candlelight vigil and program, state Capitol west steps. Anticipate 800 to 1,000 people. Tribal leaders, lawmakers, advocates, Native American cultural performances. It will be livestreamed on Ramos’ Facebook page.
• Thursday, May 4 at 9 a.m.: Assembly Floor Session. Assemblymember Ramos will open the session with a Native song and prayer memorializing MMIP. Vote also set on ACR 25, designating May as Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Month.
The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. at the Moose Lodge, located at 15900 Moose Lodge Lane in Clearlake Oaks.
The meeting will be available via Zoom. The meeting ID is 986 3245 2684, pass code is 666827.
On the agenda will be guest speaker Scott Harter, Lake County Special Districts administrator, who will give a presentation on the proposed Consolidated lighting district and additional streetlights for Clearlake Oaks.
Other ongoing agenda items include the Lake County Geothermal Project Watchlist, commercial cannabis cultivation projects and a cannabis ordinance task force update, and a report on upcoming proposed commercial and residential project applications requiring use permits within ERTH’s boundaries, and updates on Spring Valley, the Northshore Fire Protection District, and the Oaks Arm and Keys Restoration projects, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Sulphur Bank Mine Superfund site and a report from Supervisor EJ Crandell.
The group’s next meeting will take place on June 7.
ERTH’s members are Denise Loustalot, Jim Burton, Tony Morris and Pamela Kicenski.
For more information visit the group’s Facebook page.