Los Angeles — In response to the bills signed and vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom at the conclusion of the 2022 legislative session, the state’s largest multi-issue progressive organization applauds the determination of community and elected leaders who championed key policies and urges further legislative action to benefit all Californians.
Gov. Newsom signed 16 of Courage California’s priority bills:
- AB 256, Kalra: Will make the California Racial Justice Act of 2020 retroactive, ensuring that people now in prison and jail can challenge racial bias in their convictions and trials.
- AB 257, Holden, Carrillo, Rivas, Low: Will enact the FAST Recovery Act to improve standards for workers in the Fast Food Industry. This act would bring together workers, industry and government to help solve systematic problems like low wages, sexual harassment, and violence on the job.
- SB 1382, Gonzalez, Becker: Will reduce financial barriers to purchasing new and used zero-emission vehicles and hybrid vehicles through the Clean Cars for All program by exempting these vehicles from the state’s sales tax.
- AB 2183, Stone: Will allow farmworkers to vote using a representation ballot card.
- SB 972, Gonzalez: Would make health permits more accessible for street vendors.
- AB 1666, Bauer-Kahan: Will enact legal protections from civil and criminal liability to the extent possible for clinicians that provide abortions to patients who reside in other states with hostile abortion laws.
- AB 1766, Stone: Will expand access to IDs to all Californians regardless of immigration status.
- AB 2091, Bonta: Will enhance privacy protections for medical records related to abortion and pregnancy.
- AB 2134, Weber: Will establish a gap coverage program to provide coverage to Californians lacking coverage for abortion and abortion-related care, including those who are uninsured and underinsured.
- AB 2167, Kalra: Will require courts to consider alternatives to incarceration such as diversion programs, restorative justice, and probation, in sentencing decisions.
- AB 2223, Wicks: Will ensure that no one in the State of California will be investigated, prosecuted, or incarcerated for ending a pregnancy or experiencing pregnancy loss.
- AB 2626, L. Calderon: Will support the ability for abortion providers to obtain professional liability coverage.
- SB 107, Wiener: Will prohibit California from complying with out-of-state subpoenas for medical information related to efforts to criminalize individuals or remove children from their homes for having received gender-affirming care.
- SB 923, Wiener: Will improve access to gender affirming care for transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex (TGI) people by mandating health plans to require TGI cultural competency training for contracted providers, their staff, and the staff of health plans.
- SB 1162, Limon: Will require companies to disclose salary ranges, make any internal promotions available to all employees, and make it so pay data reported to the state becomes public over time.
- SB 1375, Atkins: Will review competency requirements for abortion training for nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, and physicians assistants.
Irene Kao, Executive Director of Courage California, issued the following statement:
”Courage California recognizes and celebrates our state legislators and Governor Newsom for stepping up at this critical time to expand rights and protections for workers, systems impacted people, LGBTQ+ communities, people who become pregnant, and immigrants. Once again, our elected leaders demonstrated the courage to set progressive precedent for our nation, but we can’t lose sight that more work needs to be done to support all Californians in an increasingly rigged economy. Wealthy corporations and industries are already planning to challenge what we won for fast food workers and for communities directly impacted by oil and gas drilling, so we remind Californians to stay vigilant and keep fighting for the bold policies we need and deserve.”
Californians must never accept that there isn’t a means or enough money for solutions and real change. It is up to all Californians to demand that energy, resources, and funding is invested into our people and communities. To ensure that all Californians have the information they need to hold their elected officials accountable, Courage California’s annual Courage Score will be released in Spring 2023 to provide a comprehensive and transparent account of each legislator’s votes during the 2022 legislative year.
Courage California advocated for several of the bills listed above as a member of the California Dream Alliance, a broad coalition of over 70 progressive organizations that have joined together to collectively lobby for priority bills, including 30 bills in 2022.
With Courage, we will actively hold our representatives accountable and vote for the changes we need to see in our communities.