Government Relations
High-Impact Advocacy Across the State
Racial disparities that leave low-income people of color behind should concern us all. The Government Relations team aims to shift public policy priorities and investments toward programs that benefit all Californians—not just the privileged few.
FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
- Locate your Legislator’s phone and address: click here.
- Contact Governor Gavin Newsom: click here.
2022 - 2023 SPONSORED LEGISLATION
- SB 17 (Pan) – Office of Racial Equity
Establishes the Office of Racial Equity (ORE), governed by a Racial Equity Advisory and Accountability Council (REAAC), to develop a statewide Racial Equity Framework in consultation with state agencies. Read the bill text here.
2023 LEGISLATION PRIORITIES
Educational Equity
- AB 247 (Muratsuchi) - Education finance: school facilities: Kindergarten Through Community College Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2024
Establishes the Kindergarten Through Community College Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2024 as a state general obligation bond act that would provide an unspecified amount to construct and modernize education facilities. - AB393 (Rivas, L) - Childcare: dual language leaners
Requires the Director of Social Services to develop procedures for general or migrant childcare and development contractors in order to identify and report data on dual language learners who are enrolled in a general childcare and development program or migrant childcare and development program. - AB 596 (Reyes) - Early learning and care: rate reform
Helps childcare providers and families by transitioning providers to a single reimbursement rate structure for early learning and childcare programs, suspending family fees until an equitable sliding scale for family fees is established, and ensuring providers are paid based on enrollment rather than attendance. - AB 665 (Carrillo, W) - Minors: consent to mental health services
Creates parity between youth receiving Medi-Cal and their peers receiving private insurance when self-consenting to utilize mental health services. - AB 1106 (Soria) - PK-3 early childhood education specialist credential: grant programs
Establishes a grant program for institutions of higher education (IHEs) seeking to implement the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s (CTC) approved PreK-3 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Specialist Credential. - AB 1127 (Reyes) - Teachers: professional development: Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Programs
Extends the project performance and reporting period for the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program (BTPDP) from 2024 to 2029, and requires the California Department of Education (CDE), when administering the BTPDP, to meet quarterly with grant recipients to share promising practices and resources. - 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 construct, reconstruct, and remodel existing or new facilities. - SB 380 (Limón) - Early learning and care: rate reform
Helps childcare providers and families by transitioning providers to a single reimbursement rate structure for early learning and childcare programs, suspending family fees until an equitable sliding scale for family fees is established, and ensuring providers are paid based on enrollment rather than attendance.
Political Voice
- AB 421 (Bryan) - Elections: initiatives
Requires a disclosure notifying the public that the petition circulator is receiving money for soliciting signatures, or that the person is a volunteer or employee of a nonprofit organization. - AB 764 (Bryan) - Local redistricting
Prohibits the consideration of incumbency protection in the redistricting process, adds clarity regarding the proper prioritization of redistricting criteria, and ensures jurisdictions perform their due diligence to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. - AB 884 (Low) - Elections: language accessibility
Expands language access support for voter registration and the voting process to more language communities in California and improves the quality of the language access support required by law. - SB 846 (Limón) - Voter registration: California New Motor Voter
Creates a back-end automated voter registration system for registering voters via the California New Motor Voter Program (CNMVP) at the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
Advancing Equity
- ACA 8 (Wilson) - Slavery
Would prohibit slavery in any form, including forced labor compelled by the use or threat of physical or legal coercion.
News & Blog Posts
MEET THE TEAM
Catalyst California’s government relations work has helped achieved the following:
Gives the public the right to see certain records relating to police misconduct and serious uses of force.
The grant provides California high school students, particularly those who are low income, English learners, or foster youth, additional supports and creates a stronger pipeline between high schools and the University of California and other postsecondary educational institutions.
As a result, the new allocation formula provides much-needed access to high-quality preschool slots to areas where high number of children do not have access to state subsidized preschool.
Allows children who were brought into the US under the age of 16 without proper visas/immigration documentation meet in-state tuition and GPA requirements to have access to financial aid benefits at public universities and colleges.