With California in 2023 poised to be the world’s fourth-largest economy, the State’s Central Valley is emerging as a region for growth. It’s spurred by workforce development efforts that include programs championed by Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula.
A prime example is his strong advocacy for jobs and careers in the medical profession. Assemblymember Arambula, who practiced for a decade as an emergency room physician in Fresno County, knows the Valley in particular has a critical shortage of health care professionals.
Since his election in 2016 –and including his leadership role as Chairman of Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services – Assemblymember Arambula has worked diligently to secure significant State budget allocations for health care workforce development. These efforts have included programs to increase the number of physicians trained in the state and to broaden California State University programs for students who aspire to be doctors, physician assistants, and other health care professionals.
On other fronts, Assemblymember Arambula has been a vocal supporter for Career and Technical Education programs at community colleges in the Central Valley to provide pathways to well-paying, in-demand jobs.
Assemblymember Arambula also is a proponent for California’s High-Speed Rail, which is the first project of its kind in the nation, and serves as an ex-officio board member for the California HSR Authority. As of mid-February 2023, the project had created more than 10,000 jobs, most of them in the Central San Joaquin Valley where the system’s first segment is under construction.
Here are just a few of the programs and funding that Assemblymember Arambula has successfully helped champion:
- A $70 million Transformative Climate Communities funding package for southwest Fresno, downtown Fresno, and Fresno’s Chinatown that is stimulating economic development, including more jobs, while addressing climate concerns and the need for affordable housing and more green spaces.
- Allocating $66 million for over four years to the California Department of Public Health for early career and leadership training for public health professionals.
- Allocating $16 million annually ongoing for grants to universities and colleges to operate Health Professions Career Opportunity Programs, which includes Fresno State’s HCOP.
- Designating a total of $14.7 million to support establishing the California Immigrant Justice Fellowship, which launched in 2021. The program places these fellows with nonprofit legal services providers in underserved rural communities, with the aim that these fellows will continue their legal careers in these areas.
- A $3 million State allocation to the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board for its ValleyBuild construction program, which includes a ValleyBuild NOW (Non-traditional Occupations for Women) pre-apprenticeship training program.
- State allocation of $2 million to Fresno City College for its distinguished Career and Technical Education (CTE) program.
- A $1 million State allocation for Reedley College for its Aviation Maintenance Technology and Flight Science programs.