Assemblywoman Suzette Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, discussed a variety of issues in an on-air interview with KHTS on Wednesday, touching on topics such as wildfire management and universal transitional kindergarten.

Valladares began by touching on a coronavirus vaccine clinic and food distribution she recently hosted in Santa Clarita in partnership with Senator Scott Wilk and the Boys & Girls Club.

“Some of the people hit hardest by COVID were our Latino community,” Valladares said. “Being a Latina who did receive the vaccine knowing that there’s been some skepticism within the Latino community, it was important for me to showcase that this is a safe vaccine.”

Assemblywoman Suzette Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, discussed a variety of issues in an on-air interview with KHTS on Wednesday, touching on topics such as wildfire management and universal transitional kindergarten.

Valladares’ vaccine distribution efforts are set to continue over the next several weeks, with dates soon to be revealed.

The representative also discussed universal transitional kindergarten legislation she had fought to pass.

Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed budget AB 130, which funds the expansion of transitional kindergarten to include more children.

“I have been an advocate for early childhood education, for universal preschool for well over a decade, fighting for preschool for all four-year-olds because it’s so vital,” Valladares said. “I’ve been pushing for this for over a decade.”

Before becoming an assemblywoman, the representative was the head of a nonprofit preschool.

She is also the mother of a four-year-old child, making the issue of transitional kindergarten especially close to her heart.

“I understand it from the policy perspective, from the advocacy perspective, from a provider perspective and from a mama perspective,” Valladares said.

See Related: Assemblywoman Valladares Introduces Bill To Assist Wildfire Prevention

Valladares also elaborated on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which requires a lead agency to prepare and certify an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out. Existing law exempts actions of fuel reduction or forest thinning on federal lands from these CEQA requirements in an effort to promote wildfire prevention.

Valladares’ bill, AB 267, would extend this exemption to Jan. 1, 2026, allowing for federal property to continue with fire prevention projects in high-risk areas.

“Wildfires have been ever-present, but not to the extent that we have seen over the last decade and really the last couple of years,” Valladares said. “Part of the reason why wildfires are so prevalent is obviously climate change, but it’s also the mismanagement of our forests and state lands that are creating fuel for wildfires.”

Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) were also mentioned by the assemblywoman.

“I’ve been literally dealing with Public Safety Power Shutoffs since day 1 of being sworn into office,” Valladres said. “The amount of Public Safety Power Shutoffs that have occurred in our community have quadrupled.”

According to the representative, PSPS have been extremely interruptive to the lives of her constituents, with large swathes of Santa Clarita, Acton and Agua Dulce going without power over the winter holidays due to decisions made by power companies to reduce the risk of brush fires.

“The shutoffs were happening so often that they created other dangers: risking refrigerated medication, interrupting the operation of septic tanks, interrupting zoom, street lights out causing crashes,” Valladares said. “The City has no control over shutoffs, it’s the power companies.”

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