What’s Inside: Biocom California Hosts Meet and Greets on Capitol Hill; FDA User Fee Infographics; COVID-19 Emergency Ending; Comment Opportunities; California Drought Conditions; San Diego Land Development Code Update; LA Homeless Initiatives;
San Carlos Ban on BSL 3 Labs; and more.
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Biocom California Hosts Meet & Greets with Members of Congress
Capitalizing on Congress fully reopening this year, Biocom California resumed in-person events in our nation’s capital this month and hosted meet and greet events for the new Members of the California Delegation, as well as a roundtable with Rep. Obernolte who was appointed to the powerful Energy & Commerce Committee. Read the full story.
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Joe Panetta with Rep. David Valadao and Rep. Scott Peters (left); Meghan Stone, J&J; Rep. Jay Obernolte; Laure Clark, Biocom California (center); Rep. Kevin Mullin (right).
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Biocom California Unveils FDA User Fee Infographics
Biocom California has developed infographics for PDUFA VII, MDUFA V, and BsUFA III, providing backgrounds, accomplishments, goals and timelines for each user fee agreement signed into law last year.
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COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ending
The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency is set to expire on May 11 and HHS has released a fact sheet explaining its transition of COVID-19 policies. FDA’s EUAs for COVID-19 products and major Medicare and Medicaid telehealth flexibilities will not be affected at this time.
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Recent Rains Not Enough to Eliminate California Drought
Water levels across California have shown steady signs of improvement resulting in over 15 percent of the state being considered free from drought, compared to 0.5 percent three months ago. While the intensity of the drought has decreased, a third of California is still considered to be under "severe drought" conditions and requires further rainfall over a sustained period to eliminate these conditions.
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California Will End its COVID-19 State of Emergency This Month
The state’s coronavirus emergency declaration will expire on February 28, almost three years after it began. Gov. Gavin Newsom released a statewide plan last year that calls for treating the virus as a manageable risk, as opposed to a crisis.
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New Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Rule Takes Effect
The new Cal/OSHA COVID-19 regulation became effective on February 3 and will be in effect for two years, ending February 3, 2025. This brings to a final end the previous Emergency Temporary Standard, which California employers had been following for the better part of the last three years.
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San Diego
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City of San Diego Hires Private Workers to Help with Permit Backlog
City workers are severely behind in processing building permits, with over 3,000 applications in their possession at any time. Now Mayor Todd Gloria, with the employee union’s support, hopes new temporary workers can help the city reduce the delays holding back projects during a housing crisis.
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Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas Delivers State of the County
The annual State of the County Address focused on improving life for families, improving infrastructure and mental health care, and combating homelessness across San Diego County. She also discussed strengthening public safety, reducing food insecurity, and fighting for environmental justice and eco-friendly job creation.
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Land Development Code 2022 Update
The San Diego City Council heard the Land Development Code’s 2022 Update on February 14. The package includes streamlining new regulatory requirements, providing additional incentives to increase the supply of housing, and a proposal to add more developable acreage in transit-oriented areas in their local housing programs. Biocom California is supportive of this proposal known as Sustainable Development Areas (SDAs).
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Los Angeles
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Moorpark College to Offer Community College Bachelor’s Degree
Moorpark College will be the first community college in Ventura County to offer bachelor’s degrees when a new biotechnology program launches in fall 2024. The college will continue to offer its associate degree in biotechnology, a program that was built on connections with the area’s large biotech industry. The district hopes the new program will remove barriers and offer more employment opportunities for low-income and minority individuals.
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Executive Staff Appointments
Following a swift transition to being sworn into office in December 2022, Mayor Karen Bass has announced a number of key leadership appointments to help lead her priorities for the city. This includes Rachel Freeman as Deputy Mayor for Business and Economic Development, Mercedes Marquez as Chief of Housing and Homelessness Solutions, and Jenna Hornstock as Deputy Mayor of Housing.
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LA Approves Funding for Homelessness Initiatives
The City and County of LA have approved $50M and $600M respectively to address the region’s homeless crisis. For the City of LA, the funding will help finance Mayor Bass’ Inside Safe Initiative, which aims to bring homeless residents into housing. At the County level, the funding will go to multiple programs, including mental health, substance abuse and housing services.
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Bay Area
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San Carlos Proposal to Ban Biosafety Level 3 Labs
On Monday, the San Carlos Planning Commission heard an unprecedented, proposed ban on Biosafety Level 3 labs, which are a rare but necessary component of some life-saving research processes. Biocom California staff testified at the hearing on the regulatory compliance and overall safety of life science facilities. We urged the Planning Commission to instead move forward with a conditional use permit process. Planning Commission directed staff to come back within 30 days with more information about BSL-3 operations and an option for these facilities to utilize a conditional use permit process.
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Bay Area Cities Fall Behind on Housing Deadline
The state requires all local governments in the state, both cities and counties, to adopt a Housing Element by January 31, 2023 in order to reach mandated housing production goals. Out of 109 jurisdictions in the Bay Area, only four have had their plans approved. Missing the deadline will open the region for developers and allow them to break typical zoning rules.
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Sen. Scott Wiener Pushes for More Transit Funding
In San Francisco, a looming structural deficit awaits as pandemic emergency funding is exhausted, threatening serious service cuts. Many transit agencies have lost ridership during the pandemic, resulting in major revenue deficits. Sen. Wiener is pushing for a regional funding measure from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in 2024.
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Alameda Board of Supervisors Richard Valle Passes Away
Biocom California sends condolences to the friends and family of Supervisor Richard Valle, a dedicated public servant to his community.
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Thursday, March 16
San Diego
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District 6 contains a large segment of the life science cluster in the city. It’s critical that the new councilmember understands the needs of the industry. This is your opportunity to hear the Councilmember’s priorities and share any challenges your company experiences with city policies and processes.
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Tuesday, April 11
San Diego
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What can you do to make your lab greener? Experts from My Green Lab and Polycarbin Lab Recycling will present the state of laboratory plastics recycling and the current resources available. We will also have an industry panel for companies to share their experiences and challenges with laboratory plastics recycling.
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Zoe Bilis
Associate Manager of Regulatory Policy
Washington, D.C.
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Emily Cassel
Govt. Affairs Events & Project Manager
San Diego
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Laure Clark
Sr. Director, Federal Policy & Govt. Affairs
Washington, D.C.
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Melanie Cohn
Sr. Director, Regional Policy & Govt. Affairs
SD, LA, Bay Area
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Jimmy Jackson
Senior Vice President
& Chief Policy Officer
San Diego
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Biocom California Advocacy
Biocom California is the largest, most experienced leader and advocate for California’s life science sector. Our public policy staff is strategically located in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and Washington, D.C. We work with all levels of federal, state, and local governments to collectively pursue outcomes that benefit regional life science growth and contribute to a more innovation-friendly state. With over 27 years of experience, Biocom California works on behalf of more than 1,700 member companies statewide.
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