Category: State

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AiQ State Updates

AIQ News: 6/26/24

Bills are moving quickly through policy committees as we approach the legislative recess next week. Key bills to call in support of include:

  • AB 1851 (Holden)- clean drinking water in schools pilot program. This bill is being heard in Senate Environmental Quality Committee on Wed., July 3rd
  • AB 660 (Irwin)- food date expiration labeling reform. This bill is being heard in Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, July 1st.

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!

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State Updates

State of the State Address

Governor Newsom released a recorded State of the State Address on Tuesday, June 25th. Check it out through the link below:

2024 State of the State

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Hunger Fellow Job Opportunity State

Apply for Hunger Advocacy Fellowship!

Exciting news! The Lutheran Office of Public Policy-California is up again on the rotation for the Hunger Advocacy Fellowship with the ELCA. We are hiring a fellow to serve in our office from September 2024-August 2025 in Sacramento. The job details, including the link to apply, can be found below:

Apply to be a Hunger Advocacy Fellow with LOPP-CA!

Do you have specific questions about the fellowship duties or experience? Contact our Legislative Coordinator, Savannah Jorgensen, who previously served as a fellow in our office.

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AiQ Federal Legislation State Updates

AIQ News: 5/8/24

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:

  • Call your state Senators and ask them to support SB 1497 (Menjivar)! This is an important environmental justice bill that would make fossil fuel polluters pay for the damages associated with the sale of their products in the state. The bill is being heard in Senate Appropriations on Monday, May 13th. It’s also one of our Lobby Day bills!
  • Complete the federal ELCA Advocacy action alert on housing and homelessness.
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State Updates

2024 LOPPCA Budget Letter

We have completed our budget letter containing our concerns and asks regarding the proposed 2024 State Budget. The letter has been sent to the budget committees in the Assembly and Senate.

Our asks come from consideration of our partner coalitions’ budget concerns and our faith discernment of the Governor’s proposed budget text.

Apart from our LOPP specific budget letter, LOPP signs onto other budget and bill letters that come through our networks throughout the legislative session as well. You can find our budget letter and some other sign-ons we’ve done so far in 2024 on our Sign On Letters page.

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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.
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AiQ Federal Legislation State

AIQ News: 2/21/24

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:

  • Assembly Budget Subcommittee #1 on Health – Monday, Feb. 26th, 4 pm
  • Senate Budget Subcommittee #2 on Resources, Enviro. Protection, & Energy – Thursday, Feb. 29th, 9:30 am
  • Senate Budget Subcommittee #3 on Health & Human Services – Thursday, Feb. 29th, 9:30 am

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.

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California Ballot Measures State

March 5 Voter Guide

Are you confused or want to know more about the March 5th California ballot proposition? Do you want to hear about the proposition from a faith perspective? If so, check out the recording of the discussion we had at St. John’s Lutheran Church Sacramento on Sunday, February 11th!

You can find that video on our YouTube channel. Linked here.

Additionally, a PDF document can be found below outlining LOPP’s official position on the proposition along with our rationale for that position, what the proposition wording is on the ballot, and additional resources you can reference when deciding how you would like to vote on the proposition. LOPP is not telling you how to vote, rather we are providing you resources to help you discern how to vote and to explain our position following consultation with ELCA social teachings and our theological grounding.

LOPP-March-5-Ballot-Proposition-Voter-GuideDownload
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AiQ Federal Legislation State

AIQ News: 2/7/24

All 2023 bills have been acted on or died for this 2-year legislative session as of last week. Some, like SB 85 (Wiener) – case management services for refugees, passed out of their house of origin last week and are therefore still moving this session. Others, like AB 259 (Lee) – wealth tax on extremely wealthy Californians, died in committee and failed to pass out of their house of origin.

The deadline for bills to be introduced in 2024 is next Friday, February 16th. We will have a better idea of what bills exist after that point.

Advocacy actions:

  • Complete the federal advocacy Action Alert on immigration.
  • Thank your legislator for signing the CalEITC Coalition Pledge for Prosperity! If your legislator hasn’t yet signed the pledge, encourage them to do so. Those who have signed the pledge so far include, Senator Wiener, Assemblymembers Santiago, Stephanie Nguyen, and Luz Rivas.

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AiQ State

AiQ News: 1/31/24

As more bills get introduced in the legislature, LOPP tracks critical bills that affect justice efforts in the state. You can follow along with what we’re tracking by checking out our bill tracker at our Resources page, ‘Bill Trackers’.

Connected to that call to do justice is CalEITC Awareness Week. The California Earned Income Tax Credit fights poverty and builds equity for low-income families by putting cash directly back into their hands. Join us in amplifying the CalEITC Awareness Week and calls to strengthen this and the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC).