Press Releases

On Friday evening, President Joe Biden signed into law more than $4,000,000 in funding for San Luis Obispo community projects secured by Congressman Salud Carbajal in the 2024 government spending deal approved by Congress last week.

The funding is part of $13,446,901 secured by Carbajal for 14 Central Coast projects which Rep. Carbajal championed over the course of the past year’s federal budget negotiations. The projects range from supporting the development of new affordable housing projects to water system upgrades.

“I’m proud to be bringing more than $13 million in direct funding for Central Coast projects back to our region – including more than $4 million for San Luis Obispo County. This funding will have a profound impact on our communities and improve the quality of life for our residents,” said Rep. Carbajal. “I have been pushing to see this funding approved for the past year, and although our federal appropriations process has become even more tied up in political games and brinksmanship in recent months, I’m proud to help break this logjam and deliver this key funding for my constituents. These projects will improve public safety, emergency response, and clean water access for SLO County residents.”

Details for the 5 San Luis Obispo County projects funded in the legislation can be found below:

$2,000,000 to help fund the replacement of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office’s radio dispatch system, including upgraded hardware and software. The current software and services support system, which handles the 100,000 annual calls to the County’s largest 911 dispatch, is set to expire in September 2024.

“Public safety radio communication is the backbone of effective emergency coordination and response. It allows our first responders to communicate vital information efficiently and ensures interoperability with local partner agencies,” said San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson.

“This federal funding will support $2 million of a $10 million phased technology investment that will provide for safe, secure, and interoperable public safety communications for the Central Coast. Thank you, Congressman Carbajal, Congressman Padilla, and to our late Senator Dianne Feinstein for your continued leadership and advocacy on behalf of public safety for San Luis Obispo County,” said Acting County Administrative Officer Rebecca Campbell.

$1,000,000 for the Oceano Community Services District Water Resources Reliability Program. The funding will be used to improve groundwater resource reliability in the Oceano Community Services District through waterline improvements that will reduce water losses, protect groundwater supply, and improve water quality for Oceano residents.

$850,000 to complete a 1.2 mile bike and pedestrian path adjacent to State Route 227, trail segments 6 and 7 of the Edna Valley Trail. The path, which is being overseen by the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG), will connect neighborhoods along the corridor to Los Ranchos Elementary School and retail and commercial zones along State Route 227.

This project is part of the Juan Batista de Anza National Historic Trail, a 1,200-mile route from Nogales, AZ, to San Francisco that commemorates the 1775-76 expedition led by Lt. Colonel Anza to settle Alta California.

$543,000 for public safety upgrades for the City of Grover Beach. The funding will assist in the purchasing of new public safety cameras, license plate readers, and in-car video recorders for patrol units. The technological improvements will help the City’s small police department to better protect the community from criminal activity in Grover Beach and nearby communities of Arroyo Grande, Oceano, and Pismo Beach.

“We are immensely grateful and thrilled to have secured this federal funding, a testament to the dedicated efforts of Congressman Salud Carbajal and his team,” said John Peters, Chief of Police of the Grover Beach Police Department. “This substantial award enables us to further enhance pivotal public safety technology across Grover Beach, allowing for the expansion of cutting-edge license plate reader cameras, community camera systems, patrol vehicle cameras, and state-of-the-art police handheld radios. Our commitment to bolstering the safety and security of our community is further strengthened by these technological advancements.”

$500,000 to help replace the Charles Street reservoir in Pismo Beach. The new Charles Street Reservoir will provide more storage to receive and distribute groundwater in the City of Pismo. The Pismo Beach 2020 Water Master Plan identified the Charles Street reservoir as a critical piece of aging infrastructure that is deficient in seismic standards and storage capacity. The upgraded Charles Street reservoir will become increasingly important after the completion of Central Coast Blue – which also received funding from Rep. Carbajal’s efforts through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – because the use of groundwater wells will increase.

Other Central Coast projects funded in the deal signed by President Biden are:

• $1,666,279 for the Ventura County Family Justice Center to provide additional rooms for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault
• $1,000,000 to fund the County of Santa Barbara and Sanctuary Center’s construction of 34 new studio apartments and a neighborhood clinic 
• $1,000,000 to complete a new child development center and community spaces in the City of Ventura’s redeveloped Westview Village housing project
• $963,000 for the installation of new infrastructure for the City of Santa Barbara’s radio communications system
• $963,000 to expand the SciTrek program at U.C. Santa Barbara
• $959,752 for construction of storm drainage improvements in Santa Maria
• $773,870 to support the purchase a new digester for the Goleta Sanitary District
• $728,000 for public safety upgrades at the Lompoc Police Department and the City of Lompoc
• $500,000 for the City of Ventura’s portion of the State Water Interconnection Project

Additional Background:

In the spring of 2023, Rep. Carbajal began to push for funding for these projects through formal requests to the House Appropriations Committee for Fiscal Year 2024.

Rep. Carbajal has previously secured funding for 23 different community projects, totaling nearly $40 million over the past two years. 

The funding was secured through the Community Project Funding (CPF) initiative first launched in 2022. Projects must be in the public interest, be good uses of taxpayer dollars, and be certified to not conflict with the representative’s personal financial interests. More information on the rules governing what projects could be requested, can be found here.