Categories
AiQ Children's Issues Enviroment Gender Justice Homelessness & Housing

No AIQ on 3/27

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:

  • AB 2785 (Wilson)- strengthening tenant protections through rental app fee reform; hearing on Tues., April 2nd in Asm. Judiciary Committee
  • AB 3170 (Ortega)- preventing hospitals from implementing blanket drug testing on pregnant persons receiving care & reporting to CPS; hearing on Tues., April 2nd in Asm. Judiciary Committee
  • SB 1061 (Limón)- prohibiting credit card reporting agencies from placing medical debt on credit reports; hearing on Tues., April 2nd in Sen. Judiciary Committee
  • AB 1851 (Holden) – clean drinking water in schools pilot program; hearing on Wed., April 3rd in Asm. Education Committee

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!

Categories
AiQ Children's Issues Enviroment Homelessness & Housing State

AIQ News: 3/13/24

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!

  • For next week: call your legislators telling them to support AB 1851 (Holden) – clean drinking water in schools. It is being heard in the Assembly Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials Committee on Tuesday, March 19th! Your calls are especially important if your member is on that committee. You can see ES&TM members here.
Categories
Enviroment UN/National Updates

COP28

From November 30th-December 12th, Regina Banks and Savannah Jorgensen participated in the UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change in person in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and virtually, respectively.

COP is an annual conference that brings together civil society and world governments to discuss and make agreements on and around the climate crisis. It is an important arena of engagement on the world stage. Learn more about our COP28 experiences and those of our colleagues at the Voices of Faith in Climate Action webinar on Wednesday, January 24th at 12 pm PT.

Register for the webinar here!

Pictured below are some images captured at COP28 in Dubai by Regina Banks.

Categories
Enviroment Homelessness & Housing State

SB 4 & SB 253 Testimony

Hear Director, Regina Banks, and Hunger Advocacy Fellow, Savannah Jorgensen, give public testimony in support of SB 4 (Wiener) and SB 253 (Wiener) at the Assembly Natural Resources Committee hearing on Monday, July 10th.

Regina & Savannah Testify on SB 4 & SB 253

Categories
Education Enviroment State Updates

Lobby Day 2023 Bill Updates (7/13)

These two bills are continuing to move forward following committee hearings this week as we approach the deadline for bills to make it out of their second house policy committees. The next step is the Appropriations Committee before a floor vote. These bills can use our continued advocacy!

  • SB 4 (Wiener): Affordable Housing on Faith-Based Lands Act. This bill would provide a streamlined process for religious institutions and nonprofit colleges to develop affordable housing on their properties, regardless of local zoning restrictions. This bill also would guarantee by-right approval of projects as long as they are consistent with all objective standards of the jurisdiction and comply with listed environmental protections.
  • AB 249 (Holden): Clean Drinking Water in Schools, Lead Testing. This bill increases the testing and disclosure requirements of school drinking water lead levels. It would additionally allocate funding for testing filters and infrastructure improvements to reduce and ultimately, eliminate, lead in water at schools. Furthermore, the bill establishes the limit on lead levels that the drinking water cannot exceed.

The following bill did not move forward from the Senate Agriculture Committee, however, Asm. Irwin has made it a two-year bill. This means that it will be worked on and considered in the next legislative session. Additionally, there is a federal level bill addressing food date labeling that is moving and can use our advocacy.

  • AB 660 (Irwin): Food Date Labeling Reform, Food Waste. This bill requires the use of uniform terms for food product date labels, i.e., removing ‘sell by’ dates visible to consumers and making ‘best by’ or ‘use by’ dates clearer for consumers. The streamlined phrasing will help consumers understand peak quality and freshness of their food, which will play a role in addressing hunger as well as methane emissions and climate change.

The following bill did not pass through the Assembly Appropriations Committee in May and is effectively a dead bill for this session. This policy idea may be pursued in the future by legislators if there is enough community support.

  • AB 1534 (Irwin): Methane Emissions Monitoring. AB 1534 would have required the utilization of remote sensing technologies to better identify methane emissions with the goal of improved regulations on those emissions from landfills.

Thank you all for your continued advocacy! Our work is not done this year and we need your support to get SB 4 and AB 249 across the finish line.

Categories
AiQ Enviroment Federal Legislation Homelessness & Housing State

AiQ News: 7/12/23

SB 4 (Wiener): Affordable housing on faith-based lands – passed out of Assembly Natural Resources Committee with amendments on 7/10. It next heads to Appropriations.

SB 253 (Wiener): Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act – passed out of Assembly Natural Resources Committee with amendments on 7/10: It next heads to Appropriations.

**Any bills still active as of today will need to be passed out of their respective policy committees by the end of the day on Friday, July 14th to meet the legislative deadline. Bills that do make it to Appropriations will need our support in those committees. From there, we encourage you to start calling your representatives to urge them to support these and our other priority bills on the floor.

Federal advocacy: Please complete the ELCA Advocacy Action Alert on the Endangered Species Act. You can do so here.

AiQ schedule: We will NOT be meeting for AiQ until Wednesday, August 16th on account of the legislative summer recess (July 14th-August 14th).

Categories
AiQ Enviroment Homelessness & Housing Hunger Issues

AIQ News: 5/31/23

Thanks to our continued advocacy, SB 4 (Wiener) The Affordable Housing on Faith-Based Lands Act, has passed out of the Senate! Continue to engage with us at AiQ to hear about how you can continue its advancement in the Assembly this summer.

AB 660 (Irwin)– Food Waste, Labeling Reform, passed out of the Assembly this week as well.

Food4All legislation has passed out of the Senate. The partner Assembly bill, AB 311, is still on the Assembly floor.

Please call your Assemblymembers and tell them to support AB 249 (Holden)- Clean School Drinking Water, on the Assembly Floor!

Categories
AiQ Education Enviroment Homelessness & Housing

AIQ News: 5/24/23

3 of our 4 Lobby Day bills passed out of their Appropriations committees! SB 4 (Wiener), AB 249 (Holden), and AB 660 (Irwin) will be heard and voted on in the Senate and Assembly in the coming weeks. Reach out to your Senator and Assemblymember to urge them to support these bills.

SB 4 (Wiener) is likely being acted on TODAY (5/25)! If you haven’t already called your Senator, do so early today!

Categories
AiQ Enviroment Events

Pre-Lobby Day Bill Discussion 2023

Check out the following conversation with Hunger Advocacy Fellow, Savannah Jorgensen, and California EnviroVoters Legislative Affairs Manager, Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, as they discuss 3 environmental bills we’re tracking ahead of Lutheran Lobby Day 2023.

Enviro Bills Deep-Dive Discussion

These bills may be on the docket for our advocacy on Lobby Day. Hopefully this conversation helps you as we prepare for that day and future advocacy!

Categories
AiQ Enviroment Events Federal Legislation UN/National Updates

AIQ News: 4/12/23

SB 253 (Wiener)- The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act is being heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 18. If your senator is on this committee, reach out and tell them to support it! If they are not on this committee, tell them to support it on the Senate floor!

AB 660 (Irwin)- Updating expiration/use-by dates on food packaging, is being heard in the Assembly Health Committee on April 18. If your assemblymember is on this committee, reach out and tell them to support it! If they are not on this committee, tell them to support it on the Assembly floor!

ELCA Advocacy News: Farm Bill listening sessions are only a week away! Sign up for the Pacific Time Zone session here. These sessions will focus on the federal Farm Bill that’s up for reauthorization this year with a time zone area focus. The Pacific Time zone focused session will take place on Friday, April 21 at 12 noon PT.