October 19–25, 2026
A quiet week for passed legislation locally, with a La Mirada reward fund adopted and two federal bills now law; one Bay Area restoration bill is on deck in Congress.
Around the neighborhood.
The Los Angeles County Board adopted a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the March 2023 murder of Tlahuel Mendez in La Mirada. That measure is now in effect. If you or someone you know has information, you can contact local law enforcement to be considered for the reward.
For your phone.
A federal bill (HR 7022) signed by the President this week is now law. It lets wireless carriers opt in to sending emergency alerts, like severe weather warnings and missing-persons alerts, through satellite networks in addition to regular cell towers. If your carrier signs on, your phone could receive those alerts even in areas where cell coverage is weak. You can also opt out of the satellite delivery specifically. This matters in a county as large and geographically varied as Los Angeles, where signal dead zones exist even near populated areas.
For clergy and religious workers.
A separate federal bill (HR 227) is now law. It opens a two-year window for ordained ministers, nuns, and Christian Science practitioners who previously chose to skip Social Security and Medicare to reverse that choice. Going forward, those who re-enroll will pay self-employment taxes on their ministerial income and become eligible for retirement and Medicare benefits. If this applies to you or someone in your household, the window starts now.
Several other federal bills this week dealt with matters outside Los Angeles County, including a land transaction involving a specific Sacramento parcel.
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Coming up next week:
San Francisco Bay restoration funding. A federal bill (HR 1382) that cleared committee and is headed to a full House floor vote would raise the federal share of Bay restoration project costs to 75 percent of total project costs, and open those federal dollars to private companies and nonprofits, not just government agencies. No firm floor date is set. The bill targets San Francisco Bay directly and would not immediately change anything for Los Angeles County residents, but it could shape how Congress approaches coastal restoration funding more broadly, including along the Southern California coast.
See what's up for a vote now · Find your representatives