An Update on Catalyst California's Legislative Priorities

07.27.24

Government Relations

After an eventful few weeks, the California Legislature recessed late on Wednesday, July 3. They will have a month-long break, reconvening on Monday, August 5 for a sprint to the finish, closing out this year’s session at the end of the month.

Below is an overview of our priorities and where they are in the legislative process. Also included is the legislative calendar for the rest of the year.

Legislative Calendar (Assembly | Senate)

Monday, August 5 - Legislature reconvenes from Summer Recess (J.R. 51(b)(2)).
Friday, August 16 - Last day for fiscal committees to meet and report bills (J.R. 61(b)(14)).
Monday, August 19-31  - Floor session only. No committee may meet for any purpose except Rules Committee, bills referred pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2, and Conference Committees (J.R. 61(b)(15)).
Friday, August 23 - Last day to amend bills on the floor (J.R. 61(b)(16)).
Saturday, August 31 - Last day for each house to pass bills (Art. IV, Sec 10(c), J.R. 61(b)(17)).
Final Recess begins upon adjournment (J.R. 51(b)(3)).
Monday, September 30 - Last day for Governor Newsom to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature before Sunday, September 1 and in the Governor's possession on or after Sunday, September 1 (Art. IV, Sec. 10(b)(2)).
Wednesday, October 2 - Bills enacted on or before this date take effect Wednesday, January 1, 2025. (Art. IV, Sec. 8(c)). 
Tuesday, November 5 - Election Day
Saturday, November 30 - Adjournment sine die at midnight (Art. IV, Sec. 3(a)).
Monday, December 2 - 2025-26 regular convening for organizational session at 12 noon. (Art. IV, Sec. 3(a)).

Our sponsored bill, SB 299 (Limón) - Voter registration: California New Motor Voter Program is a two-year bill and has been moving through the legislative process. The bill gives the Secretary of State discretionary authority, if they believe the necessary technology and infrastructure exists, to adopt regulations to generate a list of people “preapproved for registration.” The successful movement of SB 299 is due to the amazing work of our partners, California Grassroots Democracy Coalition, who were able to mobilize communities of color at the Capitol, and the powerful leadership of Dolores Huerta, who spoke as a witness during two of the bill’s hearings in the Assembly’s Elections and Transportation Committees. SB 299 is currently in Assembly Appropriations, to determine the fiscal implications. From there it goes for a full vote of the Assembly and a concurrent review and vote in the Senate before finally heading to the governor’s desk. Stay tuned!

Equity in Community Investments

ACA 16 (Bryan) - Environmental Rights.
Amends the California Constitution to declare that the people have a right to clean air and water and a healthy environment.
Status: 7/1/24 – Assembly Floor - Third reading file

AB 2813 (Aguiar-Curry) - Government Investment Act.
Authorize a local government that imposes a tax under ACA 1 to commit revenues to affordable housing programs, including down payment assistance, first-time home buyer programs, and owner-occupied affordable housing rehabilitation programs.
Status: 7/1/24 - Senate Appropriations

AB 1725 (McCarty) - Law enforcement settlements and judgments: reporting.
Requires cities and counties to post financial details about police misconduct settlements and judgments that amount to $50,000 or more on their websites, including amounts paid to plaintiffs. Additionally, municipalities must report yearly the amount allocated from their budget that they spend on law enforcement settlements and judgments.
Status: 7/1/24 – Senate Appropriations

AB 2267 (Jones-Sawyer) - Youth Reinvestment Grant Program.
Reestablish the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program, to be administered by the Office of Youth and Community Restoration, to implement a mixed-delivery system of trauma-informed health and development diversion programs for youth. 
Status: 7/1/24 – Assembly Appropriations

Educational Equity

AB 247 (Muratsuchi) - Education finance: school facilities: Kindergarten Through Community College Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2024.
This bill authorizes a bond measure of $14 billion for the construction and modernization of Transitional Kindergarten through community colleges’ public education facilities on an unspecified 2024 statewide ballot.
Status: 7/3/24 – Will be on the ballot for the 2024 November General Election.

