MALDEF AND PARTNERS URGE ARIZONA GOVERNOR TO OPPOSE UNCONSTITUTIONAL ANTI-IMMIGRANT BILL

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
March 25, 2016


CONTACT:
Larry Gonzalez: (202) 466-0879
lgonzalez@rabengroup.com

Donald Gatlin: (202) 587-2871
dgatlin@rabengroup.com






Bill suffers from same fatal flaws as SB 1070, could lead to litigation, and would harm Arizona’s reputation


PHOENIX, AZ — MALDEF and five other legal organizations that advocate for the rights of immigrants sent a letter to Gov. Doug Ducey yesterday explaining the severe legal and policy implications of an unconstitutional, anti-immigrant bill that is moving in the Arizona Legislature.

SB 1377 would impose additional incarceration on certain criminal defendants based on a state-court belief that they have violated specific federal immigration laws, even when they have never been convicted or even prosecuted for any such federal violation. The bill suffers the same unconstitutional defects that brought down key sections of SB 1070.

Not only would this bill lead to likely litigation, it would also force the state to incur millions more in incarceration costs annually, and convey a message to the world, including potential trading partners, that little has changed in Arizona since SB 1070 was approved in 2010.

“For the sake of the community, Arizona should move beyond attacking Latino immigrants, but instead the Legislature appears willing to double down on its ugly, recent history,” said Victor Viramontes, MALDEF National Senior Counsel. “The Governor should veto this bill if it gets to his desk.”

In addition to MALDEF, the letter is signed by the ACLU of Arizona, the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, which have all been involved in the successful litigation against SB 1070.

SB 1377 has already passed the Arizona Senate. It is still being considered in the House.

OSHA updates eye and face protection standards in final rule

WASHINGTON – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has published a final rule that updates requirements for personal protective equipment for workers in general industry, shipyards, longshoring, marine terminals and construction.
The final rule reflects current national consensus standards, and ensures that workers can use up-to-date eye and face protection.
The rule updates references in OSHA’s Eye and Face Protection Standards to recognize the ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2010, Occupational and Educational Personal Eye and Face Protection Devices, while deleting the outdated 1986 edition of that same national consensus standard. OSHA is also retaining the 2003 and 1989 (R-1998) versions of the ANSI standard already referenced in its standard.
In addition, the final rule updates the construction standard by deleting the 1968 version of the ANSI standard that was referenced and now includes the same three ANSI standards referenced above to ensure consistency among the agency's standards.
OSHA’s final rule becomes effective on April 25, 2016.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces Next Steps, Funding to Address Substance Abuse in Rural Communities

ATLANTA, March 28, 2016 – At the Operation UNITE Summit in Atlanta today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a series of upcoming rural town halls as well as funding rural communities can use to conduct health and safety outreach around prescription painkiller and heroin abuse. Opioids, including prescription painkillers and heroin, accounted for 28,648 deaths in 2014, and rural communities are affected at higher rates than urban communities. This is in part due to a lack of outreach and treatment resources available in rural communities, and this year USDA is expanding its Rural Health and Safety Education (RHSE) competitive grants program to give rural communities the opportunity to use funds for programs that will address the opioid epidemic.
In January, President Obama tapped Secretary Vilsack to lead an interagency task force focused on this specific challenge. Recent efforts have helped identify effective tools to reduce drug use and overdose, including evidence-based prevention programs, prescription drug monitoring, medication-assisted treatment and the overdose reversal drug naloxone.
“The opioid epidemic is a fast-growing problem all across America, and we know that rural communities are facing an even higher burden than those in urban areas,” said Vilsack. “We’ve identified ways to use existing resources to help rural towns and organizations address this challenge head-on and potentially save lives, and I look forward to meeting with community leaders to better understand how we can further support their efforts to create healthier, safer futures for families and individuals who may be struggling.”
Over the next several months, Vilsack will travel to New Hampshire, Missouri, Nevada, Mississippi and Appalachia to participate in town halls that will bring together local and state government partners, the health community, and other stakeholders to raise awareness of the issue and discuss possible solutions. Vilsack will encourage public and private organizations to commit to plans of action for their communities.
Additionally, USDA is making available $1.4 million through its Rural Health and Safety Education (RHSE) competitive grants program. Administered through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA), the program’s goal is to enhance the quality of life in rural areas through improved health and safety education efforts, including expanding the focus to address the critical challenges of substance abuse in rural communities across the nation. For the first time, USDA is encouraging applicants to develop projects that specifically work to educate the public about opioid abuse and overdose. USDA will also consider projects that target other health outcomes.
Since 2009, NIFA has awarded $10.6 million to the RHSE program for projects that support the health and safety needs of rural America. Fiscal year 2016 applications to the RHSE program should focus on supporting projects proposing to scale-up existing, outcome-based extension programs in the area of individual and family health education to rural communities, state-wide or regionally across state lines.  Programs that apply for RHSE funding in fiscal year 2016 can focus on extension work in the realm of substance abuse, as well as nutrition and physical activity, healthy and safe homes, aging in place, as well as other behavioral health and human social topics.
Applications are due June 1, 2016. More information is available in the online Request for Applications.
Past projects funded through the RHSE program include an Oklahoma State University project that aims to improve healthy literacy among family and consumer sciences educators, rural hospital discharge planners, and family caregivers. A project from the University of Wisconsin seeks to increase cancer treatment education and access to services for rural residents, while also forming coalitions to address rural health disparities.
Since 2009, NIFA has invested in and advanced innovative and transformative initiatives to solve societal challenges and ensure the long-term viability of agriculture. NIFA’s integrated research, education, and extension programs, supporting the best and brightest scientists and extension personnel, have resulted in user-inspired, groundbreaking discoveries that are combating childhood obesity, improving and sustaining rural economic growth, addressing water availability issues, increasing food production, finding new sources of energy, mitigating climate variability, and ensuring food safety. To learn more about NIFA’s impact on agricultural science, visit www.nifa.usda.gov/impacts, sign up for email updates, or follow us on Twitter @usda_NIFA, #NIFAimpacts.