Blog posts -- Legislation & policies

Gov. Gavin Newsom stands with Anneisha Williams (right, in yellow), after signing legislation supporting fast food workers during a press conference in Los Angeles on Sept. 28, 2023. Photo by Alisha Jucevic for CalMatters To read more of Lynn La's article, please click here. With tears in her eyes, Anneisha Williams, a Jack in the Box employee from Inglewood, lifted the piece of paper that was Assembly Bill 1228 with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s fresh signature. The measure will raise the minimum...

To read more, please click here. SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom, joined by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, State Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), State Senator Anna Caballero (D-Merced), and survivors and advocates, today signed SB 14 (Grove) into law to steepen penalties for human trafficking of minors in California. The law designates human trafficking of a minor for purposes of a commercial sex act as a serious felony — including under the state’s “Three Strikes” law — and...

To read more, click here, California Bans Book Bans and Textbook Censorship in Schools . SACRAMENTO — Building on his Family Agenda to promote educational freedom and success, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed AB 1078 by Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), which bans “book bans” in schools, prohibits censorship of instructional materials, and strengthens California law requiring schools to provide all students access to textbooks that teach about California’s diverse...

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a news conference announcing a proposed a 2024 ballot initiative to improve mental health services across the state, at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, on March 19, 2023. Photo by Adriana Heldiz/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, Pool To read more of Kristen Hwang's article, please click here. A major proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom to overhaul the state’s behavioral and mental health system is likely to take nearly $720 million away from services provided by...

While most of our attention here is focused on assisting maltreated children and their families or adults suffering from the residual of their childhood trauma, I have been working at the other (tragic) end of the spectrum of child deaths due to abuse and neglect (in bureaucratic language "critical incidents.") For three years I have been a volunteer member of the CAPTA mandated Citizens Review Panel under the Department of Social Services' (DSS) Office of Child Abuse Prevention. It has...

California legislative update – Fall 2019 (updated Oct, 2019) Below is an updated table of bills that address childhood adversity in the Legislature in 2021. The list is not exhaustive, so please email Kelly Hardy with Children Now if you think a bill is missing and/or if you have any questions. Email: khardy@childrennow.org . Here are key dates for the remainder of the 2021 session: June 15 = budget bill must be passed by midnight July 14 = last day for bills to pass out of policy...

This year, voters were given the opportunity to start swinging back toward stricter penalties — and opted not to. Proposition 20 would have given prosecutors new powers to charge certain non-violent crimes as felonies and made it harder for long-time inmates to qualify for early-release consideration. As of late this afternoon, the measure is down by 24 points with the vote count continuing, and the Associated Press has projected its defeat. That’s proof, Prop. 20 opponents say, that...

By Rachal Looker, October 12, 2020, National Association of Counties. A realignment of juvenile justice services in California is giving counties an added responsibility on a short timeline. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill at the end of September to close the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and youth prisons, shifting the responsibility of all justice-involved youth to counties. The bill aims to keep youths closer to their families to lower recidivism rates and create an...

We just received word that Governor Newsom signed microstamping bill, AB 2847! We'd like to thank Assembly Members Chiu & Gabriel, and coauthoring Assembly Members Bauer-Kahan, Gipson, Gloria, Muratsuchi, M. Stone, Ting, and Wicks. We'd also like to thank coauthoring Senators Jackson & Wiener, and of course, Governor Newsom. Congratulations to the thousands of Brady supporters who helped steward this lifesaving bill through the state legislature and onto the governor's desk. Your...

Celinda Gonzales has a long list of worries: She worries about COVID-19, which recently spiked near the Yurok reservation where she lives in Humboldt County. She worries about the wildfires threatening her remote, forested town, Weitchpec. She worries about gill rot and algae blooms in the Klamath and Trinity rivers, which join together just over the hill from her trailer; she worries, too, about what the resulting small salmon runs mean for her financially struggling community. And she...

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed policing bills that ban chokeholds, allow the state Department of Justice to investigate police shootings and give counties more oversight of sheriff's departments. Impact: The signings represent a win for police reform advocates and Democrats who introduced a wave of bills after the May police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Still, the moment is bittersweet for these groups after some of the most aggressive proposals — including bills to...

By Kat Schuster, September 1, 2020, Patch. Nonviolent former prisoners who participated in fire camps will now have an opportunity to become year-round, full-time firefighters. SACRAMENTO, CA — Lawmakers approved a bill Monday that will finally allow former prisoners to pursue a career in fire. The new legislation arrived while fire crews were overwhelmed, facing multiple devastating lightning complex fires across California. AB 2147 , authored by Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes, will allow...