Lutheran Office of Public Policy - CaliforniaOn February 12th, we held a special hour-long session of AIQ that focused on the impacts of Executive Orders and funding freezes on social, health, and human services in California. The recording of our session will be shared at noon on Friday. In the meantime, we would like to provide resources that explain the potential impacts on Californians.
On January 10th Governor Newsom released his proposed budget for the State of California. It is important to note that this is the first iteration of the budget, it will be revised in May before a final version is passed this summer. Click here to read the proposed budget in its entirety.
To further understand the proposal and learn more about its expected impacts and shortfalls, click here to read the California Budget and Policy Center’s report.
As we head into a new Legislative Session, we want to highlight all of the bills we followed last year that were signed into law.
Bills are moving quickly through policy committees as we approach the legislative recess next week. Key bills to call in support of include:
Additionally, check out Governor Newsom’s State of the State Address that was released on June 25th.
NOTE: AIQ will now be on hiatus until Wednesday, August 14th as the legislature goes on summer recess starting July 3rd. See you in August!
Most bills we’ve been following this year are in their respective Appropriations Committee and waiting on final hearings to determine if they will continue this session.
Stay tuned for our discussion on the Governor’s May Revise, which is the updated state budget that is released every year in May. The May Revise is being announced this Friday, May 10th. We will cover the updated state budget situation at AIQ on Wednesday, May 22nd. Join us!
Lobby Day is nearly here! Check out our priority bills for 2024.
Advocacy actions for the week:
It’s the active season in the California state legislature! Bills are moving through their various policy committees, and we at LOPPCA are in attendance giving our support in many hearings.
Some upcoming hearings of key bills we’re supporting this session include:
If your legislator is on any of these committees, please CALL them and ask them to support these bills in their respective committees!
Federal: Call your Senators to ask them to pass the Child Tax Credit expansion bill.
Due to the Legislature having their spring recess this week, their are no major updates or weekly homework share, so we are cancelling AIQ for this week, Wednesday, March 27th.
The following bills will be heard in committees early next week and will need our support:
If your legislator is on any of these committees, call them early next week and ask them to support these respective bills in those committees!
Many bills have recently been added to our 2024 bill tracker. Check them out here: Bill Trackers
Our official LOPPCA budget letter has been completed and turned in to the legislature in response to the Governor’s 2024 proposed budget. You can read that letter and see what other bills and budget letters we’ve been signing onto so far this year on our Sign On Letters page. We express our concerns over funding delays and cuts to critical programs and services in Human Services, Housing & Homelessness, and Climate/Environment.
Committee hearings are ramping up! That means we’ll need your voice contacting your legislators about bills we’re tracking!
While we didn’t meet for AIQ today, there are still advocacy actions you can take this week!
Join us again next week at AIQ as we discuss more bills and prepare you for advocacy steps as bills start to go to their first policy committee hearings.
Budget subcommittee hearings ramp up beginning the week of February 26th in both houses of the state legislature. LOPP will be attending hearings throughout the legislative session. Key ones to pay attention to next week include:
You can find upcoming legislative hearings at the following pages:
Remember to register for Lobby Day 2024! The first 15 people under the age of 25 who register will have their hotel and transportation fees covered by LOPP. Check out our Lobby Day website page for more information!
Federal: Complete the federal ELCA advocacy Action Alert to urge Congress to expand the Child Tax Credit.