Media Coverage
Davis Vanguard
California Senate Setback for AB 1380 Bill Supporting Incarcerated Firefighters
Co-sponsors of AB 1380 continue to express their disappointment but vowed to keep pushing. Tania Vargas, executive director of Initiate Justice Action, and Mayra Lombera, chief policy officer for the Michelson Center for Public Policy, said AB 1380 was “a transformative bill that would have strengthened public safety through job creation” and that blocking it “squandered a common-sense chance to honor their service and strengthen our fire response.”
Los Angeles Sentinel
Firefighting to Freedom: California Leaders Honor Incarcerated Firefighters, Push for Landmark Reform
California lawmakers, fire officials, and community advocates gathered on the morning of August 22 at Stentorians Inc. in South Los Angeles to uplift the voices of incarcerated firefighters and rally support for the Firefighting to Freedom Bill Package—a sweeping set of seven bills designed to recognize the courage of incarcerated fire crews and open career pathways upon release.
Davis Vanguard
Lawmakers Push for ‘Firefighting to Freedom’ Bill Aiding Incarcerated Firefighters
Local community officials and leaders also joined in support, including Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of Prosecutors Alliance Action, Mayra Lombera, chief policy officer at the Michelson Center for Public Policy, Brian Fennessy, fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority and president of the California Fire Chiefs Association, and Taina Angeli Vargas, executive director of Initiate Justice Action.
Davis Vanguard
California Proposes Seven Bills to Aid Incarcerated Firefighters’ Efforts
Supporters outside the legislature also endorsed the package. Mayra Lombera, chief policy officer at the Michelson Center for Public Policy, said the reforms reflect a vision that values sacrifice and rehabilitation. “Sacrifice is respected, experience is valued, and rehabilitation is met with opportunities rather than stigma,” Lombera said. “Opportunities should not be reserved for a few but all who want to step into the work and really achieve great success.”
LAist
Families are losing internet access as immigration sweeps further the digital divide
Advocates say the widening digital divide is severely limiting people’s ability to prepare, access legal resources, connect with loved ones who have been detained, and stay informed about their rights. “You're going to see a disproportionate impact on those communities in terms of access to information, critical minute-by-minute,” said Cristal Mojica, a digital equity expert at Michelson Center for Public Policy.
NPR
Digital advocates say lack of internet access harms immigrant communities during immigration sweeps
Amid the ongoing immigration raids, people have post food drives, legal aid networks, and even sightings of federal agents across Southern California online. But hundreds of thousands of Angelenos can’t access these resource because they lack internet access. LAist's Nereida Moreno speaks with Cristal Mojica a digital equity expert at the Michelson Center for Public Policy, about how the digital divide hurts immigrant communities.
Sacramento Bee
Can you start life after prison in California with $200? We expect former inmates to try | Opinion
“As California strives to approach policy with empathy — and budgetary discipline — its gate money issue is a skeleton in the closet,” Kenia Miranda Verdugo, MCPP, writes. “Increasing this sum to more closely reflect the true cost of living would be a profound step toward a more equitable, compassionate criminal justice system that works to break the cycle of poverty and incarceration rather than perpetuate it.”
CalMatters
Are California prisons stiffing inmates on $200 release payments? Lawsuit says they are
The advocacy groups Root & Rebound, Initiate Justice, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, All of Us or None and the Michelson Center for Public Policy surveyed over 70 incarcerated people returning home. They found that the corrections department deducted gate money from approximately one in three of them.
LAist
Why six southeast L.A. cities are calling out internet providers for ‘digital discrimination’
Cristal Mojica of the Michelson Center for Public Policy and the California Digital Equity Alliance said the state should consider other legal remedies and pass a bill to address the issue instead of "putting all of those cities that have more limited resources through that process.” She said community groups have a lot of “myth busting” to do to reach lawmakers who are maybe newer to digital equity and discrimination issues. “It's very much on their radar and they're gonna pour industry money as much as they can to try to stop it,” Mojica said, adding that advocates will continue to champion the issue and prepare to pick up the fight again in 2025.
EdSource
We must champion our student parents
Queena Hoang, MCPP, authored an op-ed spotlighting the challenges faced by student parents and touting California’s proposed GAINS for Student Parents Act (AB 2458), which seeks to better support this demographic by adjusting cost considerations for childcare and improving data collection. The piece features Larry, a father of nine and recent graduate from CSU Bakersfield, whose journey exemplifies the formidable challenges and systemic changes needed to support student parents.
Broadband Breakfast
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Proposes $2 Billion Cut In Broadband Projects
“We are disappointed to see this rollback,” Cristal Mojica of the Michelson Center for Public Policy, told LAist. Advocates for digital equity said the decision may compromise attempts to reach some of the most marginalized communities in the community. In Los Angeles County, where about 200,000 homes lack internet access, the groups said. Mojica added that the rollback may prevent providers from reaching the, “highest areas of need.”
LAist
Newsom’s Budget Cuts Deliver Massive Blow For Efforts To Expand Internet In LA
The move outraged digital equity advocates in Los Angeles who say it could jeopardize efforts to reach some of the most vulnerable groups in the area. About 200,000 L.A. County households don’t have internet. “We are disappointed to see this rollback,” said Cristal Mojica of the Michelson Center for Public Policy. The group is a member of the California Digital Equity Alliance.
LAist
Millions Have Been Set Aside To Get More People Online. Private Companies Want To Use It For LA's Wealthy Neighborhoods
The money was intended as a “once in a lifetime” cash infusion into disadvantaged communities, says Cristal Mojica of the Michelson Center for Public Policy. But now she says there’s growing concern it will be used to maintain the status quo. One problem she points to is maps developed by the state for its Broadband For All plan, saying that there's a "huge disparity" between where the state has identified broadband needs and where the need actually is.