AB 1947 (Rivas, L) - California State Preschool Programs: contracting agencies: staff training days.
Gives staff in state preschool programs the training to better support children who are dual language learners (DLLs).
Status: 7/1/24 - Senate Appropriations

AB 2071 (Carrillo, J) - Pupil instruction: English Learner Roadmap: grant program: parent toolkit.
Ensures California’s schools can support English Learners/Dual Language Learners (ELs/DLLs) by providing 25 three-year incentives and support grants to implement the California English Learner Roadmap Policy (EL Roadmap). It also creates a parent toolkit to support parents/families so they can advocate for the ELs/DLL children in their districts.
Status: 7/1/24 - Senate Appropriations

AB 2074 (Muratsuchi) - Pupil instruction: English Learner Roadmap Policy: statewide implementation plan.
Tasks the California Department of Education (CDE) with creating an implementation plan for the EL Roadmap to help English learners fully and meaningfully access and participate in early childhood and K-12 so they can attain high levels of English proficiency, mastery of grade level standards, and opportunities to develop proficiency in multiple languages.
Status: 7/1/24 - Senate Appropriations

AB 2319 (Wilson, Weber) - California Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act.
Expands evidence-based implicit bias training requirements to include hospitals that provide perinatal or prenatal care, ensuring the successful implementation of SB 464 (Mitchell), the California Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act of 2019.
Status: 7/1/24 - Senate Appropriations

SB 28 (Glazer) - Education finance: school facilities: Public Preschool, K–12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2024.
Places a $15.5 billion bond on the 2024 ballot for facilities at public preschools, K-12 schools, California Community Colleges (CCC) campuses, University of California (UC) campuses, and California State University (CSU) campuses to build, rebuild, and remodel existing or new facilities.
Status: 7/1/24 - Assembly Appropriations

BUDGET ADVOCACY - Continuous Coverage for Children 0-5 in Medi-Cal.
Protect investments and fully fund the multi-year continuity of Medi-Cal coverage for children ages 0-5 as part of the 2024-25 budget and ongoing. 
Status: 7/1/24 - Funding preserved

BUDGET ADVOCACY - Community Schools.
Preserves the total $2.6 billion for the California Community Schools Partnership Program–which is critical to strengthening public education in our state by allowing the expansion and opportunity for other schools and districts to address the needs of the whole child.
Status: 7/1/24 – Funding preserved

BUDGET ADVOCACY - Rate Reform.
Ensure that California resources the single-rate structure using the Alternative Methodology to ensure equity by compensating childcare providers for the true cost of care, as opposed to what the market can afford.
Status: 7/1/24 – Funding not preserved

Political Voice

AB 3211 (Wicks) - California Provenance, Authenticity and Watermarking Standards.
Require generative AI companies to embed digital provenance data within the digital media they create, to better identify AI-generated media used to mislead or disenfranchise voters.
Status: 7/1/24 - Senate Appropriations

AB 2655 (Berman) - Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024.
Requires social media platforms to use digital provenance data to label election-related deep-fakes posted by users, and ban the worst, most obvious cases as elections approach, to prevent the use of AI-generated content to mislead voters.
Status: 7/1/24 - Senate Appropriations

AB 2839 (Pellerin) - Elections: deceptive media in advertisements.
Bans the use of deep-fakes that deceive voters about candidates and elections officials in political mailers, robocalls, and TV ads to prevent the use of artificially created content to disenfranchise voters.
Status: 7/1/24 - Senate Appropriations

Reimagining Safety and Justice

AB 280 (Holden) - Segregated Confinement.
Bans solitary confinement in all detention facilities for the following populations: people with certain mental health, physical and developmental disabilities, people who are pregnant or recently gave birth, and people under 26 and over 59 years old. It also prohibits long-term solitary/segregated confinement by limiting it to no more than 15 consecutive days or a total of 45 days tin any 180-day period.
Status: 7/1/24 – Assembly Floor- Inactive File

AB 544 (Bryan) - Voting: County Jails.
Ensures equal access to voting for all individuals regardless of whether they are incarcerated or not, to continue building a just democracy.
Status: 7/1/24 - Senate Appropriations

AB 1990 (Carrillo, W) – The SAFE Act - OPPOSE
Allows a police officer to arrest a person for shoplifting not committed in the officer’s presence without a warrant, if the officer has “reasonable cause” to believe the person has committed shoplifting.
Status: 7/1/24 - Senate Public Safety

Advancing Racial Justice

ACA 8 (Wilson) - Slavery.
Deletes language in the California Constitution that allows involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime.
Status: 7/1/24 – Chaptered. Will be on the ballot for the 2024 November General Election.