Local & Community News Update

On March 11, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law, the most sweeping pandemic relief package for the nation to date. The bill includes additional support for institutions of higher education through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). 

The UArizona Washington, DC Center for Outreach & Collaboration (DC Center) - Proposals Due March 31, 2021

Next week will be another big week for vaccine distribution in Pima County with news that our POD will receive 16,380 doses and Pima County Health Dept will receive 24,000 doses for a total of 40,380 doses.  This is more than any other week to date. The UA vaccine distribution site is now running from 10a – 10p, 7 days a week.  Over 30,000 doses have been delivered at UA to date.

This week the Legislature passed the mid-point mark in the legislative process. Any bill that has not received a committee hearing in the chamber of origin will no longer move forward.  From this point forward, the legislature can only introduce new bills by suspending the rules, which requires a majority vote. 

Last week, the House Rules Committee advanced a $1.889 trillion pandemic relief package, which includes $39.6 billion in additional funding for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF).

The Arizona Board of Regents announced its selection for the next President of Northern Arizona, Jose Luis Cruz, who currently serves as Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost for the City University of New York (CUNY).

In January, Governor Ducey released his FY22 state budget proposal. Over the next several months Republican and Democratic leadership in the House and Senate will release their proposed budget and negotiations between the Executive and Legislative branch will begin.

The news from Washington is plenty these days, with the new Biden Administration introducing a series of political appointee announcements, Executive Orders, and a sweeping immigration reform bill in just the first few days.

Mayor Regina Romero and the University Climate Change Coalition program at the University of Arizona have received a grant to develop community listening sessions. The Arizona Institutes for Resilience awarded a $16,940 grant for the City of Tucson’s Climate Action Plan. These listening sessions will supplement current efforts to receive community input through a recently launched community survey.

Scientists from Arizona’s three public universities are joining forces to analyze test samples to detect dangerous COVID-19 mutations. “The concern, of course, is you get one of these mutations that take hold and there’s no vaccine that can protect you,” Robert Robbins, president of the University of Arizona, said.

Researchers at the University of Arizona are developing a COVID-19 testing method that uses a smartphone microscope to analyze saliva samples and deliver results in about 10 minutes. The UArizona research team aims to combine the speed of existing nasal swab antigen tests with the high accuracy of nasal swab PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, tests.